Guest ZmeFly Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 ive been asking around and it seems most people are either afraid around my hick town and or just dont want to do the welding to my ic pipes. the two places that did want to or would try to do it wanted over 350 dollars :oO i want a nice clean look and not have tons of silicone couplers everywhere. i do have some welding experience, and a welder but i dont have a way to test and see if i would be doing a complete job, ie no leaks in the parts of the pipe that i weld. second i wouldnt know what type of rods to use to do this as well. does anyone have any suggestions to what i should do or how i should go about this. im really missing my car and i have my piping couplers should be here in 2 days. someone please help!! thanks ps from my searches i couldnt find anything in the archives that really covers this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 You are using steel pipes, right? A buddy of mine had no problems with mine, weld 'em up, grind down the beads, he even had them plated for corrosion protection... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZmeFly Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 im using aluminized steel pipes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 somebody on this board once suggested tack welding them in the right bend/shape, then covering the seam in JB weld and sanding it down/painting it. I used alum steel pipe for mine. I spent about three hours cutting and welding them together, then i sealed of the ends and fill it with water, letting it sit over night, if the water level dropped..or the weld was wet I knew i had a leak and just ground the old weld down and threw a fat bead over it.... test and repeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZmeFly Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 did you use a rod welder or a mig or i have a rod welder and access to a mig. the mig seems sloppy though and a lot of grinding, id like to use the rod welder as im more proficient in it. would brazing rods work well or ? thanks for all the input guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 I just finished my 2.25" piping for my car, all done in steel with a wire fed mig. Turned out awesome and I primed and painted metallic silver them to protect them. Pics are available on my site http://www.picturetrail.com/slownrusty Regards - Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 You could use bioth types of welder to get the job done. I have a mig welder and they work fine for this. You will want to weld them up and check for leaks by doing what Sparky said or by pressurising (sp) the pipes some how and looking and listening for leaks. No dought it won't be perfect the first time out but, it's either that or spend the money for a professional to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 right now im using a cheap 200$ MIG. and it really turned out nicely for the amount of time and effort I put into it. eventually I will be buying a TIG welder and fabbing up a set in alum. instead of steel . I will probably add a sealing bead around the ends to prevent the hoses from blowing off under high boost pressure (that my will probably never see ) anywho, thats my story and im stickin to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 If the pipes are aluminized you'll have to sand/grind the aluminizing away from each joint - at least 1" on each side of the joint, maybe even more. If you're TIG welding, buy a couple pounds of ER70S-2 .045 or .040 filler. If you're MIG welding buy a 5 pound spool of ER70S-6 .035 or .030 filler. Use a shielding gas (Argon for TIG and C25 for MIG) and practice on some scrap tubing before welding the real thing. Be sure to limit penetration inside the tube. That disrupts airflow. Depending on how complex the IC tubing is, $350 is a reasonable price to pay a professional welder. I would expect the parts to be nicely TIG welded for that price. I would guess that a lot of welders refused the job because of the aluminized pipes. That stuff is pretty nasty and really requires a separate air source for the welder when it starts smoking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1SickZ Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Any machine shop does welds.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awd92gsx Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 If you're interested, I can build a page showing how to make your own intake pressurizer...you could use that to test your pipe welds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Any machine shop does welds.. Scary thought! That's like saying every welding shop does machining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 I understand your desire to not have any leaks, but if you are worried about finding a pinhole leak, that will have ZERO effect on your performance. I guess maybe a tiny bit if you are using a MAF, but the effect under boost will be negligable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZmeFly Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 id appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z Turbo Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 You should tig all your pipes. One note, you MUST grind off the aluminized material before you weld or it can make the weld look like ass. If you want to tack them all and send them to me I can have them professionally TIG welded for no more than $100. It is important your fitup is very tight or it can make the weld look like ass when using TIG. MIG welding usually likes a small gap so you can assure proper penetration. Let me know in an e-mail if you would like help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Sounds to me like you got a good offer from James. I'd jump on it. Another thing you can do to make sure you don't have any pinhole leaks is to use some high build primer when painting them. That should do a decent job of sealing them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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