welding Ic piping questions ?
 

Well... I'm getting sick of hunting down IC leaks.. So I wanna eliminate some of my couplers, and sorta re-do my Ic piping.

I'm going to just go buy a welder, since I'm doing turbo projects for other people all the time, and it'll prob. pay for itsself with in 2 projects ( plus the Sr20 240sx in my "monster carport" is inneed of some IC piping too ).

ANYWAYs !! Can I get away with just buying a flux core gas-less welder ? The only thing this welder will ever see duty doing is welding IC and the Downpiping every now and then.

I'm not a pro-welder but I did watch Stacy on that show "Trucks!" weld some plates on to a door skin using a mig welder. He basiclly just welded "spot welds" until the plate was completly welded, then used a grinder to smooth them out. I'm thinking that I could do that with IC piping.

Also I wanna modify the end tanks on my Starion IC, but I know that an aluminum spool is the only way to mig weld alum. but the "shop" at the warehouse I work at has one ( and a pimp plasmia cutter ).

Anyway. the basiclly question is. Can I use a gasless flux core mig welder and use the "25 spot welds" technque to do my IC piping ?

Also to save money I plan on buying a mider saw with one of those metal cutting wheels on it to cut small degreed angles, then weld them together to make bends. I saw that done on a Turbo SHO on HMT a few months back.

"prettness" isn't a issue. Fuction over fashion.

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

I would suggest getting one with gas. when I weld piping I lay one bead all the way around the pipe, I just keep rolling the pipe as I go. Mess with your heat settings and wire feed a little before you try the pipe. good luck. If you've got lots of money, buy a tig.

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

Gasless flux would work just fine. Your best investment will be your time for practice. Good luck! ;D

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

DO NOT GET A GASLESS WELDER!!! Trust me, the extra investment now is definitely worth it. It welds soo much easier and cleaner. Trust me on this, its well worth the investment for clean welds. If your going to spend the money on something like a welder buy a good one and consider an investment. This way down the road you won't have to buy another one cause your unhappy with the sloppy welds

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

Well, a gasless wire feed welder (wire welder) you can get to work for you. If you are just doing a few IC pipes, I wouldn't pay more then $100 for a cheapo welder that is capable of going up to 1/8" metal. Now don't forget about the other costs involved like tools, gloves, and a decent auto-darkening lense. You can get that ---- in the bargain bin, but once you've used an auto-darkening, there is no going back. Expect to pay a good $50 for the rest of the setup.

Instead of spending that same money on a gasless wire feed welder, you would have more versatility (and cheaper) with a arc (stick) welder. Get a smaller unit where you can weld most any metal with the right rod (my friends tell me they've done aluminum but I'm yet to check it out). If doing work like Jeff did on that chopped turbo with dp welded to it (wasn't that on the sunfire?) the proper way would be to get nickel rod and weld cast iron to cast iron. Then again you also have to follow many other rules like heating in stages and cooling in stages when welding cast iron and nickel rods are ------- expensive. Check out some 110v arc welders, if you're not planning on making perfect looking welds and want something to hold, might be an alternative for you. Let me know if that's the route you want to go with, I've worked a lot with arc welding.


For another alternative, I think torch welding would prove to be a clean method of getting your job done.. I torch weld things like gas tanks and other pieces of show just because it makes a nice appearance (like tig would do) and you have lots of control over it. Don't need an auto-darkening helmet but you do have to invest in a portable torch outfit, oxy-acetylene setup.. can easily cost you $150-300

check out this thread here:
https://www.homemadeturbo.com/forum/...threadid=20416

some more usefull stuff on buying a welder, I'm gonna help Jess get what he needs.

-Ryan

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

without gas pinholes will own you and the weld will look butt ugly. I really recommand you buying one with gas.

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

I bought one w/gas attachment but didnt buy any gas until I had gone through about 50lbs of flux core. I finally put gas on it, and... its just night and day. No more grinding/chipping away at slag and splatter....

Might as well not have to go back and buy a welder twice... get one that at least has the ABILITY to add gas to.

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

I had a lincoln weld pak 100 HD, wire feed with the ability to add gas later. Honestly, I tried out my friend's Campbell Hausfeld Wallmart Wire/MIG welder, and it's a hell of a lot better. Needless to say, I bought my weld pak for 250 + 100 for the gas add-on and the CH one was 250 at wallmart. You do the math :P I think they have a cheap ass stick welder for like 70 bucks too, and its walmart. you can return anything there.

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

Depends on your budget, don't forget with gas you have to get an argon tank (or at least use straight carbon dioxide for shielding gas). Expect to pay at least $50 for a 20 cu cylinder, about a hundred for a 40 cu (what I use). You might be able to get away with getting a cheap 20 pound cylinder of CO2 and run that. If you need a regulator to attach to the tank, look at $30 extra. The price on refilling costs me like $20 for my 40cu (75% argon/25% co2 mix), like 6 bucks to fill a co2 tank.

Gimpy made a good point about the slag created, expect even worse with an ARC (stick) welder. A MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welder uses solid wire (for mild steel it would be copper in colour) versus the wire feed welder that uses flux core which creates the slag by-product. ARC welding is similar in the fact that the it uses a rod that is surrounded by the actual "weld".

No, using flux core will not make pinholes everywhere, but if you run solid wire intended for MIG welding without the shielding gas it will be porous and lack the integrity that your welds need.

So if you're on a budget, do what has to be done. If you can spare the extra money, a MIG setup will get you further.

I personally would not buy any tools from wal mart that you don't plan on returning after you've used them. Wal mart sells crap (and guns to children), I worked for those fuckers so I know (no I didn't work a register, I worked for Hewlett Packard that had the wal mart contract to run their network servers, I was working IT support inside the server centre). I can't really say I like the Campbell Hausfeld brand, my experience with their air compressors has been utterly sickening.


-ryan

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

I have to agree. Gas welding with trioxy acetelyn gas creates some great welds. I just bought a great Clarke 130 which produces some really clean welds and it was only $500 CAD which is about $350 USD for you guys because I have taxes coming out of my ass!!!

Good luck with the project. I'm looking to get a TIG myself but the F***in things are so damn expensive - even for the hobbyist ones.

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

about a grand for a nice 220v miller tig on ebay (new) I forget the model and ----, but I think it's ready to go arc setup too.

i spent about a grand on my 220v plasma cutter, nice ------- unit.. i regret to this day taking it back but i needed to.

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

Well I guess I'm going to go with the Mig that has the option for Gas.

I'll prob. do my car without gas and maybe the 240sx at my house ( which is a waste of a good SR20 IMO ), but the 3000GT VR4, mazda speed protege, VW 1.8T Golf, and honda accord that said they'd pay me to do there IC piping would prob. get the gas.

I'll prob. get the cheapest "gas optional" Mig from Harbor Freight.

I did go "a little larger than needed" when I bought my air compressor, and it really paid off when it came time to start porting turbos, manifolds, and misc metal.

Thanx for all you guys help. BTW if you've neveer seen my cars current IC piping here's a link, hehe beware, its ghetto.
http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/sh...0&pagenumber=2

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=55075

Less than $200... All the ones on ebay were like $350+.

I know most the time you get what you pay for, if anyone else thinks "the welds don't look clean enough" for there cars, then fine then can pay $600 for a ------- IC piping kit, hehe...

I can't imagine 15psi being strong enough to break welds, hehe, so strength really isn't an issue...

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

hey man, my buddy has the 110 version of that welder, and it works ok... the gas is really just a coil of oil pressure gauge line out of the back... if you can afford it, Home Depot has a lincoln weldpak for $350 i think, and it comes with good gas line and a regulator...

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

So mig it is.

The next thing you need to consider would be the size of the welder. If you have 220v supply, get a 220v.. you can pick a used one up cheaper and they can do 175+ amps easily.

It's all about duty cycle at this point. When I had to cut out chunks of my nice oversized frame where it meets the transmission cross member I was cursing my shitty as 20% duty cycle at 105 amps. It sucked welding for a minute or two, then having to stop welding and wait for 10 minutes cause the welder was overheated (I had the juice turned all the way up since it was thick metal). I had to make a few passes since this was a critical piece that held up that heavy ------- transmission and transfer case.

here is a pic that doesn't really give justice to the work I had to do, it's the crossmember. Keep in mind that it should be straight cut on the corners and flat at the ends.
http://www.pix8.net/getimg.php?img=crossmemberdog.jpg


(yeah, that's my dog chillin too)

If you plan on doing a bit of welding to thicker mild steal (1/8 to 1/4 inch) then get a mig welder that can pull at least 135 amps - or the 220v is what ya need. Otherwise, a low amperage mig will do exhaust/ic pipe all day long.

Consider some alternatives to the harbor freight/wal mart purchased outfits, you get what you pay for, and they aren't all that great. I don't see anything that is a killer deal on egay right now.. but sears has some nice units, check 'em out.

The pecking order of mig welders goes: Miller, Esab, Lincoln, Craftsman. Miller (I used to have one) & Esab are out of your price range. Lincoln is decent but can still be slightly pricy. Craftsman is actually is another brand that I can't remember, sears subs out their products like how the drills are Ryobis.

-ryan

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

miller is 600$ for the 175 model welder, which is prolly the last one you will ever need to buy... great welder. my girls dad has it.. and miller has EXCELLENT service and support!

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

The plasma cutter in the shop at my work is esab, and all the welders are Miller, so I guess Publix didn't go cheap on there shop stuff for the warehouse mantance dudes.

Once I get profecent with a welder I'm sure the dudes at the shop will "forget they left the shop unlocked" one night ( I work nightshift ) if I really need something heavy duty weled...

Funny though... Never thought working in a warehouse for a supermarket would help my car out, hehehe...

99% of the stuff the dudes in the shop use the plasma cutter for is for there or other peoples cars, not bad for getting paid $17.50 an hour to work on forklifts and pallet jacks and get to use the shop tools !! ( Don't worry they have my application, and homemadeturbo.com is one of my references, J/K ).

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

your dog needs a bath :P

Re:welding Ic piping questions ?
 

yeah well she was hanging out with me under the truck getting oil and ---- spilled on her. She doesn't like baths and I don't like bathing her so it works out good. She's an outside dog so maybe every 3-4 months works.