Forced Induction Custom FI Setup Questions

To stainless or not to stainless?

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Old 05-05-2004, 11:35 AM
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Default To stainless or not to stainless?

the last thing i need to get is piping for the charge lines and downpipe. i keep seeing aluminized steel more than stainless. easier to find for the mandrel bends at least. is stainless worth the extra money?
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Old 05-05-2004, 01:37 PM
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Default Re:To stainless or not to stainless?

first, why do you want to go with stainless?

appearance? if that's the case powder coat your charge pipes and ceramic coat your exhaust pipes

durability? for the uses you're going with i don't think your car will mind the non stainless, this isn't medical grade ---- we're talking about here.

I would highly suggest aluminum over stainless for the charge pipes, if you need to me explain I will (if it was any other day I would have written 3 pages about it already, but not today).

Also weigh in the factor of the fabrication, are you doing this yourself? If you plan on getting a welding setup (or already have one) and doing it yourself then consider what it takes to weld aluminum & stainless vs mild steel (once again if only my hand wasn't fucked up I would be rambling on about it). Expect a shop to charge more to weld aluminum/stainless.

The parts are obtainable either way, whatever you want is out there so make some decisions based on the factors I provided to you.

-ryan
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Old 05-05-2004, 10:27 PM
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Default Re:To stainless or not to stainless?

Id highly reccomend mild steel or stainless over aluminum. Aluminum conducts heat the best and is therefore most prone to heat soak, even when compared to mild steel. Aluminum also pits and corrodes over time. Stainless does not conduct as much heat at mild steel or aluminum. Mild steel is the easiest to cut/weld, aluminum is easy to cut but not to weld, stainless is harder to cut than regular mild steel
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Old 05-06-2004, 05:25 PM
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Default Re:To stainless or not to stainless?

it's the dissipation factor of the aluminum that you look for in the charge pipes, that's why all the high end kits use aluminum.

otherwise that's about all the gaps I missed in my post
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