Simon
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posted on 3/2/03 at 11:34 AM |
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Exhaust tubing - gauge
Chaps,
Will shortly be starting the construction of my exhaust system.
Does anyone have any suggestions on wall thicknesses.
Was thinking of 18 / 20 swg
Thanks
ATB
Simon
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kingr
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posted on 3/2/03 at 01:14 PM |
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The wall thickness will depend on what material you are using, because with SS I would suspect that your suggesions would be suitable, but if you're
using mild steel, you'll need it a LOT thicker, because with all that heat, pressure and moisture, it's gonna rust, fast, and 20g will fall to bits
in no time.
Kingr
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stephen_gusterson
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posted on 4/2/03 at 08:16 PM |
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the exhaust tubing I bought from Europa, sold as suchwas approx 1mm in size - so thats 20 swg?
have you hought of taking a pair of measuring calipers to the walls of your tail pipe of a road car?
atb
steve
[Edited on 4/2/03 by stephen_gusterson]
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paulf
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posted on 4/2/03 at 10:45 PM |
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quote: Originally posted by stephen_gusterson
the exhaust tubing I bought from Europa, sold as suchwas approx 1mm in size - so thats 20 swg?
have you hought of taking a pair of measuring calipers to the walls of your tail pipe of a road car?
atb
steve
[Edited on 4/2/03 by stephen_gusterson]
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paulf
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posted on 4/2/03 at 10:48 PM |
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Im not sure about metric size but when ever i have bought any imperial exhaust tube it goes in steps of 1/8 inch and one size fits inside the next
telescope style, therefore it is 16gauge or i.5mm wall thickness
Paul.
quote: Originally posted by paulf
quote: Originally posted by stephen_gusterson
the exhaust tubing I bought from Europa, sold as suchwas approx 1mm in size - so thats 20 swg?
have you hought of taking a pair of measuring calipers to the walls of your tail pipe of a road car?
atb
steve
[Edited on 4/2/03 by stephen_gusterson]
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Simon
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posted on 5/2/03 at 10:11 AM |
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Steve,
I thought of measuring the tailpipe on car, but all in the interests of safety, it's got a rolled end, and I have nothing to measure it with (only
vernier).
As an aside, I requested some tube prices from the people I got the rest from and mentioned I was using it for an exhaust. Their comment went:
"......we are not in any position to comment on the suitability of these
products for exhausts although we are aware that they get used for this
purpose"
Does that sound a roudabout way of saying "Yeah, it's fine, just don't tell anyone I told you so".
In a later email, they did suggest I contact Piper Cams in Ashord, to whom they supply steel.
Cheers for your helps chaps
ATB
Simon
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kingr
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posted on 5/2/03 at 01:27 PM |
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I would say that while your tail pipe may well be mild steel 20g, I doubt that your manifold will be. I assumed "system" meant the whole lot. To be
fair, there's not going to be a vast ammount of water hanging around your manifold, but the temperatures and pressures are certainly up there.
Kingr
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stephen_gusterson
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posted on 6/2/03 at 07:55 PM |
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the stuff from europa is not as big as 1.6mm
its much more like 1.2mm and if i could clear the crap off my car since my recent extension building, id find my caliper and measure it!
at the end of the day, you will be driving a car thats only gonna be doing 5k or so a year, and unlikely to be in the wet much.....so the biggest
problem is acidic corrosion in the exhaust.
To that I say that on a production car, the last bit to go is the hot bit at the front - and thats about all there is to a locost!
1.6mm would be better but 1.2mm on a low duty useage car like a locost isnt gonna rust or corrode that massively fast....
the convoluted flexy stuff I bought for the front bendy bits looks ;like its about as thick as fag paper.
atb
steve
[Edited on 6/2/03 by stephen_gusterson]
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Simon
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posted on 6/2/03 at 10:09 PM |
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Steve,
Ordered 12.2 metres of 1.5" 16 swg, 6.1 metres of 2" swg yesterday. Should've arrived by now!!
Also ordered a 12 ton tube bender from Screwfix - £99.99. If anyone wants to know how it performs, it should arrive next week, so I'll let you
know!!
As for my vehicles use (assuming it ever gets finished), I hope to use it all year round, come rain, shine or snow.
ATB
Simon
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kingr
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posted on 7/2/03 at 10:06 AM |
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I think the general feeling on the tube/pipe bender from screwfix/machine mart is that it's a pipe bender rather than a tube bender, and while it may
well bend thickwall pipe admirably, its performance may leave something to be desired as far as bending thin wall tube. Look at some of the other post
for more info.
Kingr
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stephen_gusterson
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posted on 7/2/03 at 08:20 PM |
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quote: Originally posted by Simon
Steve,
Ordered 12.2 metres of 1.5" 16 swg, 6.1 metres of 2" swg yesterday. Should've arrived by now!!
Also ordered a 12 ton tube bender from Screwfix - £99.99. If anyone wants to know how it performs, it should arrive next week, so I'll let you
know!!
As for my vehicles use (assuming it ever gets finished), I hope to use it all year round, come rain, shine or snow.
ATB
Simon
I recon thats a good choice of size - bigger is better
a pipe bender too......i have spent money on one or tow tools I wont use that much - but a pipe bender - you could be a plumber afterwards!
cos my exhaust is totally under the car, I just cut and welded a few sections together, with overwrapped strips over the joins - looks ok under the
car, but not a thing of beauty for the ouside.
could you not buy preformed bends from somewhere - I think u can buy tubes to make own manifolds.....might be europa too....
perhaps you are gonna be simon epb (exhaust pipe bender) and can emulate PTM's fame
atb
steve
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paulf
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posted on 7/2/03 at 09:30 PM |
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A friend of mine bought one of these to bend exhaust tubing and found it to be a total waste of time, all he managed was to squash the tube almost
flat at the centre of the bend.We have thought of filling the tube with sand or lead which may then allow it to be used. I am planning on making a 4
branch manifold and intend to fill the tube with dry sand and then heat to red heat and bend freehand .There was some information on TOL awhile ago
but it seems to have been removed now, I have searched the net but so far found little other information on the technique.
Paul.
quote: Originally posted by kingr
I think the general feeling on the tube/pipe bender from screwfix/machine mart is that it's a pipe bender rather than a tube bender, and while it may
well bend thickwall pipe admirably, its performance may leave something to be desired as far as bending thin wall tube. Look at some of the other post
for more info.
Kingr
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paulbeyer
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posted on 8/2/03 at 12:22 AM |
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What's the difference between pipe and tube?
7 out of 10 people suffer with hemorrhoids. Does that mean the other 3 enjoy them?
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stephen_gusterson
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posted on 8/2/03 at 01:46 AM |
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quote: Originally posted by paulbeyer
What's the difference between pipe and tube?
i think its the gauge
tube is thinner
pipe would be summat like scaffold tube size - unless someone can put me right....
atb
steve
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greasy nipples
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posted on 8/2/03 at 08:22 PM |
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make your own manifold
I have a demon tweaks catalogue which has manifold kits and pre-formed mandrel bends
(01987) 663000
(customer services)
Ask for the motorsport catalogue
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Mark Allanson
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posted on 8/2/03 at 08:45 PM |
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A pipe is for carrying stuff like petrol, water, air etc, a tube is a structural shape
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Simon
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posted on 10/2/03 at 09:49 AM |
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Steve,
"...could you not buy preformed bends from somewhere - I think u can buy tubes to make own manifolds.....might be europa too.... "
I have the Custom Chrome catalogue at home. A manifold kit, consisting bent tube and flanges is £280.
Screwfix pipebender £99.99, 12 metres tube - £20 ish.
Europe do Jetex bends etc, but I think using them for the quantity I'm going to need will also work out quite expensive.
Paulf
"A friend of mine bought one of these to bend exhaust tubing and found it to be a total waste of time"
Thanks for the encouraging comments.
It'll be going back if it doesn't do what it says on the tin!!
ATB
Simon
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Mark Allanson
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posted on 10/2/03 at 06:45 PM |
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About 4 years ago at the Exeter show, there was a stall selling what looked like an enormous coil spring made of exhaust tubing. All you had to do was
to cut off the required amount and weld into your system. All the curves would be the same raduis, but it seemed a pretty good idea - anyone else seen
this or if they are available now?
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Simon
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posted on 13/2/03 at 09:36 AM |
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Chaps
Well I've got my pipe bender from Screwfix and tried it out.
Will be calling Screwfix later for them to arrange collection!!
ATB
Simon
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paulf
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posted on 13/2/03 at 10:36 PM |
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At least i wasnt alone in my experience of tube bending, I have made a set of manifold plates for the crossflow and am going to try and bend my
manifold tubes by filling with sand and then heating with a welding torch and hand bending to fit..
I believe this method is used by some one off exhaust manufacturers but am not sure how easy it is going to be.I am using 32mm od x 1.5mm wall tube
and intend making a 4 into 1 system exiting through the bonnet, so will only need to make 4 roughly 90 degree bends and a 4 into 1 junction.
Hopefully will be attempting towards the end of next week and will post the results.
Paul.
quote]Originally posted by Simon
Chaps
Well I've got my pipe bender from Screwfix and tried it out.
Will be calling Screwfix later for them to arrange collection!!
ATB
Simon
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stephen_gusterson
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posted on 13/2/03 at 11:01 PM |
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about 18 years ago i was at the main volkswagen factory in germany. They had a machine there that bent exhausts up in no time by computer control.
really neat to see.
bugger all help tho here
packing with sand on a bender seems like a good thing to try before sending it back.......
atb
steve
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Simon
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posted on 14/2/03 at 02:53 PM |
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Chaps,
Just thought you might be interested to know that Screwfix have agreed to refund/collect pipe bender.
Have spent £116 on
8 off 1.5" dia 90 deg bends
8 off 1.5" dia 30 deg bends
2 off 2.0" dia 30 deg bends
from Custom Chrome
ATB
Simon
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Rorty
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posted on 16/2/03 at 01:06 AM |
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I've sort of missed the boat with this one. However, if it's of any interest to anyone, I make all my exhausts from 1.6mm (16 gauge & 1/16"
coincidently!) ERW tube.
With most systems, I can get away with using 100mm CL radius bends (1 1/2" and 1 5/8" tube). Occasionally, if space is limited, I use bought bends
with 85mm CL radius. If things are really cramped, I use donuts with radii down as low as 22mm (for 1 1/2" tube).
You definitely can't bend tube with a pipe bender, not even if you caulk it with sand/shot.
There's more info about tube bending and cutting fishmouths on my site.
Cheers, Rorty.
"Faster than a speeding Pullet".
PLEASE DON'T U2U ME IF YOU WANT A QUICK RESPONSE. TRY EMAILING ME INSTEAD!
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Stu16v
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posted on 16/2/03 at 01:16 AM |
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mmmmm, donuts.......
Welcome back mate, Funny how nobody has mentioned the cricket (or the football!!)............
Dont just build it.....make it!
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Billywhizz
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posted on 16/2/03 at 07:27 PM |
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If anyone needs any bent tubes let me know i work for the company that supplys custom chrome with there bends. can bend anything upto 76mm dia in mild
steel,stainless and ally
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