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5 evenings work + 1 tig welder = pround Nat!!!!
NS Dev - 13/5/06 at 10:36 PM

Have to say for the first time in my life I am genuinly REALLY proud of a piece of my own work, so i am going to blow my trumpet now!!

Decent exuast manufacturers quoted me approx £700 for a decent 4-2-1 manifold for my XE.

I bought a load of stainless mandrel mends and tube for £200 (but have used less than half of it so call it £100 worth of materials)


I bought the new TIG that I have been rattling on about for £525 9 days ago,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

here's my first piece of work::



exhaust 2
exhaust 2


exhaust 3
exhaust 3


exhaust 1
exhaust 1


exhaust 4
exhaust 4

I'm really chuffed and on this pccasion happy to blow my own trumpet!

DIY Si - 13/5/06 at 10:45 PM

quote:

I'm really chuffed and on this pccasion happy to blow my own trumpet!

And rightly so sir! Fancy making some of that £525 back?

andylancaster3000 - 13/5/06 at 10:45 PM

Thats really quite impressive! Going to have to do the same thing not long from now but was wondering a few things. Is stainless welding much harder then mild welding? Also, where did you buy the bends from?

Cheers,
Andy


EDIT!!: Sorry supposed to say mild welding rather then mig welding! Was a bit late for me!

[Edited on 14/5/06 by andylancaster3000]

Avoneer - 13/5/06 at 11:05 PM

Ooo, very nice.

Pat...

NS Dev - 13/5/06 at 11:05 PM

Stainless welding is just the same as mild steel welding BUT TIG welding is very different to MIG welding!

That manifold was all TIG welded, mig would be fine but nowhere near as neat!

The bends were bought from a place called SDW Light Fabrication:

SDW LIght Fab Linky

really helpful place, with possibly the best lady in the world on the phone, you'll have a right laugh with her!!

They deal with small orders and prices are "negotiable" (obviously within reason, they aren't the sort of place to f*** about!)

cheers

Nat

DIY Si - 13/5/06 at 11:08 PM

Fancy making me one when I get that far?
Go on, pleeeaaaassseee?

NS Dev - 13/5/06 at 11:09 PM

PS It isn't quite equal length, the 1-4 primaries are the same length as are the 2-3 but there's a slight difference between the two, but this is no different to any of the systems that I have measured from "major" manufaturers, and should spread the torque a touch as well.

NS Dev - 13/5/06 at 11:11 PM

quote:
Originally posted by DIY Si
Fancy making me one when I get that far?
Go on, pleeeaaaassseee?


Depends how far away from that point you are!

At the moment I am seriously short of time, as I want my car on the road this summer, but later in the year I will be able to take on some work. You'd probably have to get the bends though as it might be a bit cheeky for me to buy them from an exhaust manufaturer to make a manifold to sell on!!

DIY Si - 13/5/06 at 11:13 PM

I'm just about to finish making the chassis, and have a de-deon kit on the way, so won't need an exhaust for some time yet. I can get whatever bits you think you'd need from sdw. They're a 10 min drive from me.

NigeEss - 13/5/06 at 11:16 PM

Seriously impressed

Well don Nat.

omega0684 - 13/5/06 at 11:27 PM

could you do pinto exhaust manifolds?

exhaust is very impressive!

NS Dev - 13/5/06 at 11:31 PM

I could in the future, but not for the next couple of months, flat out with 7, racing grasser, spannering for a radical SR3 team, building a new grasser, going on Run to the sun, rebuilding a Manta and going on holiday to Siberia!! (oh and prob starting a new job as well!)

Simon - 13/5/06 at 11:52 PM

quote:
Originally posted by andylancaster3000
Thats really quite impressive! Going to have to do the same thing not long from now but was wondering a few things. Is stainless welding much harder then mig welding? Also, where did you buy the bends from?

Cheers,
Andy


Welding stainless with a tig is an absolute pleasure

I've tigged ally, mild & stainless and bronze (for work (loads)). Only mig'd mild and reckon stainless is second only to bronze for ease of welding.

Must buy a roll of stainless to try in my mig.

NS - very nice job

ATB

Simon

[Edited on 13/5/06 by Simon]

NS Dev - 14/5/06 at 12:03 AM

Simon, when you TIG ally (well, when I tig ally!) how do I stop the filler rod melting due to proximity to the arc, while still keeping it in the gas between dips!!????

I've been playing but it seems that I keep balling up the end of the filler rod and it gets black scum on it between dips, which buggers up the weld.

Any pointers??

Dante - 14/5/06 at 04:37 AM

quote:
Originally posted by NS Dev
I've been playing but it seems that I keep balling up the end of the filler rod and it gets black scum on it between dips, which buggers up the weld.

Any pointers??

NS, I find that when I'm welding aluminum the process is greatly facilitated by heating up the work a good deal. If there's a better way of getting good welds I'd love to know it, heating each time is a pain.

What welder did you get?

big_wasa - 14/5/06 at 06:18 AM

Nat,

nice work Is it fully welded or just tacked in place ? as its so neat.

Im just about getting the hang of my mig but I love how neat tig is . How hard is it to teach your self to do mild and stainless ? Ive found a course locall to me for about £250 but that would go a long way towards a good used machine if I could teach my self ??????????????????????

Macbeast - 14/5/06 at 06:48 AM

Brilliant work Dev. Put me down for a Pinto manifold when you've got time

907 - 14/5/06 at 06:58 AM

Hi Nat,

Proud? So you should be. Well done.

It's not just the money you save though,

it's when someone says, "that nice, where did you get that?"

"I made it" (smug grin)



What size is yours? (oo err)
With ceramics, big is best. Pic below shows my torches.
On the right is the one that came with my inverter. Little ceramics are great for getting in tight angles.
The ceramic on its own is the biggest I've got.

The torch on the left is the same as I use at work, rescued from the bin, as a lump of hot metal burnt
through it. It's still 3.5M long, plenty for home use.

Argon exits a large ceramic at lower velocity and spreads more. Literally, better gas flow all round.


atb

Paul G Rescued attachment tig-lens-002s.jpg
Rescued attachment tig-lens-002s.jpg

Jon Ison - 14/5/06 at 07:13 AM

Nat, top job.


Nat, wrong engine........

nitram38 - 14/5/06 at 07:36 AM

quote:
Originally posted by NS Dev
Simon, when you TIG ally (well, when I tig ally!) how do I stop the filler rod melting due to proximity to the arc, while still keeping it in the gas between dips!!????

I've been playing but it seems that I keep balling up the end of the filler rod and it gets black scum on it between dips, which buggers up the weld.

Any pointers??


It sounds like you are holding the torch at too steep an angle. Try making the tungsten as close to 90 degrees to the weld pool as poss.
This will ensure a more direct 'arc' and when you intoduce the rod it will only melt in the smaller area. Also the sheilding gas will be more even and you should not get the blackening you are talking about.

Also make sure that you are using a rounded tungsten that is closer to the ceramic. The photos of the torch in the previous posts are set up to steel or stainless, because the tungstens are pointed and stick out further than the alloy setup.

[Edited on 14/5/2006 by nitram38]

Krismc - 14/5/06 at 08:15 AM

quote:
...Nat, top job.



yea and the rest... i think thats bloody brilliant, i think you should do a how too course in ya garage £25 for a days course

how about it??



PS i have a doner vehicle

mark chandler - 14/5/06 at 08:33 AM

Really neat and tidy, hours of pleasure doing that.

Please can you let me know the order that you approached the construction, i.e. which parts you made first and the order of assembly ?

Cheers Mark

ditchlewis - 14/5/06 at 09:05 AM

wonderful job, just wish i could do that.

you're the man....

ditch

NS Dev - 14/5/06 at 09:32 AM

quote:
Originally posted by 907
Hi Nat,

Proud? So you should be. Well done.

It's not just the money you save though,

it's when someone says, "that nice, where did you get that?"

"I made it" (smug grin)



What size is yours? (oo err)
With ceramics, big is best. Pic below shows my torches.
On the right is the one that came with my inverter. Little ceramics are great for getting in tight angles.
The ceramic on its own is the biggest I've got.

The torch on the left is the same as I use at work, rescued from the bin, as a lump of hot metal burnt
through it. It's still 3.5M long, plenty for home use.

Argon exits a large ceramic at lower velocity and spreads more. Literally, better gas flow all round.


atb

Paul G


Cheers Paul!

I do use a pretty big ceramic. I bought a load of smaller ones and some 1.6 tungstens but found that I got on much better with 2.5mm tungstens sharpened to a razor point, with a gas lens and a number 8 gas lens ceramic, that's what I used on all of the manifold.

Only tricky bit was getting between the pipes at the collector, where I just turned the gas right up and extended to tungsten about 1" past the cup!!!!!

cheers for the advice over the last week or two!!

NS Dev - 14/5/06 at 09:42 AM

quote:
Originally posted by big_wasa
Nat,

nice work Is it fully welded or just tacked in place ? as its so neat.

Im just about getting the hang of my mig but I love how neat tig is . How hard is it to teach your self to do mild and stainless ? Ive found a course locall to me for about £250 but that would go a long way towards a good used machine if I could teach my self ??????????????????????


Fully welded of course!!!! Just very small welds so they are tricky to see!

Following my experience I would say you will pick up TIG on steel (mild or stainless, the latter is prob easier cos its usually much cleaner steel) very quickly, particularly if you can gas weld (but I have never really done much gas welding and I didn't struggle)

Basically it's the same as with mig, go VERY slowly, and watch what IS happening, not what you want to happen. If you get a machine, there a several people on here who do the job for a living and can offer you great advice, that's where I found out most of my info, plus various free internet downloads.

It's very satisfying!!

Don't buy a cheap chinese inverter if oyu can avoid it. The GYS inverters are as cheap as any really and are french built and prob the cheap DC inverter to go for, but obviously you can't weld ally with them. if you want to weld ally consistently and with a reliable machine you either need a decent used inverter from Lincoln, Miller, Murex and the like, or a used thyristor machine like my ESAB, which are around £750 recon with new torch etc etc.

907 - 14/5/06 at 09:43 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Krismc
quote:
...Nat, top job.



yea and the rest... i think thats bloody brilliant, i think you should do a how too course in ya garage £25 for a days course


how about it??


PS i have a doner vehicle






Learn How To Weld A Car For £250


I'll get mi coat

NS Dev - 14/5/06 at 09:57 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
Really neat and tidy, hours of pleasure doing that.

Please can you let me know the order that you approached the construction, i.e. which parts you made first and the order of assembly ?

Cheers Mark


You've hit the nail on the head there Mark, the order of assembly is the key, as is a good belt linisher and an abrasive chop saw!!

Basically, trick number one is make the longest pipe first, then put loops in the others the get the lengths equal.

trick number two is to get pairs of 30 degree bends made, to make the tubular collectors from. Cut the bends acrossways and lengthways in such a way as you can weld them together to form the collector. weld the centre of the join together from inside the collector, pref with back gas on the outside (thanks Paul G!!) and then weld the edge parts from the outside. The Simpson exhausts website has some good pics of welded collectors to get ideas from!!

On my manifold, pipes 1-4 are the same length as are 2-3, but there's a slight difference between the two. I thought this a problem but then I measured some race manifolds and found them just the same! It will spread the torque a bit anyway and the main extraction is from 1-4 and 2-3 anyway.

Danozeman - 14/5/06 at 10:16 AM

NIce job there mate... Looks better than alot of the pro jobbies!!!!

Shame i bought my manifold.

andylancaster3000 - 14/5/06 at 11:15 AM

Edit on my first post on this thread, so now I don't look like a goon!

the_fbi - 14/5/06 at 11:18 AM

quote:
Originally posted by NS Dev
I bought the new TIG that I have been rattling on about for £525 9 days ago,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Seems a good price, what did you get, from where?
And that included the torch, leads, regulator etc?

Stunning job btw, better than the one on my Megablade wich was either KCW or Westfields attempt.

flak monkey - 14/5/06 at 11:49 AM

Mmmm nice work Nat

Amazing what a bit of time, patience and practice can acheive!

Keep up the good work.

MikeR - 14/5/06 at 03:51 PM

I'd just like to say having seen it, its not that nice, in fact its rather poor. Personally i think you'd be better off going to a professional to get one.


Right, thats the queue of people wanting an exhaust sorted out. Nat, seeing as you're not too busy, any chance of sorting me out an exhaust so i can stop p*ssing about with flywheels and starter motors?

Lawnmower - 14/5/06 at 05:20 PM

Looks good!

quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
Really neat and tidy, hours of pleasure doing that.

Please can you let me know the order that you approached the construction, i.e. which parts you made first and the order of assembly ?

Cheers Mark


keith tanner's book on building a seven type car with an mx5 doner has a chapter on this as well.

l

Peteff - 14/5/06 at 05:22 PM

Nice job Nat Wait till you get the hang of it, there'll be no stopping you.

Fred W B - 14/5/06 at 05:41 PM

Very nice piece of work Nat - Seems you are going to have to give up the day job now.

You have convinced me I'm going to have to buy an inverter sooner or later.

Cheers

Fred W B

[Edited on 14/5/06 by Fred W B]

bob - 14/5/06 at 06:07 PM

Nat

Very impressive work as is the rest of your build,you should be proud too

Simon - 14/5/06 at 08:45 PM

quote:
Originally posted by NS Dev
Simon, when you TIG ally (well, when I tig ally!) how do I stop the filler rod melting due to proximity to the arc, while still keeping it in the gas between dips!!????

I've been playing but it seems that I keep balling up the end of the filler rod and it gets black scum on it between dips, which buggers up the weld.

Any pointers??


Ask someone who knows what they're doing My ally welding is limited to about two feet so far Though I had another go today and had much better results than last time. I watched what was happening() and just fed in the rod as quikly as it needed it. The other thing to bear in mind (re ally) is that the stuff I've been welding is quite thick (plenum). Gonna try some thin stuff this week. Need to make a boot

ATB

Simon

Phil. S - 14/5/06 at 08:54 PM

I think the manifold on my XE is the original manifold modified for rear wheel drive, so not that great. I'd definitely be interested in one of yours when you have time, and if you have the inclination. I just love bonnet exit manifolds, and your looks superb!

NS Dev - 14/5/06 at 10:43 PM

Cheers Phil!

Now at least I know what bends I need for an XE manifold now! To be honest not that many. Think there were about 14 used in total (I bought 27!!)

If you haven't bought one from elsewhere by the time I have some time to spare I'll look into doing one for you!

wildchild - 15/5/06 at 07:50 AM

pretty damn good.

hmm, time to start saving for a tig setup...

muzchap - 15/5/06 at 11:50 AM

Nice work Nat

I just got my exhaust on as well - looks like we're pretty even on the build

ned - 15/5/06 at 11:57 AM

good job nat, wish i had the time and space to get the kit and learn myself - guess i'm too impatient!

Ned.

Phil. S - 15/5/06 at 12:10 PM

quote:
If you haven't bought one from elsewhere by the time I have some time to spare I'll look into doing one for you!


Cheers. Just let me know when you are ready.