The Rebirth of Smokey Eddy - The 1.9 Saga

[Thezorn]

As promised, thanks to RadoTD:

I'm proud of my self for this weld having not a welder for my self and for being buttwelds i think it turned out really well!
I blame the Argon for such clean welds.


I got the parts from Lordco Autoparts.
The parts exluding the flange (i recommend sourcing a better one than mine as it had to be modified to clear the waste gate plate on my T3. It also didn't match the holes perfectly) are as follows:
Line. Part number. Item. List Price.
171. 42322. U-Bend Pipe. $41.99
VIB. 4556. SS Flex Coup. $87.99

I paid roughly 50% of the list price for the items. I got 2 U-bends.

One bend we cut a 117 degree bend and from and the other U a 90 degree bend.
The flange is offset from perpendicular to the flex (the straight part that goes under the car) by 27 degrees.

Why get 2 u-bends then? because you're almost guaranteed to EFF it up at least once.

Tools required: angle grinder with at least one cutting disk and one grinding disk. A protractor. A paint pen. A tri-square helps. So does a regular square. Any straight edge. We used a level in combination with the grinding disk on the grinder to do the fine touches. A welder. MIG worked really well with Argon/CO2 as our inhibitor. RadoTD told me the ratio but i forgot already. It's the recommended mix for steel.

If you can rent or borrow a MIG welder i strongly recommend doing so to make your down pipe. it took us an astonishingly small amount of time since we had the angles and measurements to follow from my old refrigerant pipe down pipe.
MIG is very easy to set up and even easier to use.
My past experiences have been using shielded flux wire which was messy and terrible. The inert gas welding was completely different.

The gas mixture is called  (stargold) C25. It is 75% argon 25% C02.  straight argon works pretty much equally though.

[Smokey Eddy]

Did you get my pm?

[xxkoadyxx]

would a flux welder be able to weld exhaust? im looking into getting a welder and dont know which one would be cheapest and get the job done.

[Smokey Eddy]

I used flux before. It works fine its just messy if you aren't skilled as I am not.

[arb]

I used flux before. It works fine its just messy if you aren't skilled as I am not.

Yeah, definitely now as clean and shiny as gas shielded and not as strong as gas welds, but flux does have one advantage besides a cheaper machine - it can be used on dirty metal, even with some rust as the flux will remove some of the oxygen from the metal.

BTW Eddie, really nice welding.

[R.O.R-2.0]

flux has acid and stuff in it? so when it burns it cleans the metal?

my brother uses nothing but flux core to weld pilings together. they dont even clean the metal, just start burning wire..

i wanna say he welds with something big like .064? wire? i dont remember tho. but i know its bigger than every day home welder flux core wire.

[Thezorn]

flux has acid and stuff in it? so when it burns it cleans the metal?

my brother uses nothing but flux core to weld pilings together. they dont even clean the metal, just start burning wire..

i wanna say he welds with something big like .064? wire? i dont remember tho. but i know its bigger than every day home welder flux core wire.

This is almost true, on the right track for sure. When you weld with a MIG welder, the inert gas (usually a mixture of argon and other gasses) acts as a shield to the atmosphere so the molten metal puddle you are creating when welding does get attacked by oxygen and in turn does not oxidies.
Flux core does not have this inert gas to create a shield around the molten puddle so the (flux) which is a mixture of different materials depending on what you are welding, gets burned dirring the metal transfer prosess creating a smokey hase around your puddle. This smokey hase acts as the same kind of shield to the surrounding atmoshpere as the inert gas does. In turn gaurding your molten puddle. Some of the smoke does get sucked into the puddle and mixed around with the molten metal but, have no fear, it resurfaces once the puddle starts to cool and become what we all no as "slag", the nasty crap you have to chip off the top of your weld bead once it has cooled. The easiest way to understand flux core welding is to think of it as the same this are Arc (stick) welding but instead of the flux coating being on the outside of the rod in stick welding, the flux is on the inside of the wire. But acts in the exact same way.

And flux core wire can be alot bigger then the normal .035 or .045 mig wire. I have personally welded with flux core wire as big as 1.2mm thick. Its nasty stuff though. Verrry very dirty.

   Will.

[theman53]

Best use of flux core is when you have wind or dirty stuff like mentioned before. The wind strong enough to blow away the shielding gas sucks. If you are fairly new to it like me you start to question your manhood. Your welds, as much as you try, really start to suck. Until you figure it out and go inside or get the flux core

[Thezorn]

Did you get my pm?

yea just saw that, thanks again ed

[Thezorn]

forgot to ask you before ed. What clutch and pressure plate do you have? Im having a hard time deciding on what to get.

[Smokey Eddy]

I have a six puck clutch and "drag racing" pp from bildon motor sport. I recommend the six puck. It's not too grabby at all.

[guy plain]

would a flux welder be able to weld exhaust? im looking into getting a welder and dont know which one would be cheapest and get the job done.
 
 
 
i know... old post...but... i bought a nieco welder at KMS tools....135 amp runs on 110 v works great.... i also bought the bottel and wire...cart and a few other odds and ends...they use twco fittings so you can get parts at any welding suply store.. i do prefere the gas welding... used to weld in a shop in edmonton building vac trucks... and for a small welder this one seems good... hell i got the whole set up for the price of one miller or lincon.. and when your set up its suprizing how many uses you find for it... really they are an investment and a good one to... easy to use and there is a good welding chart in the hood of the welder its self... flux core is messy... smokes splaters and is a pain to clean... but if i remember right it also burns hotter so you can weld thicker metal with a smaller welder and there is less prep work needed ..... so if your welding old rusty thick metal flux... if its newer and clean go with gas...both have there place.... its just the choice you make depending on the steel your welding

[Smokey Eddy]

Of course. Exhaust tube steel is pretty easy to weld. it won't be pretty but it will work.

[Smokey Eddy]

I haven't posted on here in a while. Here are some fun pics because lets be honest, if there weren't photos on here I wouldn't not only not use the forum but I would probably scrap my VW.
 
 
Here is the bracket I made for the larger 90 amp to replace the 65

Here are prothes injector lines. I had to bend them some to make them fit but they are leak free.
 
 
The old gauges. Now all needles move except for the oil temp. I broke the sensortrying to take it out.
 

[burn_your_money]

I thought you were showing off your 35 psi of boost