Aluminum or Stainless Piping
 

Just wondering what your guys' thoughts are on building IC piping. I can get either aluminum or stainless piping, and it doesn't matter much fab wise as I will be fabbing it myself and then have a welder friend buzz it together.... from anybody's experience, which one works out better? Thanks

I would go with aluminum if you'r friend can TIG weld.

I would say go with aluminum. I'd guess for nothing more than save some weight or could be cheaper.

I used stainless piping for my custom setup, the weight difference is infantisimal and the steel was cheaper as well, plus I also went for chroming rather than polished so......yeah.

doest stainless steel retain less heat? i believe thats right...

aluminum will transfer the heat faster than the stainless, hence it will remain cooler, aluminum is a better bet though stainless is stronger. the wieght will not factor in unless you are racing the car all the time. even then with this small amount of pipe it will not make a huge diff. i personally think a cromed stainless would look nicer but a polished aluminum is probally the way to go it will retain a hell of a lot less heat than the stainless. just like when your wife bakes she puts aluminum foil on the stainless baking pan you can grab the foil almost imediatly the pan takes an hour to touch. good luck lets see some pics when your done

Aluminum transfers heat better, which is the point to an IC.

spekdah , lets see some pics of yours... stainless might hold in less heat since it is thinner but it would take longer to disperse it no? The chroming thing would definitley make it easier to keep nice but chrome holds in heat so I would kinda like to avoid that.... plus my buddy can tig. He make all kinds of stuff. thanks for the input guys.

there ya go bro, Chromed Steel!! , the pipe on the left has been chromed since

That looks nice! What size of piping did you use?

2.5" , although thats a little naughty, I should be using 70mm but , its only a daily driver anyway

The primary reason to go with aluminum is weight and the fact that aluminum is easier to work (make bends, roll beads on the ends, etc.). No real reason not to use steel, especially if it's a relatively thin gauge. If it's mild steel, it needs to be coated so it doesn't rust.

The intercooler pipes aren't doing much if any heat transfer to the air, so that's not a concern.

Dale

same here, Aluminum is much lighter but it does take a bit of skill to weld.

awesome. I guess I'll go with the 2.75" aluminum piping. So is Ebay the place to be buying the piping or is there a better place to by DIY kits? I dont want to buy it piece by piece.