Picture was stolen from manifoldmiketyson(sorry mikey)





Just wondring how you guys get in such tight areas? i have a button cap on the back of my torch and its still hard, i mean i welded some runners up off the manifold the reattatched them, and had the tungsten WAY out the cup but is there any better way?

 

do it first......... before you weld everything up, then weld it up in steps

 

pencil torch?

 

I simply offer mike some bud light and he fly's his *** out here if I can't weld it. Haha, in all seriousness, he just recommended a #9 flex which I've been using, and it helps a lot.

Ian

 

thanks guys, ive built some small log manifolds and tons of downpipes and intercooler piping but i wanna build my own forward facing manifold, so im just trying to get some insight on the tight places.

thanks

 

when i build a new manifold i just make sure that i'm able to break it down and weld it up.

i usualy have a certain way of breaking off runners and welding others at the same time.

also you can do alot of things with your tungsten stuck out 1"-1.5"....

 

those are actually the easyer parts to weld on that particular manifold. i usually recomend a flex 9 with a small backcap for really tight areas. i usually use a gas lens with a 8~10 cup.

we weld all of the runners off the manifold first on that manifold. so the only welds are the the connection to the collector and the flange.

that manifold is welded #2 runner first, #1 runner second, #4 runner third, #5 runner fourth, part of wastegate collector fifth, #6 runner sixth, other part of wastegate collector seventh, #3 runner Eighth, and then the final part of the wastegate.

kind of a process.

the key to getting in tight spots is to do it in steps so you don't weld yourself into a spot that you can't get too.

i usually run the tungsten way the hell out, turn up the gas to 25~30 cfh. you want to be welding in a closed room with no air current (aka, no fan) and you also might want to shield the area around where your welding to keep good gas coverage.

make sure to pulse these areas with your foot. make sure to dump heat in for only a couple seconds, let off and allow the metal to cool (so you can't see the cherry). keep your purge on it as long as possible.

the unfortunate part of this kind of welding is that it usually get easyer with experience and thats the only variable that you can't change very easy.

i've got a pencil torch, however i don't really use it that much. it doesn't give me that much room to work with once you add a gas lense and a decent sized cup. if you use a regular collet, you can't run the tungsten very far out at all without getting contamination.

hope this helps and good luck.

 

thanks mikey, i didnt expect you to give away all your secrets to me, haha

 

its a little harder then you think, but this stuff is pretty straight forward.