My down pipe elbow fab.
 

yo, i just wanted to show off my first attempt to make a downpipe elbow, or any real exhaust fabrication for that fact.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...stelbow004.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...stelbow003.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...stelbow002.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...stelbow001.jpg

i'm using that and the mazdatrix flange underneath of it. after i get the tranny back in it, i'm running it down to the local exhaust/tire shop and having them bend me a full 3" straight pipe system from the elbow (the elbow is 3" pipe as well). I know i still need to put a O2 sensor bung in it.

I know my welds kindof suck, but this is the first time i've welded in 2yrs.

ehh...it would probably be a good idea to not make the bend so sharp

yeah, i thought about it, but i think it'll be ok for my crush bent 3" system.

i would just keep the flange and throw the rest away. let someone else make it or but a pre bent mandrel bend and weld it to the flange. if someone else is making the rest of the exhaust, might as well let them do the down pipe.

Go to the local tubing supplier and get a 90 degree "ornamental stainless" weld el in the size you need (2.5"). It will be a few dollars and has a very nice constant radius bend.

lol, there is no "local" tubing suplier or mandrel bender out here in BFE where i live.

Or you can order a full U bend online and make your whole downpipe with it. Ordering stuff online sucks because of the wait but eh.

meh, dont really wanna wait, lol.

FAIL

Do it right or don't do it al all. You can call summit and order the pieces you need and have them the next day...... at least I know they had the best prices on the 2.5" Magnaflow beds I bought.

college = less then no money, it should be proficent for my aplication and it was free at my dad's lumberyard's truck shop. The exhaust doesnt bend at a 90 degree angle, its more like 60, so i figured i could just do a 30/30 with one cut and be ok, rather then a 45/45 for a 90 degree (I would have made three or four peices, so 30/30/30 or 22.5/22.5/22.5/22.5).

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...115+4294864577

If you can't spend $21.95 + shipping to do it right than you have no business owning this car

why not just save up and buy the racing beat rev tii. it's the best exhaust you can get. No unnecessary attention from the cops and its like 65hp right there.

yea... unless you can weld like Aaron Cake then you should probably just buy a down pipe. I believe there is one for sale in the parts section for like $65...

or follow Titanium's advice and use pre-made bends and try again.

because honestly... that weld is embarrassing...

That weld is no worse then my first exhaust project...and I ran 12s with it. :)

But proper mandrel bends or thin case ornamental bends are so cheap that it's not worth trying to bodge something together.

If the OP wants to make a bend, then instead pie sections should be cut to make a more gradual transition.

yeah, i think i'm gonna give it another shot, but make 2, 20degree cuts (IE 20/20/20) to achive my 60.

thanks for sticking up for me aaron insted of arguing with me like on other threads, LMAO.

Come on, don't hold back.Tell him exactly how you feel....lol :D

Not to mention the time involved. I'm not going to say what I bill for my time but if you think about how long would it take someone to make a bunch of pie cuts and then weld it up :rolleyes: Well you get the idea. Time in and dollars out or time out and dollars saved does not compute for somepeople.

I was trying to avoid posting on this, but it keeps getting bumped, cause I can be mean.. but EPIC FAIL.

Theres very cheap and easy alternatives then what POS you built. Keep the flange, worst case go to a junk yard and take a piece of junk desiel exhaust (3") and make a freakin down pipe if you can't afford a $35 muffler shop to make you one. I'm sure someone on this forum could donate a better dp then that one. Its a horrible design, and horrible fab/welds. GARBAGE, straight up, sorry to be such a dick, but common man.......

By the way, I commend you for making the effort in making your own stuff...... awsome, but you have to know when its not going to work, or if something else will work better, espcially when something else could cost less/same or take less effort.

Not optimal, but easier to fab with better results then what you got. Just take a straight piece of tubing and make many cuts in it like 1/8" apart and 3/4 of the pipe depth. Then you should be able to bend the pipe making a smooth transition and weld up the slots.

~Mike............

yeah, i said i was goint to try it again with lots more sections.

I want to know how to be able to fabricate exhaust, thats why i didnt buy a bend.

i know the welds suck, but for not welding in 2yrs its not to bad i think. they just look nasty, they got good penitration in the metal and it was a but weld. I also didnt get the welder setings figured out till i was almost done with it (i weld by feel).

good try. ill give you that.

when i get some free time i'm gonna make a new one wiht 4, 15 degree wedges. that should make a lot smoother radius.

Or just do it the right way AND SPEND A LITTLE MONEY!!!!!!!

If you haven't welded in 2 years and couldn't get the settings right after an entire bead, you'll either have a weld that looks like wax drippings or you'll burn right through the material. Spend the money and don't worry about any of those problems. Not to mention that flow right after the turbo is most important.

you mig welded this right???

dude, chill, seriously. its not yours so dont worrie about it

If the HKS and REV TII system is a 2.5" DP then a 3" with minor restiction should be more then adiquite, think about it that way.

and what have you welded? it looks like wax dripings becasue it was a little cold, but it still go good pentiration (IE heat marks on the inside of the pipe). i know the setting now so if i do it again, they'll be nice. And its not a contiuous bead, its a bunch of small beads so as not to warp the pipe, durr.

yes, mig welded.

i should have Aset/Oxy welded it, and showed you guys some old-skool welding from a "young" kid.

dont worry, if it don't buy name brand ish/try to make something yourself 90% of rx7club will hate it.

looks like my downpipe, the way i look at it- it'll help prevent overboosting!

LMAO

yeah guys, i made it shitty on purpose for protection, jeeze, lol.

N00b - cold does not equal good penetration. It looks like was drippings becuase your wire speed was too fast.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...9&d=1221371729

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...3&d=1220771578
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...0&d=1220503258
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...5&d=1220253168
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...4&d=1220253168
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...3&d=1220253168
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...6&d=1217793931
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...7&d=1202324732
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...4&d=1202187583
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...2&d=1202187583
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...6&d=1200369136
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...5&d=1200369136

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1196736542
http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1193203763
http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1193204166
http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1193204166
http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1193204166
http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1196263806
http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1199130250
http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1199131373
http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1198818456
http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1200892724
http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1200893356

You want more????? :fawk:

What's that orange thingy? Is that a horn?

To the OP, I suggest watching some welding videos on youtube and reading a bit, then practicing on scrap before starting on the final product.

Weldingweb.com has quite a bit of info as well, I suggest boning up before you attempt welding that flange to that piece of... whatever you want to call it. It just takes a bit of practice and you'll be busting out blingin' ass welds in no time.

well excuse me master of the weld.

why dont you come to michigan and weld it for me.

and my welds look liked that after i turned the voltage up a little, not that the wire speed is too fast.

BTW i also ground the welds down some, but that should be obvious to a pro like you.

LOL, REted about welding.

that and i should say that it had enough heat to make good penitration.

WOW! LOL! That is straight shit... sorry, but you should have kept that poop a secret. :)

No
-Someone with better things to do

Dood, PUT THE WELDER DOWN AND SLOWLY STEP AWAY FROM ANY AL ALL FABRICATION PROJECTS!!!!

Your wire speed was too fast and/or your amps were too low. <- That's a period. It means the end of, in this case, a fact. If your amps were too high you would have burned the material away. Your settings were WAY off.

Can you imagine the shit he's keeping to himself :rlaugh:

Yes, It's a Hella horn. Can in pairs. They COMMAND respect.

To the OP

this is a MIG weld

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1198818456

Just incase you thought that all I did was TIG

lol dude,

don't fuck with Titanium, he'll eat you... and your family.

and for the love of god, get a mandrel bent piece for the curve, and weld on a straight pipe to that. That way you get to do your own down pipe welding AND it will flow properly! everybody wins! yay!

amps were too low, just by a touch.

obviously you dont have better things to do if your on here mocking peoples first atempt at fabrication.

Not true, but you posted your horrible work on the internet. What did you expect? It's like this.... I personally am NOT a pro cage fighter. But, what if I stepped into the cage and fought with pros. I would probally get my ass kicked hardcore. Then I decide to post the fight on the internet. What do you think the comments would be like LOL? I have no business being in there. Think about it. Great you tried, but you got your ass kicked by the welder LOL :)

no matter how awesome your shit is someone is going to think that i sux

same thing happened when i ported my motor and posted the pics. i thought i was good till the internet came in and said otherwise. so i didnt post any more pics about it or argue it further, they will win.

prefection snobs, lol.

p-e-r-f-e-c-t-i-o-n? :D


-Ted

TTT definitely knows how to weld, And I certainly can't weld as well as him, but his welds are nowhere near "prefection". Although I am sure he is proud of them (as he should be) I bet he would be the first to admit they aren't perfect.

I hope to god you are fucking kidding! I should be more proud of the shit I just took 5mins ago. Don't be a tard and defend his work LOL. Did you event look a the "fab" work he did?!? Look at it again and say he can weld. I dare you LOL. Ray cHarles could weld just as good LOL. YOU TARD!

Maybe your loking at the wrong stuff. The original poster's "welds" are in the very first post of this thread. I honestly think you were looking at something else. I hope atleast...

He's talking about Titanium TT.

Regardless, for him to discourage geargrinder from future welding projects was completely unnecessary and uncalled for considering geargrinder admittedly stated his welds weren't the best. Everyone has to learn, some people's learning curves are different from others.

Yes, we all have learn of course. The problem is, the OP was trying to defend his shitt welds. This is the internet, he should have known the outcome. THAT'S IT. Great he tried and it came out shitty. WTF does he want? It's like he wants us all to suck his fucking dick or something. GREAT TRY! Sorry for the shitty outcome of your work.

https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...stelbow002.jpg

Thanks :icon_tup: I will admit that some of them need work, but there are a few in there that I would say are preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeety close to perfect :lol: About 1/2 of my TIG welding pj's are in there. The front strut tower bar was my first real attempt. You can see a progression in the uniformity of the beads. I also had a powersupply problem and my welder kept blowing fuses. I couldn't get the AMPs I needed to do the 1/4" stuff. I would blow the breaker ~115-120A and I should've been 130+ so the penetration wasn't there. hmmmmm lesson learned. Call an electrician before continuing projects :rlaugh:

I discouraged him after he shrugged off good advice. If you want to learn great, but when you have someone that KNOWS what he did wrong and he still won't listen, that's when you know the guy has no business trying to learn becuase a) he won't take advice b) defends shit to the end c) doesn't know what he did wrong but still thinks he's right

I found a piece that I built when I first got my welder :icon_tdow I've come ALONG way with both my MIG and TIG. The MIG was pretty much all self taught. Run a bead, make notes of what I did right and more importantly what I did wrong. I learned by trial and error. My TIG experience was a little different. I picked up the torch and good lord it was ugly. I bought a book and did some reading, a little research on the interenet but the real tips came from my EMS guru. We were chatting one day and he gave me a few tips to try. We both bounce ideas off each other about what works and again, what doesn't. I like to think that we both learned from each other. I know I've learned alot about TIG just from talking to him about some of his experiences.

That said, the difference between myself and the OP is that I was willing to listen to someone much older and with alot more expierence than myself & guess what, my beads got ALOT better. That dash I posted in the first pic. That was my second attempt at sheet AL welding. The first one was a disaster because I had the balance turned up way to high. I melted through in a few spots. I had the balance turned up way high on the advice of my guru. THe higher the balance the more penetration. The less balance the more cleaning. I turned the balance down to almost nill and the beads still needed improvement. By the time I got to the sides, I had it dialed in. Guess what, lesson learned. The OP didn't learn a fucking thing between his crap weld or the advice given. It took me one or two beads to dial in the settings with the MIG to do my exhaust. 1/2 way through the first weld it was dialed in and I was off to finish it off. I'm discouraging him becuase he doesn't want to learn. He just wants attention

Just wrap it with some heat wrap...

that elbow is too well done.

this is better.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...a/IMG_0017.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ota/fpmani.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ta/fpmani2.jpg

That is the greatest manifold I've ever seen.

I'm going to use it as my wallpaper. Whoever made that thing needs to step away from the welder....

By the way, I just bought this:

http://www.aaroncake.net/forum/uploa...5_Econotig.jpg

Edit...I hope we are not discouraging the original poster from taking up welding. Everyone's welds are crap in the beginning, so what's being said shouldn't be taken as insults. For example, here's one of my masterpieces from 8 years ago. Done with a $99 AC buzz box stick welder:

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/turboi...wnpipe%201.jpg

For the OP. Taking a look back at your welds, besides the using the incorrect settings. I'm going to guess that your welding mask is way too dark or you are not using one at all.

First I would recommend making sure you have a mask that you can properly see through. This will help you make continuous welds and to do better straight lines.

Second weld on some similar metal until you get all your settings right (eventually you wont need to do this)

And finally once you have done the first two things practice welding in a circle around tubing.

If you do these things you should see a huge improvement in your welds.

yeah, the mask was way too dark, the auto-dark one broke a while ago. so i was using a really old and dark mask.

you are correnct, i should have spent more time figure out the correct setings.

i did not want to buy a prebent pipe becasue I WANTED TO LEARN HOW to make elbows like this. That was the whole point, i just rememberd i could have easily run down to the local advanced auto, fliped open the book and bought an elbow for like $20.

the fact is that i do not own a welder, but wish to become proficent enough for what i want to do. (I also said on the first page i was goint to do it again now that i had the setting figured out and using 4 15 degree cuts.)

the elbow was in the trash 2 days ago.

BTW is that a rigged up manifold up there for a KA24E? ^^^