dude! im impressed, I have buddies that have been welding 20 years that cant do that nice of a job. well done.
youll have no issues actual welding the stainless. the challenge there is round tubing and tight quarters. think of the collector. don’t be afraid to get that tungsten stickin way the fuck out and let the gas start for a second or 2 before u strike the arc.
if u walked into my shop and did that and said u were only welding 2 mos id hire u on the spot.
Very well done! The hardest things I have found with Aluminum compared to stainless is surface preparation and heat control. Judging by your welds above, I’d say you will have no problems with stainless.
I loved welding in a controlled and clean environment, but welding for repairs, tight spaces, or on stuff that’s hard to prep properly almost always makes me frustrated.
Good luck with the project!
I learned taught myself on 16ga aluminum, so heat control was pretty easy with 0.100" aluminum. Way bigger heat sink, so it’s hard to get it hot enough to wash out unless you’re trying.
Very smart work on getting the feel of it and then move onto heat control. Looks nice.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zps1a2d30c6.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsf6f0dc04.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zpsdb99a12c.jpg
Going to drill and tap these blocks and weld them in place for the bottom mounts.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zpsb5764ed5.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zps6ad72513.jpg
Filler neck setup. It will get cut down some before final assembly.
That should turn out really nice.
Late night upper control arm replacement
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zpsf11ba3ef.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zps3849a290.jpg
I had to go back to stock style arms. The aurora joints aren’t made for the conditions up here. I did get nearly 40k miles out of them though. These are probably better suited for a race car or show car that doesn’t see daily use in all kinds of conditions.
Tank is all but finished. Just need to clean it up/out and put it in the car.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zpsd6e9cedf.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zps75f78f0c.jpg
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http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zps5de2d1de.jpg
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I found out the -4AN weld-on fitting was anodized AFTER striking an arc. Weld looks like poop, but it will work.
That will work and it is lookin great. Wow that fits so nice right there. Being someone that has built several exhaust and other parts by hand it has a special place with you when you make it. It can be a labor of hate as you know every flaw in that tank that really to others would never be seen. If you are one of those guys that perfection is hard to give your self give it to yourself here. That looks great.
I’m super excited to see what else you come up with.
that looks great man. if u can do this stuff u can make a very good living in custom fab.
Are you sure you haven’t been welding for years? That’s some seriously nice work man. Can’t wait to see this in your car.
Welding in a straight line is easy. It’s the curved stuff that can be a PITA. The top of the joint between the filler neck and tank pissed me off. Had to hang the tungsten WAY out to get down in there.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zps62fdf732.jpg
This was the hardest spot to weld on the entire thing.
Meth tank is finally installed. As calculated, it holds right at 4 gallons. I still need to figure out how I’m going to finish off the cut edge of the door. Anyone have any suggestions?
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zpsdb502b02.jpg
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Nice clean install. That’s so professional looking you could probably sell it quite easily. Great work man, congrats on seeing your vision through.
I don’t think many people would want to pay what I would have to charge to make it worthwhile. There is probably almost $200 in materials and welding consumables in this thing, not counting the hours it took to make. I’m not saying I wouldn’t make one for somebody, but it definitely won’t be mass production.
good job man!
I’ve been having some oil consumption problems lately, so I decided to do a compression check to rule out the piston rings. Over the holidays, I went on a road trip from CT to OH and back and burned right at a quart each way (~650 miles). I expect some oil consumption due to the somewhat loose fit required by my 2618 alloy pistons, but that should just be on cold starts for the most part. Those drives were done without significant stops, so the car was warm the entire time except for the first few miles each way. I did the compression check right after getting home from work while the car was still hot. I did not add any oil. Here are the results:
Cyl #1
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zps50c116ad.jpg
Cyl #2
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zps03152a76.jpg
Cyl #3
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zps63c4753e.jpg
Cyl #4
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/image_zpscbc18971.jpg
I’m happy with the results, but Cyl #3 being that much higher than the others was unexpected. Any idea what would cause this? Carbon buildup in the cylinders perhaps? I think I can rule out piston rings as the cause of my oil consumption. Next step is a different valve cover and temporarily reinstalling the factory PCV.
What’s your ring end gap set at. How many cranks per test.
I have a very long theory on why the middle cylinders always have better results. Several motor builders and professional cylinder head guys mentioned it over and over throughout the years. Do you know what stock compression and piston test results are.
According to Jake@JHM, the spec for a stock engine is 159-203 psi. When I built my engine, I dropped the CR to around 10:1 from the stock 10.5:1. I’m not entirely sure of the exact number due to JE calculating their pistons using a non-standard (OEM) head gasket. I calculated it out and got 10.1:1, but that was with some assumptions. I also don’t know if switching to Ferrea valves affected compression chamber volume of the head. I did 6 compression strokes per cylinder. Ring gap was set per the install instructions (which I can’t seem to find right now).
