Evan Purple240zt Posted October 21, 2001 Share Posted October 21, 2001 I know it wouldnt be totally ideal but i would like to have a turbo exhaust header and make it myself. Just kinda looking for a zcar winter project. If im crazy tell me, if im not let me know the best way to go. I know corky bell talks about weld el's but im also worried about the thing cracking all the time. Evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 21, 2001 Share Posted October 21, 2001 james and his 240ZTT welded his own twin turbo header, but i do believe james has been welding or does welding for a living or something. he is experienced, i would just get it done professionally, to buy the tubing just to have it crack doesnt sound very good.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted October 22, 2001 Author Share Posted October 22, 2001 Chase, im just looking for a winter project really. If thats the case, i dont need one that bad LOL. Evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted October 22, 2001 Share Posted October 22, 2001 Hey dude. There is no reason why you can't put one together using a MIG and weld-els. If you've done your own intercooler piping, you have the skills necessary to make the manifold. It may require a bit more patience, and it may not last too long, but I would think the cost would be low and you'd learn a lot. I'd stick with mild steel for your first attempt, and if all went well and you felt it was a keeper, then make another out of stainless, or ceramic coat the first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted October 22, 2001 Author Share Posted October 22, 2001 Woo hoo, encouragement! Thanks drax. Now does any one know how much those little weldels cost??? Evan PS.. keep in mind my motor only sees about 1k miles a year at this point anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted October 22, 2001 Share Posted October 22, 2001 I made 2 sets of headers for my 55 truck project. The first set was awful and I chocked it up as a learning experience. The second set was much nicer (pics at http://jeromio.com/truck somewhere if you're curious - here's one: ). It was kind of fun. I bought J bends from a header company. There've been a few threads here recently about mandrel bend sources. Definately get 16ga or better - makes it easier cuz you get less burn thru. I used a big pipe cutter (the kind that looks like a C clamp with a round blade on one end and rollers on the other). It tends to slightly taper the cut ends. Then I used an exhaust tube expander tool with my impact wrench. This lets you sort of mate 2 pieces of tubing so there's a little bit of overlap. You'll need to ream out the ends before welding them together. A rotary cutter (Dremel type tool or die grinder) works well for this, although there are specific tubing reamer tools that you can get from plumbing supply stores. Anyway, the best and only way to get welding experience is to weld alot, so, go to it. Also, the tubing isn't really that expensive. The flange may cost you a bit though. You'll of course only want to tack the tubes to each other and to the flange. Then score it all up, maybe take some pictures, cut the tubes off the flange, do the final welds to all the tubes and then weld the tubes to the flange. The flange needs to be clamped to a piece of girder or something (you can get a little 2 foot section of girder for about $5-10 from the local steel supply) to make sure it doesn't warp. One thing to be very aware of (and a mistake that I made) when laying out your tubing is to allow for plenty of room to get a wrench in there for mounting the thing. It's pretty easy to be like "Yeah, this will bend over here and tuck around there and the tubes will flow all nice and even" and completely obscure the bolt holes of the flange. You'll have the added difficulty of the intake too - probably need a spare one to use for the mockups. Boy, that ended up being a looong reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZROSSA Posted October 22, 2001 Share Posted October 22, 2001 Wow, Nice headers.I have ordered some info from header by ed so i wont bother with questions at this stage except for; What are weld els? Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted October 22, 2001 Share Posted October 22, 2001 Just little sections of mandrel bent tubing. You can get them in 90 (els), 180 (Js) or 360 donuts. Then you cut sections out and weld them together to make your header. If I was a better welder, I would've been able to leave mine with exposed welds which I think looks way tough (like Thaggard's twin turbo header). But, since most of the time I'd get the odd lump here or there, I ground down most all of the welds smooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted October 22, 2001 Author Share Posted October 22, 2001 Cool, the same stuff i used to create my intercooler plumbing. Im kinda doing this for fun, and experience. Keeps me out of trouble ya know LOL. Thanks for the replies guys, the truck headers look badass! Im thinking of using an old header flange from an L6 motor for a flange. I can find someone with a crapazz looking header im sure. All i wanna do is make it, and if it works jet hot it. Thanks guys, keep it coming - Evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z Turbo Posted October 23, 2001 Share Posted October 23, 2001 call clifford performance for the header flange. It is about 5/8" thick and costs $49. This flange is very nice and saves you much headache! Making the header was not too difficult. I would think even a Weld-el header is better than stock. I have heard a good turbo header adds about 40-50RWHP on big turbo applications. It is not too hard and you can cut and grind yourself and tack it yourself. When you are ready to weld it solid take it to a professional. I did all the cutting and fitting on mine and had a buddy weld it up for FREE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted October 23, 2001 Share Posted October 23, 2001 James, Your setup is really coming along nicely. Have you ever thought of making a header that would fit in the stock location ie. just bolt on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted October 23, 2001 Author Share Posted October 23, 2001 Thanks james, I am a pretty good welder but will definitely get alot of practice before making one of these things. Are equal length primaries a must? Or will there be an improvement even with something more simple and basic that flows better?? On a side note, your manifold almost looks like a SU carb intake manifold! cool. Thanks guys... Evan .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted October 23, 2001 Share Posted October 23, 2001 Personally, I don't think equal length is critical. Especially considering how crappy the stock manifold is. I would think that it would be key to try for a header that looks alot like James's, except that the 3s would then Y together. It'd be fairly simple and compact. You could use slightly larger ID tubes for the short runs on the number 2 and number 4 ports to even out the flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z Turbo Posted October 23, 2001 Share Posted October 23, 2001 I guess there are 2 modes of thinking on the header depending on what you want to do. First, the fact that you are using a header over the stock manifold will give you significant gain. So who cares if it is equal length. On the other hand and equal length header is said to provide better throttle response because the pulses are spaced more equally. In short, an unequal length header is better than stock and an equal length header is better than an unequal length. Am I just rambling or what? I have no doubt I will attempt another header in the future for stock applications and outsource it to a company like Kooks to fab them for the masses. I would encourage anyone who wants to make a header to do it over the winter break. TimZ are you listening? HEHE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted October 24, 2001 Author Share Posted October 24, 2001 I guess what i was really fishing for was wether this was going to be worth my time or not. I dont like building engine stuff for looks LOL. Thanks again james.. I think ill do it! If i dont do it this winter it wont happen. Now james and others, why do they tend to crack? And is there any way to help supress the tendency to crack? fill me in guys! Thanks again gents - Evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z Turbo Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 Quality welding is the biggest key, but you must support the turbo off the block and you should have no problems with cracking. The weight of the turbo on the manifold combined with heat and vibration is what causes the cracking. My front turbo will be braced to my motor mount and my rear turbo will be braced to the rear of the block. From what I have heard, if you do these things you should not have a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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