Hey I'm putting an LS1 in a 90 Miata and I want to do an aluminium exhaust from the headers back. I'd build it myself but I don't have a TIG. My problem is I can't find anyone around here (Vancouver BC) who has done an aluminium exhaust before. I've found one shop willing to do the work but I need to know what material to tell them to order.

What minimum pipe thickness should I use? I'm going dual 2.5" or 3" with an x-pipe.

Does anyone make an aluminium muffler or am I going to have to compromise ad go with an SS unit?

Thanks for the help.

Dylan

 

Vibrant makes aluminum mufflers, I have one of them.

I used 16g 6061 AL on my exhaust in 4"

 

16ga will be ok, but I would use 14 to be safe. Still way lighter. I've built a few, and they don't take much abuse in 16ga. 1 guy bottomed out, it cracked the x-pipe and tore a little hole in it. I do make tons of aluminum mufflers though...
Go dual 3" and 14ga would be my recommendation. Global technology has the bends.
Cheers

 

This guy is in vancouver I think

https://honda-tech.com/forums/members/dave%40passenger-999486606/

http://www.automotive.passengerindustries.com/

 

Ya I tried Dave already. They've moved away from custom car fab.

 

I'm now in mission. Not sure if thats too far.

Here is my thread
https://honda-tech.com/forums/welding-fabrication-53/sdubfids-project-thread-2871247/

 

PM'd

 

On a usual Honda how much are u guys saving by going al pipe and exhaust? Just a general estimate.

 

2.5" 0.065" 1.69lb/foot, 2.5" 6061 is .58lb/foot. So it's roughly 1/3 for the same wall thickness.

 

Yeah, it'll be 50% of the weight done safely with the 14ga. That is alot at the end of the day. It's also cheaper to put together since you don't need to purge, and weld at about 3 times the amperage. I wish I could build just aluminum exhaust, but it's not a big seller anymore now that I do alot of 321, and guys love the look. It weighs the same as aluminum done right, but costs so much more. Doesn't make much sense, but oh well.

 

If I wasn't a 10hr drive away I'd b knocking on your door. That's quite a drive with open headers.

 

ive done 2 4" aluminum exhaust setups and theyve both been made out of 14 gage.


mike

 

I've done a 4" aluminum exhaust, I would say it was 14 gauge. Then I did a 3" aluminum exhaust out of Vibrate piping. Isn't it 16 gauge? I'm not at the shop right now so I can't look at the boxes. lol.

I prefer aluminum exhaust for the weight savings.

 

Local guy around me has a bottom 9 sec turbo car with a 4" alum dp and full exhaust, says he does all his alum exhaust work out of 11 gauge.

 

If the exhaust is going to smash the ground (poor ground clearance), then any aluminum exhaust will take a sh*t... Scraping is fine, even down to 16ga. IMO.

If it doesn't touch the ground and doesn't rub against anything, then you can go as thin as you like from downpipe-back. As long as the hangers have proper reinforcement, it will last quite a few years. When you go thin, it is always the hanger locations that like to crack or rip off under abuse.

Here are some ideas of hangers and connections.. I avoided V-bands on the AL-to-AL connections to save weight even further:

Civic:




AE86:



Golf VR6-T:

 

Pictures! That thing will be epic!

That exhaust looks amazing, very nice work.