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Sheet Metal Plennum

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 4:48 pm
by TanManS14
This was my first time welding so go easy lol, I welded 4 pie cuts together before i started the plennum. So obviously the runners to the 3/8th's flange came out a lil haggard. The rest i did ok on though. It was hard to just start and do the runners, you gotta get pretty creative with positioning the plennum to get in between, it was pretty aquard especially with such little experience starting in the most cramped spot.
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Cut the runners with a ban saw.
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Cut down the center of the pipe with ban saw.
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Used a cutoff wheel to cut along the curves of the ubend (11ga 4in), i just used a sharpie and traced the mandrel lines and followed those. You can actually get a decent cut if you allow the saw to drag your hand, and just steer it in the right direction. Then i tacked them to the flange.
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Once i had them welded i laid the plennum on the piece of sheet metal, and traced it. Then cut it out with the cutoff wheel. I gave myself a lot of leeway when cutting, then shaved down bit by bit with the flap wheel, checking every time until i got the fit i wanted.
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Realizations that helped me grasp how to weld/ tac aluminum. Tacking was the hardest part for me, once i realized that you had to start on the thickest piece, move the puddle over to the thin metal and dab the filler it was all downhill from there. Its really cool when moving the torch, to watch the thicker piece just melt the thin. Then you just dab the filler and you got a strong tac. Once you actually get the bead started its just about filling the "weld vagina" with your "rod" and dragging/ pushing it along with the torch. You can watch as one side slows down or speeds up to see which piece you need to direct heat at. And you also watch the width to see how much penetration you're getting/ how much you want. Still have much to learn and need to get better consistency, but the welds should be plenty sufficient for what i need them for.

Unfortunately i was in a time crunch and the car i was fitting the manifold up on (Slow Ka-t's) did not have a hood. I underestimated the angle of the runners, and upon finishing everything but the TB elbow i realized there is no way it would clear. all it would need is more angle on the runners and it would be fine. I really wanna thank nick (twinturboz) for the use of the welder and SloKa-t for letting me mock it up on his car and many other random inconveniences he had to deal with with me walking in and out of his garage/using his drill press/air grinder longer than any man rightfully should. Love both your wieners. Even though it dosnt clear its a great experience for me to learn, and gives me much more freedom with my car.

When I find someone in North Carolina with a welder and the right tools i will redo the plennum. Im looking for a cheap head flange option so i can do oval/ circular runners and injector bungs. Im kinda tired of dealing with the **** of stock upper plennum (butterfly valves, plugging ****, etc,). Any suggestion on head flanges lmk. Thanks for lookin.

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:22 pm
by TinyT
hell ya man! iv been waiting for somebody to post something good in the fab section forever! thats awesome for your first one, and who gives a **** if it dont fit with the hood, notch that **** :wink:

all the head flanges are expensive as hell. im gonna machine up a simple one for mine, ill let ya know how it goes

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:50 pm
by koukidriver
I hope my 1st attempt is a half as good as that and I have 5+ years working in a machine shop. I need to learn how to weld,lol . BTW great work!!!

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 7:51 pm
by sdaigle240
im no tig pro, but i do fill tha "weld vagina" from time to time. looks really good for first time man. my tig access is unfortunately at work, and limits me from lengthy adventures like this. looks like a great experience.

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 8:15 pm
by all shal perrish
so i take it you got your **** back and are haging out with nick ..
congrats son

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 8:51 am
by Jordan Gladman
Where did you buy the 4" aluminum U-bend?

*Looks awesome btw :wink:

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 7:32 pm
by TanManS14
Thanks for the compliments guys.

Tiny- I already separated it from the plennum :(. My whole thing with my car is to always keep it so if i wanted to go back to stock i could, i like to keep the feel of a street car with it. IE Full interior, power steering, nice and quite on the inside, yet still handles and pulls good. There's enough 240's with mutilated interiors and cut up everything. Ima redo it better next time. It'll be a lot simpler and make all my effort worth more skrilla with actual runners and possibly velocity stacks if im a cool mofo.

Koukidriver- I was really worried about trying to weld with no experience. I was pretty interested in it before hand, so i was always asking nick (twinturbo z, dude who let me use the welder) questions about how it was done/ pace/ different materials etc. Do your research first so you understand the concepts, and the actual welding part is a lot easier than people make it out to be.

Sdaigle- Thanks man, yea its tough. I got lucky having such a good friend with a welder. When you do one you really appreciate the time it takes, and start to realize why there's such exorbitant prices on high end manifolds. As you said though, its about the experience. If i would've had a more powerful drill press/ bigger air compressor it would've gone much faster. Just stay after a few times and start on it! Its really not that bad, just pay attention and take your time.

Adam- haha yea dude, i actually still dont have my car, im tryin to get my grandpa to let me pay for his gas and tow my car up to me. But im nervous about asking him lol, gonna do it tomorrow, we'll see lol.

Jordan- http://racepartsolutions.com/products.asp?cat=49 They're a great company. Good quality materials. Thanks man, i wish i could find a 1.25in aluminum u bend for the coolant elbow, i dont think they go that small though. Pie cuts with that small of a bend would be way easy to burn through. I always like to avoid useless restriction if i can, not a pie cut fan idk.

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 7:57 pm
by sdaigle240
i gotta plug these guys despite not selling 4" alu bends, but Columbia river mandrel bends is bananas, price, shipment time, cant say enough.

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 8:14 pm
by TanManS14
That's where i would've bought if they had 4in ubends. It was cheaper to go with racepartssolutionos so i didnt have to pay shipping twice. I've bought from columbia on multiple occasions for my intercooler piping. Their prices went up when they changed domain name though, they used to be RIDICulously cheap. Though i still do think columbia is going to be the cheapest you can find with the best service. I havent seen anyone beat their price.

You ever seen a 1.25in ubend? Wondering where to get one, does everyone just step up in size when welding the coolant elbow or what?

Re: Sheet Metal Plennum

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:45 am
by klattr1
TanManS14 wrote: When I find someone in North Carolina with a welder and the right tools i will redo the plennum. Im looking for a cheap head flange option so i can do oval/ circular runners and injector bungs. Im kinda tired of dealing with the **** of stock upper plennum (butterfly valves, plugging ****, etc,). Any suggestion on head flanges lmk. Thanks for lookin.
Xcessive makes a nice head flange which has the injector ports integrated: http://www.xcessivemanufacturing.com/me ... 147&step=4

I've also got another flange like the one on my car (doesn't have the inj. ports integrated in the flange - I wanted mine upstream): http://ka-t.org/rides/ryan_k/images/plenum4.jpg

So what part of NC are you in now? I have some good local welding resources if you need some.

This is who I use mainly for mandrel bends: http://www.globaltecheng.com/default.asp

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 10:52 am
by TanManS14
I was trying to keep the budget down a little, the excessive flange is SO nice though. Typical 240 owner excuse i suppose lol. So you have an extra flange? Id like to do oval runners and just weld some injector bungs and velocity stacks on it. It really wouldnt be that expensive if it werent for the flange. If you do have an extra flange how much would you want for it?

Im in Raleigh. So you actually know shops that would allow me to use the welder? Of course i expect to pay for the use of it. Just dont know how that would go down. Or are you just talking about having them weld it?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 12:50 pm
by Jordan Gladman
Just sell this intake manifold and use the proceeds to do your dream manifold :wink:

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 12:00 pm
by TanManS14
I already cut it :(. I think im just gonna go all out on this next plennum. Gonna look for cheaper flagne options, if i cant find em i may go excessive. Or try to make one idk.

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 10:22 pm
by TanManS14
After seeing gladman's thread i asked my buddy nick (twinturboz161) to slice my mangled runners right next to the injector bungs. He also had some spare RMR oval runners to see how they matched up. Im going to diagonal cut the plennum to slightly taper it and decrease the volume. Then get new flange plate, cut 3in hole saw in the proper position for the oval velocity stacks, and use oval runners to finish the job.

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Stock flange cut right at the injector bung/ isolator recess.
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RMR oval runners. I had heard this some where before, but it turns out this close to the flange the stock runners are actually slightly larger. No worries though, should be easy to fill such a small gap.
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Keep in mind im not sure he was completely strait, this is just moc up.
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Had him cut right through the coolant elbow. Should make it much easier to weld, since it wont be up against the coolant housing. Also will fix the clearance problems with the coolant and make it much cleaner.
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These pics are with a 1.5 in pipe. I will most likely slightly crush this more into an oval to lessen the gap, and make it sit down inside the flange some. But again shouldn't be too tough to fill with the welder.

Figured id post up, since im kind of flabbergasted as to why no one has done this before. You end up doing a full velocity stack plennum for ~250 bucks. Which aint bad, also you dont have to drill injector. Good option for those tryin to save some dough.

Still have to arrange the shipment of my car, then will most likely make a short trip to weld this puppy up.

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 11:18 am
by sloka-t
steeling idea's i see.... >.>

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 1:36 pm
by Jordan Gladman
Its not stealing, I share. :wink:

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 4:52 pm
by TanManS14
Yea what can i say, im a thoughtless droid. Lol well atleast its not a single cam flange, i totally was exploring new territory (sarcasm).

Logic cannot be beaten lol. That's the cheapest most efficient way to do it that i can see. And im not gonna not do it lol. But cred to Gladman no doubt, he a g,

Re: Sheet Metal Plennum

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:22 am
by schmauster920
Great work, im surprised i dont see this more often. I need a tig



Racepartsolutions has awesome vbands too.. Theyre the only ones i know of machined to use a viton oring which they sell replacements for $1 too. I have one of their vbands on my turbo and its lasting great.

Ive used a lot of their stuff and its all been great so far.

Re: Sheet Metal Plennum

Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:35 pm
by ka240de
Don't mind me doing this setup , all credit to you this is such an amazing, simple setup and kicks excessives a**.

Re: Sheet Metal Plennum

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 1:08 pm
by HORSEPOWER CHEF
wow, looks great. the plenum might be on the large side, but the fabrication is great!

Re: Sheet Metal Plennum

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 7:45 am
by Jmoore124
Did you ever pressure test this manifold? I did something similar and lost interest when I saw how porous the welds became against the cast runners. Not to mention the angle necessary to weld between the runners. If you were able to get your plate to seal 100% to your runners you must know some kind of wizardry with cast welding.