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"steam Pipe" Single Turbo Manifolds On Fleabay....anyone Know Anythging About This Supplier And Their Products?


Andy B
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Ever heard of the heat effected zone on a weld the outer edge is the weakest point. Mild steel will crack over time same with stainless maybe I'm being to critical but it takes a extra few min to do it properly

People don't go near our materials unless they are qualified to a qualified weld procedure. So all coupons for a weld procedure have undergone a visual inspection, mechanical tests, x-ray and then depending on the code welders are typically qualified to it with visual examination and radiography. So not concerned by the heat affected zone because mechanically the joint has been proven to be as strong as the parent metal.

Thats where experience boiler makers are worth their weight in gold. For typical materials and sizes they can weld it no problem without a procedure with the same end result. Perfect for this stuff like manifolds. So would expect the weld to also pass a tensile/mechanical test.

Hell on our stainless work we use varigon and 5.0 argon to purge the oxygen down to less than 10ppm to control oxidation in the welds. The varigon burns and controls better so you get away with using less amps. The level of oxidation in the HAZ is what kills us. We have to achieve an ID heat tint of 2 or better by the AWS chart or the weld is rejected and cut out :( Blows many away who are new to the pharma-semiconductor industries that you have to achieve that weld finish without pickling or polishing.

Figure-2-AWS-image-2.jpg

So you can go to the same lengths with manifolds, but who is going to pay for it? There is a 10k exhaust manifold in the Builds thread, its a work of art. But few people will pay for that level of quality and design when close enough will often be good enough

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Exactly the point Roy, it all comes down to what you want to pay in the end.

Interesting while I was working on the GIO and Winfield 32's that Gibson had fitted turbo hangers over the rocker cover, even on short cast manifolds. That would stop more cracking from heavy exhausts and turbo setups hanging off the engine and the manifold drooping in the heat.

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I'm not arguing with you Roy you always take things to the next level all I said is it takes a few more minutes to get a good result where people won't say that weld looks dog. You ask any good fabricator you will never achieve a good weld result if your fabrication is out.

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Iam waiting to get my slr camera to come back then i can get you guys better pictures, i tried to take some pix of the inside of the pipe to show you the welding on the other side. you can see nothing will be flying out. Any ways this is what we can do and if any one is interested then just let me know.

Kam

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With anything that is machined or fabricated there is a cost factor involved - no one makes these things and gives them away so there will be some compromises . The very best manifold in the world could look like a POS but be functionalal and reliable . I know it sounds dodgy but there is such a thing as good enough and making it nice to look at gives the impression of good workmanship but doesn't necessarily make the result any different .

If a good fabricator was going to make a manifold for personal use and their time was their own they'd go to the extra effort . The trouble is customers want minimum cost and that means minimising time (labour) to make it happen .

I would be more interested in function and reliability , cost too , because you can't see the bloody thing when you're driving it and one would hope you bought it to use it rather than look at it .

As was mentioned exhaust manifold braces can be VERY important and they weren't put on the race GTRs for looks . If you can support a manifold I believe you can get away with lighter possibly) less material because you dont need as much structural rigidity merely holding up the mass of the outer half of the manifold and turbocharger . Possibly OT but steel bridge structures are a good example of how things designed to work in tension (or compression at times) can be light strong and long term reliable too . Provided the braces have some freedom of movement they shouldn't crack .

My 2c , cheers A .

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I agree and im going to fabricate some braces to got from the turbo to the coil pack mounts or something alike...this will offer yet more rigidity. To be honest though.....the recent pics look like Kam and his team have cracked it (No pun intended) and im gonna put my money where my mouth is and order one, as per my post above. Cheers, Andy

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Thanks for the comments and the tips from you guys i do take everything said seriously and the advice given to make our product even more solid / crack resistant.

Currently we have never had one of our own manifolds crack and most fabricators who have used Mild steel know the material is very strong. As shown in the pictures above of the one i had put together for a client the manifold is solid and i don't ever see it cracking. For the same price you could grab your self a cheap Chinese SS one or you could go for something half decent. I am not sure if people know how much times goes in making these and the hard work that has been put into them but i do appreciate all the positive feedback from you guys.

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