jhaag Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 To make access to everything a little easier, I'd like to cut my tailpipes in several places and weld 3-bolt flanges on the pipes. The flanges are about 3/16" thick and I've never welded something thin, like the tailpipe, to something thick like the flange. I have a Miller 172 with possible voltage settings of 1-4 and wire feed settings of 0-100; I have some .023 wire currently loaded in the machine. What settings would you recommend? At best I'm still a rookie at mig welding so any advice you offer would be appreci,ated. Thanks. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 start your weld on the flange, and only dip down onto the pipe enough to keep a puddle there. About 60-70 % of your heat should be directed at the flange... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. G. Olphart Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 Your idea sounds good... let us know if there are any problems due to vibration. I've got a baby Miller (110 volt) so settings likely won't translate; on mine I'd try #3 and about 20-25. As you've likely noticed, weld speed has a lot to do with heat & feed. For sure play with scraps of the same thicknesses before trying anything real- saves a lot of grinding and/or hole plugging. I'd keep most of the heat/arc on the flanges (by holding closer to perpendicular on them) due to the disparity in thicknesses. Keeping the system aligned is obviously paramount. A person could try slipping the flanges over an existing installation. (Requires mandrel bends?). Slip pairs to where they will live-- or pairs might be placed as a system is built-- bolt the pairs together with washers slightly thicker than the saber saw/hack saw blade between them and tack/weld to the pipes. With the bolts removed & washers tapped out, the system could safely be cut apart & the welding finished with the system down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 73TPIZ Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 I went back and cut and welded flanges on my old system for the same reason you want to and it worked good, but i worried about hanging it on a curb or something (under my belly pan, yours may be in different place). I welded a little (2" long) ramp out of a small piece of metal leading up to the flange so it would slide over and not hang on stuff. worked great. Have you thought of band clamps if your cutting a straight section? i've done that on my new system and the are incredible. 5 min and i can drop my whole X-pipe from header turn-backs to rear axle. you just have to make sure your on a horizontal plane and any twisting from vibration won't mess you up. 9 bucks ea plus shipping ain't bad for stainless band clamps. Check them out. http://store.summitracing.com/product.asp?d=8&s=577&p=2014&searchtype=ecat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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