Forced Induction Section Fabrication Thread

[jakermac]

Also I'm pretty sure the alloy in the oil pan is 70% aluminum and 30% dirt.

[tptrsn]

y pedal is broken so I have to use fixed amperage with a finger switch which makes aluminum quite interesting. You have to control penetration with speed and when things get too hot you just have to stop and let it stabilize. Also I'm pretty sure the alloy in the oil pan is 70% aluminum and 30% dirt.

That's some badass aluminum welding for a finger switch. I pedal a TON when I'm welding aluminum, so welding some old, oil and dirt soaked casting with a finger switch is impressive to say the least!

[someguy2800]

It's a good thing you didn't get a closer look lol. I never use the pedal for anything except aluminum so I'm pretty used to it. I love the finger switch for steel and stainless.

[vollosso]

I cut up an intake manifold last night and was going to measure it with the cmm and have some flanges machined.. i have been wanting to draw up some new parts and saw the spare manifold last night.

Anybody have any input on something they are looking for?

Im planning on taking them up and including the injector bung.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tptrsn]

I might be interested in one of those flanges if I can swing it. I'm guessing you're thinking of making something like those ones PPF has?

[vollosso]

I might be interested in one of those flanges if I can swing it. I'm guessing you're thinking of making something like those ones PPF has?

Just searched it.. exactly what i was thinking. Hrm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TheJuggernaut]

Winter projects already started. Making gearbox coolers (diff and trans). Will go behind the license plate opening mesh with a fan.

YePLSj0.jpg

[5mall5nail5]

What cores are you using there?

[TheJuggernaut]

What cores are you using there?

Vibrant

[PEI330Ci]

Those look awesome! Way better than the junk I mentioned....

What's up with the Heart?

[TheJuggernaut]

Those look awesome! Way better than the junk I mentioned....

What's up with the Heart?

Go wash your mouth with soap before the Setrab angels cast unspeakable horrors on you.

That was back when I was still learning initially, I had some scraps left after I made my squat cage and I wanted to practice TIG brazing with silicon bronze. A lot more annoying than I expected. But it turned out to be a pretty practical prop.

7VLrFao.jpg

[TheJuggernaut]

Done the cooler setup, just need to mount the fan, mount it in the trunk and plumb it with the pump. Jon, FYI I looked up the p/n of the cores I got, they're 4x10x2

gloJT48.jpg

[tptrsn]

Damn, that's sweet!

[Def]

Any worry about fluid levels with long hose/tubing runs and the cooler being higher than both sumps? Maybe put a sightglass in each to make sure you can see the level with the pump running?

[TheJuggernaut]

Not really, just need to make sure you put in enough fluid to fill the gearbox, lines and cooler. As with drysump, after shutdown, the gearboxes will overfill but once you're moving again next time it quickly normalizes. But I might add checkvalves to the pump outlets. EDIT: just checked and the Tilton pump actually has a checkvalve, will need to check with GForce if their mechanical pump needs one.

[Butters Stoch]

This will probably be gay to you guys, but making a 3d aluminium cross as a present. Quick project, my wife is mad about the amount of ashtrays I'm making.


Sent from my E6782 using Tapatalk

[Butters Stoch]

Sent from my E6782 using Tapatalk

[JimsR]

I played with aluminum this weekend for the first time and I am having a heck of a time. I am laying beads down just fine but as soon as I try a butt weld it all turns to crap. Joining two pieces is proving difficult, I was burning holes and making a mess, I turn down the amps and it seems to not want to make a puddle so I press a bit more on the pedal and starting making holes or big pregnant weld blobs. More practice is needed. Settings are 45 amps, 3/32 filler, 110 hz, 3/32 tungsten, and 35 on the ac balance I believe. I would post pics but I fail at that also Do these setting sound close for intercooler piping?

[tptrsn]

With aluminum I find that in most situations you have to add filler to tack. Sometimes if your fitup is super tight you can get fusion, but then the tack will normally crack as it cools. Use the cleaning action for a few seconds around the area you're going to tack across, and only when the parent metal gets shiny, throw in some heat and stab in filler.

- - - Updated - - -

What's your torch setup there? A 9 or 20?

[TheJuggernaut]

I played with aluminum this weekend for the first time and I am having a heck of a time. I am laying beads down just fine but as soon as I try a butt weld it all turns to crap. Joining two pieces is proving difficult, I was burning holes and making a mess, I turn down the amps and it seems to not want to make a puddle so I press a bit more on the pedal and starting making holes or big pregnant weld blobs. More practice is needed. Settings are 45 amps, 3/32 filler, 110 hz, 3/32 tungsten, and 35 on the ac balance I believe. I would post pics but I fail at that also Do these setting sound close for intercooler piping?

When you're first starting out, set the pedal to a lot more than you need then once you get to know different materials and your machine, you'll sort of figure out by feel how much pedal you were using with the amperage you set and dial it back proportionally next time. 45 sounds low, that would be good for .045 steel but even for 0.045 aluminum that won't be enough, especially with that much EP. And if the tubing is really that thin, 3/32 is too much filler and depending on your machine, 3/32 tungsten might be fine but some machines would struggle having a steady arc on such low amperage with 3/32 (but that's fine tuning).

Post details about your tubing. Are you practicing butt welds on plate or did you go straight to the tubing? Tubing welding isn't very hard but it has particular concerns which you don't want to worry about for your first time (namely, you HAVE to be conscious about changing your torch angle with almost every single dip otherwise your torch angle will very quickly become hopeless.

First off, be patient. Aluminum is a heat gobbler and it will take a while before it's happy. For some joints, especially with thicker metal and if you have good fitup, it's best to hit it hard and heavy for a tack weld without filler - set the amps to 50-100% more than you need, get the tungsten super tight (good technique is to actually touch the joint and pull back ever so slightly before you hit it) and give it full jam. It will make a quick autogenous tack without affecting the rest of the piece. This isn't a good idea for thin wall butt joints because you're almost definitely going to blow a hole. You can do autogenous tacks on thin butt welds but it takes a lot of practice. You will learn that as you patiently and slowly build the amps and the edges start melting, if you have no gap, you can wiggle the tungsten back and forth and it will wash the metal around until it joins. This one took me a while to get good at.

The easiest way to get started is to just lay the rod right on the joint, and light up on it. Hit it hard with some amps and it'll wet into the two sides. It's also a good technique for tack welding things with a gap - otherwise you have to build up the edges and it results in a larger tack.

How is your steel game? The main problem with aluminum is it's pretty unforgiving. The same things that you can sorta get away with with steel, like less than ideal torch angle or arc length, you can't with aluminum, not without having it look like shit at best.

[Def]

I played with aluminum this weekend for the first time and I am having a heck of a time. I am laying beads down just fine but as soon as I try a butt weld it all turns to crap. Joining two pieces is proving difficult, I was burning holes and making a mess, I turn down the amps and it seems to not want to make a puddle so I press a bit more on the pedal and starting making holes or big pregnant weld blobs. More practice is needed. Settings are 45 amps, 3/32 filler, 110 hz, 3/32 tungsten, and 35 on the ac balance I believe. I would post pics but I fail at that also Do these setting sound close for intercooler piping?

Sounds like maybe not enough max amps, and too much arc length. Aluminum needs a GREAT fitup, you cannot tolerate gaps if your process is off at all. Also, it doesn't like hanging out and building up heat with too low of amperage, you need to let it stabilize at say 50% amps for a second or two and break up the oxide layer, then as soon as you start to get things cleaned off, give it some pedal and dab in filler then motor out. You cannot hang around if you want to like on steel.

Tight arc length, get the puddle started and do the filler/motor out routine and you'll be good with a SOLID fitup. Gaps and stuff will just keyhole out.


Your intercooler piping is probably 1/16" (0.063") wall thickness, so you probably need more like 50-60 amps average for a butt weld. I'd set the machine to about 75 amps and use the foot pedal and see how it feels. You will be using near full pedal towards the beginning, more like half to 2/3rds pedal for the middle/end of the joint. Don't be afraid to let things cool for a few minutes while you're starting either. You'll probably move too slow and put too much heat into things, so letting the joint rest a bit and cool off will help you. The bead will start to look grainy and the puddle flowing like water when you get things too hot.

[JimsR]

Thanks guys. The advise is making sense in my head, I will give it another go and hopefully I can get some functional pieces even if they are not pretty.

[E36Mylo]

Sounds like maybe not enough max amps, and too much arc length. Aluminum needs a GREAT fitup, you cannot tolerate gaps if your process is off at all. Also, it doesn't like hanging out and building up heat with too low of amperage, you need to let it stabilize at say 50% amps for a second or two and break up the oxide layer, then as soon as you start to get things cleaned off, give it some pedal and dab in filler then motor out. You cannot hang around if you want to like on steel.

Tight arc length, get the puddle started and do the filler/motor out routine and you'll be good with a SOLID fitup. Gaps and stuff will just keyhole out.


Your intercooler piping is probably 1/16" (0.063") wall thickness, so you probably need more like 50-60 amps average for a butt weld. I'd set the machine to about 75 amps and use the foot pedal and see how it feels. You will be using near full pedal towards the beginning, more like half to 2/3rds pedal for the middle/end of the joint. Don't be afraid to let things cool for a few minutes while you're starting either. You'll probably move too slow and put too much heat into things, so letting the joint rest a bit and cool off will help you. The bead will start to look grainy and the puddle flowing like water when you get things too hot.

You seem very knowledgeable on this subject. You got any examples of your own stuff to show?

[Def]

You seem very knowledgeable on this subject. You got any examples of your own stuff to show?

I'm just a hobby welder, nothing special. But I do at least know the basics because it wasn't all that long ago I went through the same thing.

I actually still feel aluminum is easier because that's what I mostly did for my early projects. Mild steel is pretty easy, but stainless is a PITA on many different levels if you don't have a good backpurge setup.

[E.Hands]

You seem very knowledgeable on this subject. You got any examples of your own stuff to show?