durden

I was wondering what are your methods on how to wire weld your charge pipes/exhaust piping...i've tried in welding class but did a pretty gross job

Do you tack them together then rotate them with your hands? Or go around it with your gun tryin to keep it level? sorry i'm a noob but not too much info about welding around here

OnYx

i see them tack them together and then use a vise to hold the pipe as they do sections

BLACKSI

i just close my eyes and squeeze the trigger

Beau

traff1c

I do a combination of both..... pretty much try to do it in 4 sections.....

maintain the tip straight.... and then rotate the pipe... and weld.... try not to stay in one place to long.... or it will burn right through.....

XDEep

ive only made two testpipes so far so im still a newb, but heres how i did it- if the section has gaps, quickly weld a straight bead on the bottom part, dont worry about penetration. run a 2nd pass on top of that one. run more until you close the gap to the top, then run a nickle bead ("back step" or "stacked dimes") and make sure it penetrates the top. then run a nickle bead on the bottom and make sure it penetrates. hopefully they overlap the middle, or else nickle bead the middle as well. these are all on the lowest setting and speed with a lincoln weld-pak 100.

i think mine would have turned out clean this way but i dont have the stupid spool tensioner so it kept getting too tight and messing up my weld after an inch or so.

oh ya, tack weld them together first of course. by section i mean the 2 or 3 inches that are visible, then rotate the pipe. i cant hold the gun steady enough with one hand to rotate the pipe as i weld. gun angle was the standard, facing the left and dragging to the right. i think you get less burn through if you point it to the right and drag to the right (right handed).
it wouldnt be better to weld vertically down right?

durden

good question, i would like to know about that too...vertical or horizontal

what do you guys think works better? or is it just personal opinion?

cua0

as long as your tie-ins are decent you can weld it in the flat, stop, rotate, weld, repeat. i prefer the look of roll welds, but it's a bit more tricky especially with bend pieces.

my exhaust was all welded on car, so i started at the top of the pipe (or where i thought the top of the pipe should be, takes a bit of guessing and practice to get that right) and just downhanded it to the bottom, then start at the top on the other side and downhand to the bottom, making sure i got the top completely with a mirror, and touching up as needed.

this was done with an Air Liquide 250amp, .032 solid, mig mix gas.