Above 1200 Sq/FT 86's 20HP shop

[86turbodsl]

Ordered a new control board for the 3d printer, and then got back to work in the shop. Temp was way down from not running the boiler a couple of days, so i let it run most of the weekend catching up.

Here's the left pipe all tacked up and sitting in position.



I think the routing looks good, very similar to the stock downpipes.



Good clearance with the crossmembers.




The flange weld with 309L, mild steel flange, and stainless pipe. There was a good bit of gap between them. It was a very tricky weld. I had to dump a ton of heat into the flange and just barely nick the pipe or it would melt. Then using a modified laywire technique, i shoved a ton of 309 into the puddle, keeping it biased towards the pipe so it would cool it off. The downside is that weld is a lot bigger and hotter than it should have been, and the exhaust manifold is going to interfere. There's a cone built right into the manifold exit that i am going to have to grind down to get this to sit flat. I suspect that might affect sealing but not sure. For right now, i will call it a win and just use some copper rtv if needed. Still need to add the o2 bung and fill in the backside of the flange with silicon bronze. Then it's pretty much done.

Hopefully i can keep the shop temp up better this week. I didn't babysit as much as usual last week since it was warmer.

 

[86turbodsl]

Seems we have some snow coming in this week, so i will be at the office M,T,F and home W,Th. I could get used to the flex thing.

I ordered a Hougen annular cutter set, so should be able to cut O2 bung holes pretty easy. The amount of tools i'm buying for this exhaust stuff is kinda crazy. But i suspect i save the money i would have spent getting them made.. we will see.

 

[Bob Heine]

But i suspect i save the money i would have spent getting them made.. we will see.

@86turbodsl, I asked a welding shop for a price on two custom stainless header pipes. For the price they quoted I bought a welder, tank of 98%/2% Ar/CO2 and a spool of stainless MIG wire. It didn't cover the two mandrel U-bends, V-band clamps, reducers and stainless header flanges but I expect they would have charged me extra for that.

 

[86turbodsl]

@86turbodsl, I asked a welding shop for a price on two custom stainless header pipes. For the price they quoted I bought a welder, tank of 98%/2% Ar/CO2 and a spool of stainless MIG wire. It didn't cover the two mandrel U-bends, V-band clamps, reducers and stainless header flanges but I expect they would have charged me extra for that.

Lol. Point taken. And i'll use the annular cutters on other stuff too...

 

[86turbodsl]

Lack of posting lately. Sidetracked a bit. I did get my Hougen annular cutters this weekend, and they work AWESOME. O2 holes cut out and 1st downpipe completely finished. Working on #2. I suspect the Hougens become my new favorite hole drills. PERFECT holes. Easy.
I did have to grind down the exhaust manifold to get the new pipe to sit flat. And i managed to ding up the studs around that area, so i need to get new studs made. Threaded rod should work. Hopefully i can get that pipe mounted tonight.

The drive to work was interesting...

Lack of road salt leads to 6 Tractor trailer pile up on WB I-94 @ Chelsea, including miles of backed up vehicles followed by cars turned around and heading EASTBOUND on WB I94, something you never see, and to top it all off, at the rest stop near Chelsea stopped on the shoulder, a MOTORCYCLIST ON HIS BIKE stopped watching traffic roll by. It's 24F out.
Wow.

 

[Strouty]

Sounds fun, keep safe.

 

[86turbodsl]

It was a little white-knuckly on the way in, but at least we're not buried in snow like you Strouty.

 

[ClappedOutBport]

Annular cutters also make superb pipe notchers if you have a mill or very stiff drill press. I've used up to 3 3/8", lovely tools!

Also good for making thin rounds for various parts, like capping tubes.

 

[86turbodsl]

Annular cutters also make superb pipe notchers if you have a mill or very stiff drill press. I've used up to 3 3/8", lovely tools!

Also good for making thin rounds for various parts, like capping tubes.

The machinist at work asked me why i didn't buy the set up to 1.5". Because i'm not made of money! I have the master set up to 3/4"

 

[83VillageRepair]

Your exhaust is looking great! We are having our annual bit of winter here in Texas for the next couple of days.

 

[86turbodsl]

I heard from my bro in DFW also, he said the place was shut down with icy roads. Stay safe!

In other news, i bolted the first downpipe on for good last night and started on the 2nd. And annular cutters, where have you been all my life?? Amazing holes. 1/4" plate flanges, cut perfect holes in seconds.

 

[bulletpruf]

I heard from my bro in DFW also, he said the place was shut down with icy roads. Stay safe!

In other news, i bolted the first downpipe on for good last night and started on the 2nd. And annular cutters, where have you been all my life?? Amazing holes. 1/4" plate flanges, cut perfect holes in seconds.

Schools closed in San Antonio for the second day because of potential for icy roads.

A bit of snow on the ground here in Virginia, too. First white stuff this year.

 

[83VillageRepair]

I heard from my bro in DFW also, he said the place was shut down with icy roads. Stay safe!

In other news, i bolted the first downpipe on for good last night and started on the 2nd. And annular cutters, where have you been all my life?? Amazing holes.

Work is going to be fun today. I wonder how well annular cutters would work notching structural pipe

 

[86turbodsl]

Work is going to be fun today. I wonder how well annular cutters would work notching structural pipe

If you can hold it rigid enough, probably pretty well. Super clean, burr free holes in seconds. Just lubricate your cuts.

 

[jbmatth]

Work is going to be fun today. I wonder how well annular cutters would work notching structural pipe

Just be really careful using them, keep cutting, don't back out of the cut until complete. I learned this lesson the hard way drilling my welding table, broke 3, found out my mistake the next day talking to a machinist at work. Expensive lesson.

JB

 

[86turbodsl]

That's different than how i did it. I was stopping midway to add coolant several times. No issues at all.

 

[86turbodsl]

Got the exhaust manifold ground flat last night, bolted on the new flange, and got the first section of pipe tacked up. Basically making the mirror image of the first one. Once it's done and bolted on, the engine can go back in. Should go a lot faster then. Custom fab is always way slower than bolt ons.

 

[ClappedOutBport]

They work wonderful in a bridgeport for tube notching as they are ground very true. 3/4" collet, 8 thou feed for aluminum, maybe less for SS or steel. Nice and slow, no need to exceed 50 SFM. Cleanest notch you can ask for.

 

[86turbodsl]

No pics sadly as it was late and i forgot to take my camera, but the downpipes are both done and installed, the last few bits of harness repair are done, and i'm working on bolting bits to the engine getting ready to install. I still need to flip the cart around and lift the engine with the forklift to get the subframe and mounts reinstalled. Also rebuilt the shifter and installed that as well. Getting a lot closer!

I've also progressed on my TIG technique to the point i can join piping without filler if i wish. Autogenous is quite neat. Just move the torch along the joint and watch it flow together. On recommendations of my welder friend, i am avoiding it most of the time though.

 

[86turbodsl]

Here's where we are now: Getting ready to put her in.


In other news, my daughter's Audi exhaust failed. I have a new one to put on, but the front half of it isn't built yet. So i had to order all that yesterday, and it will be a mad scramble to get it done over a weekend since i have to take another car down to do it.



That front hunk there was from the other car. It was on an S4 w/big turbos. Obviously i do not have turbos on the car, since it's an A4, but the exhaust was cheap-ish and stainless and local. So we'll make it work.

 

[jbmatth]

Looks great, good job on all the work you've put into this repair.

JB

 

[Strouty]

Sorry to hear about the second car, hopefully things will start to level off on the repair front.

 

[86turbodsl]

Guys, I am soooooo tired of car repairs. I actually want to work on the shop, not all this foolishness.

Jobs are stacking up!

The stainless stuff shows up today. I got a good nights' sleep, so that helped.

In other news, i just discovered HGR now has a Detroit location. I did NOT need to know that....

 

[86turbodsl]

Looks great, good job on all the work you've put into this repair.

JB

Thank you. I'm excited about the tig stainless learning. Opens up a lot of doors for things i wanted to do. I need to tackle aluminum next.

 

[83VillageRepair]

In other news, i just discovered HGR now has a Detroit location. I did NOT need to know that....

They have a Ft Worth location as well. I love HGR

 

[86turbodsl]

They have a Ft Worth location as well. I love HGR

I do too. They were just far enough away i could only make it for a big trip if i had already bought something and needed to pick it up. Now i can go browse at lunch..... Ugh...

 

[86turbodsl]

Trying to decide if i need to put an additional bend in the downpipes, they look a little low to me by the tailshaft.

 

[Strouty]

How hard is it to put the bend in the pipes? I can see what you are talking about, but not sure how big of a deal it will be or not be. Assuming no easy way to deal with it after it is in the chassis?

 

[86turbodsl]

Pull them back off and splice in a chunk of elbow. I went out and pulled them up, i think there's enough room to flex up and be ok. Hard to tell for sure while it's out of the car. If i have to fix it after engine goes in, it'll **** a bit, but at least i have a lift and the cats aren't in the way anymore. I should be able to tell at that point. The flex joints are after the brackets to the transmission.

 

[Strouty]

So that corrugated piece has no flex? It is definitely a tough call, most of the cars I have dealt with have a stainless braided flex section that makes for a lot of room to adjust.

 

[86turbodsl]

So that corrugated piece has no flex? It is definitely a tough call, most of the cars I have dealt with have a stainless braided flex section that makes for a lot of room to adjust.

Yes, the corrugated sections are the flex pipes. They don't have the braid over them like a lot of them do. These ones are supposed to be more robust than the usual braided ones. Time will tell on that front.

 

[rattle_snake]

Exhaust SS TIG work looks great. Not simple or quick.

 

[86turbodsl]

Exhaust SS TIG work looks great. Not simple or quick.

Thank you. I'd show you close ups of stacks of dimes, but .... there are none... :=/

 

[Monza Harry]

Guys, I am soooooo tired of car repairs......
In other news, i just discovered HGR now has a Detroit location. I did NOT need to know that....

I hear you on that one, my daily driver is going to be 22 years old sometime this year! The needed repairs are multiplying faster that rabbits multiply.
Now for HGR, due tell (share some details Please), and this does sound bad in the best way possible! Harry OH GOOGLE SMFH

 

[86turbodsl]

HGR started in Euclid, OH. Think dirt cheap tools. AFTER they sit there a while. They are all on consignment. For instance, my big bandsaw was 400 there, my two syncrowaves were 150 and 100 there. And so on...

 

[zanyad]

HGR started in Euclid, OH. Think dirt cheap tools. AFTER they sit there a while. They are all on consignment. For instance, my big bandsaw was 400 there, my two syncrowaves were 150 and 100 there. And so on...

Prices have definitely gone up!

 

[Monza Harry]

Thank You, I was looking for their location, after careful scrutiny I found their location, pretty much between the Suburban Collection Show Place and KITTS, [45 minutes from here] and their hours ****, no Saturdays, I have tomorrow off and Monday. Friday no suitable wheels to go there, Monday SWMBO's birthday, somehow I don't think I can sell that trip as "for her" I might try, but I better find my "cup" first! Harry LOL!

 

[86turbodsl]

I haven't been over to the Detroit location yet, i did an online search, seems to be mostly big VMC's so far. I like Euclid for the smaller stuff. I'm not looking to buy a 15K VMC.

 

[Chrisb62]

I haven't been over to the Detroit location yet, i did an online search, seems to be mostly big VMC's so far. I like Euclid for the smaller stuff. I'm not looking to buy a 15K VMC YET.

Fixed it for you.......

 

[83VillageRepair]

HGR started in Euclid, OH. Think dirt cheap tools. AFTER they sit there a while. They are all on consignment. For instance, my big bandsaw was 400 there, my two syncrowaves were 150 and 100 there. And so on...

They ship reasonably as well. I bought my Miller Trailblazer from them and even with shipping was about half of what I could find around here