Sparky Posted May 27, 2002 Share Posted May 27, 2002 hey everybody, i remember a long time ago...parusing through my custom rodder magazines..when i came across an add for a place in cali...that will make a mandrel bent polished stainless exhuast from a template that you or they provide. they had one version where there supplied this tube...and some hardning foam...then they had it where you could send in your old press bent exhuast as a tepmplate....so my question is.... does anybody know what company im talking about..or can you guide me in the right direction? thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhaag Posted May 29, 2002 Share Posted May 29, 2002 Darn!....I forgot to check my files when I got home last night. I know exactly what firm you are talking about. I'll tie a string around my finger tonight. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhaag Posted May 30, 2002 Share Posted May 30, 2002 Stainless Works is the company (Chagrin Falls, OH) I was thinking of. I have a paper catalog from 10/98 that mentions their "Fit Kit Plus" with the following description: "An exhaust template kit that comes with two, 10 foot lengths of flex tube (available in several tube diameters), an expandable foam kit, two collectors w/ flanges, a radius guide, 8 plastic end caps and an oversize shipping container." The idea was to bend the flex tube to the exact shape or pattern you want, use the radius guide to make certain the bends are able to be duplicated, fill the tubes with expandable foam using the end caps and let it dry. Then the customer would send the tubes to the company and they would duplicate the bends. They emphasized that the radius guide was very important, stating "swooping bends cannot be duplicated and may be cause for your patterns to be returned. Due to the configuration of mandrel bends, bends that are too close to each other (less than 4" apart) or compound bends cannot be easily duplicated." When I went to their web site (http://www.stainlessworks.net/), however, I could not find this kit mentioned. The firm only works in 304 stainless steel, which is relatively expensive compared to 'regular' steel. Perhaps they didn't get many customers who wanted the kit or perhaps there is another reason it's not listed on their web site. From the photos in their 1998 paper catalog, the tube looks like it might be similar to the old VW heater tubing (it had a paper feel to it although I don't know the actual material). I think that kind of tubing is still available from J.C. Whitney. From seeing posts from other people over the years, I think it may be possible to use steel flex tubing (the kind of tubing some people use for a cheap exhaust system). I bought 25 feet of 1 5/8" of flex tubing from Whitney that I think could be bent into the exact shapes for headers. At the minimum, it seems like the flex tubing could be used as a template to check out various header pipe routing configurations. So....while I think it would work, the flex tubing is still sitting in my garage waiting for me to start the project. Who knows, maybe it won't work very well but I want to give it a try. Now all I need is more time. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted May 30, 2002 Share Posted May 30, 2002 Burn's Stainless Used to, but I think they now just produce all the parts you need to make the exhaust yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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