I recently just started working at a machining/fabrication shop. I've been welding on my spare time for a little over a month at about 10 hours a week. I had never welded before I worked here, so bear with my welds. My boss has been my welding and fabrication teacher. I want to thank him for his patience, time, and great advice he's been giving me over the last month.

Anyhow, on to my work. I decided to build myself a 3" downpipe for my d-series Greddy Turbo kit. The Greddy downpipe that comes with the kit is a pea-shooter. As the car revved up (5500+rpm) it would just run out of breath. I did a little research and found out that the small downpipe was the cause of this and by upgrading it would not only help with the top end but also help with promote spool.

Here are the pics. Feel free to constructively critize my welds, constrution, and design.

Thanks,

Mike

 

it's not real consistent looking, but not awful for the amount of time you've been welding. looks like you're getting the hang of it, just keep doing what you do and practice more to get a more consistent, full bead.

and besides, it's shiny so that makes it cool

 

excuse my ignorance, i know NOTHING about welding yet.

is that tig/mig aluminum/steel?
specs on what your steup was?

 

Thanks for the advice. I will continue to practice to try to improve my consitancy.

It's tig. As far as the materials, the flanges are mild steel and the pipping is stainless steel.

The setup is just a Greddy turbo kit. It's a 15g turbo and Greddy log manifold. The engine is a stock d15B. It's my daily driver.

 

thanks. i'm planning to take a few classes soon, and pick up a welder.
i don't know if i should go tig off the bat, or if i'm getting in over my head.

i really like the idea of being able to weld i/c piping in the future though.

 

Pics of the inside?

 

I personally don't think it would matter if you went straight to tig. The only advice I can give you is that patience is key. It's very easy to get frustrated and want to give up.

I completely forgot to take pics of the inside of the downpipe. It's now on the car. The pipping was backpurged and has full penetration. The seam on the inside of the hump for the internal wastegate was fully welded all the way around. That's about the best description I can give. I know that doesn't really help but I will definitely take pictures of the inside of my work next time so I can get more feedback.

 

Gas coverage looks great, especially for a beginner. I'm assuming you're using a gas lens. You must have a good teacher. As mentioned, you need to work on your consistency. That comes with time, so long as you have a good base.

Keep it up!

 

what are you using to cut your piping? and what did you use to notch the wg tube and the dp?

 

Yes I'm using a gas lens. Thanks for the positive comments!

I'm using a band saw to cut the piping. I also used a band saw to notch the wg tube and a plasma cutter to cut the opening in the downpipe. Both holes were grounded down and made smooth using a die-grinder with a carbide bit.

 

what shop you working at ?

 

Looks for for a first attempt, not very consistant, but this is because your learning and trying new things.

Also probably going back to it on different days etc.

 

im in the market for a bandsaw but not really sure which one is good and in my budget range.. what are you using?

 

Not bad for a beginner.

Advice:

1) You need more heat so that the puddle flows.

2) It looks as if you're letting the filler metal melt and drop onto the base metal. You want your filler to be melted BY the puddle, not above it. Get your puddle going, touch filler into the leading edge of it, and move forward. When you add filler, your puddle should NOT get any wider. It should only get taller. Doing this will improve your consistency.

 

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. I'm going to try both points you've suggest out and see the results.


It's some old rolling bandsaw they picked up for not very much. Not really sure of the name, it's pretty old but it works great. Maybe look for something used?

Yup that's about right. I built the downpipe over several days on my spare time. I also would lay a few beads between jobs I was doing every few hours.


Weir Technologies

 

lol ur working for WEIR?? damn u've got an excellent weldor at your disposal.. he does A+ work! i'd be honored to work for him and have him teach me a few things along the way.

 

That's good to hear that you working for Aaron. I'm glad business has picked up for him, that he had to hire you.

 

was there an earthquake while you were welding?...

 

you should sell me this one and make yourself a better one. my down pipe broke just a little while ago. looks good.

 

don't take this the wrong way but, it looks bad. no consistency at all. you have some spots that have color but then some are just bad as far as gas coverage goes.

also some area's are cold on the flange welds, and then some are to hot. you need to work on getting your speed down so you don't have undercut from moving so slow, or using to much heat.

well that should be enough for now.

 

Looks good, just need to practice your welding. Keep taking pics and show us the progress you're making with you fab skills. Good luck.

 

Thanks for all the comments. I will be trying several different things the next time around, and most importantly practice practice practice.

 

not bad with just starting out and no expierence until now. and especially starting out on a tig. not bad thou man. just work on your motions and techniques and practice!!

thanks, Casey

 

not too bad. I am definately gonna check out getting one of these made for myself. (I don't know how to weld so I am gonna check in with some local shops.