just wondering about the goods/bads of both of these for ic pipes. getting ready to make all this and dont know which way to go. i searched but didnt find info on which one is better for the heat or anything like that.

also i will be finishing my manifold tomorrow and i dont really wanna wrap it because of rust but is this jet coating worth it? what are other options?

thanks for the help ht

 

AL has a higher thermal conductivity # than steel.....it will transfer more heat meaning cooler charge temps....its also very lightweight last time i checked, the prices for 2.5 inch AL and SS ubends were very similar.....but mild steel is cheaper.

 

alright, i was going to get some steel bends at jcwhitney. know anywhere i can get aluminum bends. probably jcwhitney, haha. thanks full race

 

however, Mild Steel can rust..

I'd go with aluminum.. honda's can't really afford a lot of weight..

 

know of anywhere i can get al bends?

 

AL also has a better resistance to corrosion
You wouldn't want corrosion on the intake side

 

not arguing just adding, Al can also dissipate heat faster. takes a more skilled welder better equipment to weld. or consider 18ga SS 304.

 

try burns stainless. they should have everything you need

 

finding someone that can doquality welds on Alum might be the PITA.
i did Mild steel. its not that heavy believe it or not. the 2-3 lbs difference wont really mena that much . But Aluminum is optimal

 

Just use mild steel paint it and used the saved money elsewhere. Just my opinoin.

 

what size would be nice? 2.25, 2.5, 2.75, 3.0?

 

Mild steel all the way. You need a high frequency TIG or a Oxy/Acy wizard to to aluminum reliably. We're not talking about 10 pounds savings here. Mild steel is going to be cheaper to deal with in almost every way.

Mind you, if I had all the resources (TIG, for example) I'd go aluminum on the piping all the way. For me it's just easier to use mild steel, especially when you're going to make mistakes as you go.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Soon_2b_evil &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what size would be nice? 2.25, 2.5, 2.75, 3.0?</TD></TR></TABLE>
depends on your setup, you cant ask that without all details of setup - goals etc...

 

im gonna use 2.5" for all ic pipes. i have someone to do the aluminum welding but for the mild steel welding i can mig weld myself and then grind them down and get it all smooth and paint. and from what it looks like the mild steel is quite cheaper, jcwhitney has 16guage mild steel bends for a good price. so will paint keep the rust off the mild steel or is there a certain paint that i can use?

 

unless you want to spend like $250 for charge pipes i would just spend the $70-80 and buy the aluminzed steel charge pies....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Full-Race Javier &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">AL has a higher thermal conductivity # than steel.....it will transfer more heat meaning cooler charge temps</TD></TR></TABLE>


It's such a small difference you'd have trouble measuring it.

At the high velocities of the charge air, this isn't something to worry about.

 

so mild steel sounds like the much better choice, what about this paint situation? special kind to use on mild steel to help it not rust and also that can withstand the heat?

 

rustoleum paint withstands 200 degrees...so that will work, but not all that great. Just use some Hi-Temp manifold spray paint....It should work just fine.

Actually either or will work...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kpt4321 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


It's such a small difference you'd have trouble measuring it.

At the high velocities of the charge air, this isn't something to worry about.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

u might be right, but howcome they make Intercoolers out of aluminium and not steel.. aluminium does transfer heat better, but don't rely on the charge pipes to disapate heat.. you need an intercooler for that

 

rustoleum sounds good and those pipes aint getting 200 deg. right?

i was just checking out jcwhitney and the 16 guage steel they have is alumized steel, all sorts of bends. now if im going to paint this with rustoleum will that aluminzed coating come off with some emeril or whatever you call that stuff. or should i keep the alumized stuff on there?

 

availability of material plays a huge role in the selection process, steel with carbon content under 0.10 (mild) can be formed easier in muffler shops with a pipe bender and you can find very thin gauges, you really dont have to worry about blow outs, ideally you can use the thinest gauge material you can find, if 18 or 20 gauge aluminum bends were readily available I would use them. steel however is such a cinch to find you dont even need bends as you can make bends out of pie pieces and weld up way faster. stainless is the heaviest (not much more dense than mild ) thin gauges are hard to find, corrosion resistance is the best. its all up to budget, fabrication potential and looks.

 

I like AL cuz of lightweight and its not bad pricewise if u serach...but having anybody weld your steel pipes is easier to find down the street and its cheaper to start with..minus it being a little heavier but oh well. Just easier for steel type piping.

 

http://jcwhitney.com/webapp/wc...10101

aluminized piping is pretty cheap....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JonGP4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
u might be right, but howcome they make Intercoolers out of aluminium and not steel.. aluminium does transfer heat better, but don't rely on the charge pipes to disapate heat.. you need an intercooler for that </TD></TR></TABLE>

Good job answering your own question.

Intercoolers use it, because they're intercoolers.