fabricating intercooler pipes?
 

I want to get the Greddy 2 row but the version with piping to the Greddy elbow is on backorder for another two weeks. I can't wait. How hard would it be to make the piping meant for the stock elbow to fit?

It's not hard if you find someone who is an expert on welding aluminum pipes. Remember how thin aluminum pipes are, you can blow a hole it in it quick. You can pick up some aluminum pipe and u-bends at Burn's Stainless. Just keep in mind that it cost about 3 times as much as steel bends.

wait and do it the right way!

I did my own. The only thing is finding someone who can weld good with a tig. Making the bends is pretty easy if you have patience.

I just finished doing mine.....they came out pretty good IMO. They were quite pricey though! I got the U-bend for $80 and the straight for $30 from Burn's. I have to have my friend weld it and weld the BOV on and i'm done! Pics are in my thread in the 3rd gen section under "she's almost finished".

The people at Burns Stainless are great and very helpful. The pipes can be purchased in either A, B or C grades depending upon imperfections. Depends on how anal you are. All material in Aluminum is 6061 T6 or harder. It gets harder with age.

I would not recommend trying to mandrel bend them yourself. I tried by Annealing straight tubing with a rose bud and heat crayon markers to 550 degrees F. for around 1 hour with out much luck. My bends up to 45 degrees had very small ripples ( probably should of tried more hold down pressure)and over 45 degrees looked really bad. After doing more research, I found out that 750 degrees F. for multiple hours ( like 20) then 500 F. for a few more and then a water quench (which I could not understand. ) I was way off and my results showed that.

So buy nice mandrel bends, cut them, fit them and take them to a competent welder. If you are anal like I am, design the bends so you can clean up the inside after welding (over penetration, ooze through). The outside might look beautiful but the inside ( The most important )might be full of SHT