cast elbow or silicone hose?
 

I'm wondering if there is any consensus, or pros and cons of using a silicone elbow on the compressor housing outlet vs welding on a cast aluminum elbow.

Seems like the weld on elbow could save a little space.

The cast elbow does use less space and will never blow out or wear out.
I use one on my GT35R.

Cast elbows remove the likely hood of flexing and bursting. It's best to just rely on straight couplers as pressure never compromises their integrity unlike pressure with silicone elbows. You're more likely to have a coupler slip off before it busts but if you have the extra time, it's time well spent.

+1

Find a good aluminum welder and have one welded on.

Attachment 666313
Attachment 666314

From a reliability perspective yeah you want as few joints as possible. You want straight couplers only. You want the ends of the pipes to have a lip on them, and you want the pipes to sit in the engine bay such that they are aligned and have only a small gap between them.

I've been kicking this around in my mind but not being experienced with this whole turbo thing I was afraid there might be some reason not to.

As far as the welding, I can do that.

And you guys have given good enough cause to do so.

:bigthumb:

Thanks for the input.

Silicone elbow works just fine with t-bolt clamps. Pros with silicone elbow is that you can rotate it however you like vs welded cast elbow where its in one final position once welded. There is no special gains in both, its just preferences.

When I see T-bolt clamps on customers cars all I can think of is how they probably got ripped off on poor fitting IC piping and then ripped off again on 120$ in T-bolt clamps to keep it together.

If you can't run 40lbs through your piping on fifty cent clamps then your fabricator isn't doing his job right.

Cast elbows for sure, straight couplers only.

Weld it on way better

Attachment 505274

Totally agree, and I've also seen people who try and clamp the crap out of them and end up crushing the pipes.

Best solution is to clock your turbo in the best position possible and weld the cast elbow on it so all you have to use are straight section silicon hose pieces.

Really, quit being cheap and use more quality parts on your builds. Any good fabricator will never suggest using 50 cent clamps especially when you already have thousands of dollars invested in the build.
It really disappointing when people are still being so cheap when it comes to a good quality build.

Tell me who boosts 40lbs on 50cent worm clamps?

Those piping are called thin wall tubing that weren't met for a heavy clamping. Use better tubing materials then you won't have that problems.

Wiggins clamps would be best if a budget wasn't an issue....

That's exactly why I run wiggins clamps. Over $1600 for 4 of them (4 inch ones). But they sure do look sexy.

TBolt clamps suck.
Other than the fact they look like crap as someone mentioned above if the fabricator is good it does not matter what clamps you use.

Why do they suck?

I have a good array of cast alum elbows sitting in a shelf. I hate, wait let me say that again, I HATE having to deal with cast alum elbows. Removing or reinstalling them are a pain the ass :lol:

Everyone who knows that T-bolts are an 'up-sell' shops use to kids with crappy intercooler piping?

Tell me which real race team uses T-bolt clamps?

They'll either use Murray turbo seal hose clamps, which is what I use on my car, or they'll make the jump to Wiggens.


Forreal, 50 cent clamps are fine forever if your IC piping was done by someone competent. If for some reason you have some hair brained notion of having to spend 20$ a coupler on clamps or else your build is "cheap"

Murray Constant Tensions.
Constant Tension Clamps

PS, on FDs the piping is so short with wiggins I doubt its a problem, but chassis flex/engine movement can become an issue with wiggens.

+1 for Murray turbo clamps...

Technical Articles | How Strong Are Your Hose Clamps | Turbosmart USA

Thread is getting off topic.....Congrats to the English Town champ using T-bolt clamps.
https://www.rx7club.com/rotary-car-p...nifold-768878/