My New Project: LS/T56 swap into a 2003 E39 M5

[JimLev]

Nice method of using the painters tape to mark the exit locations.
tptrsn, until I get better at TIG I'm glad nobody will see my welds!

[tptrsn]

Lol, I can relate to that Jim! :-)

[unnatrl]

Looking good! Your thread makes me hate my car! :-)

[daniels635turbo]

Love the attention to detail. The noise maker diverters...... Are they gonna be WOT operated or manual?
Looking forward to the sound check!!

[Schitzo]

Man those look GREAT!!! Beautiful, tidy welds on them too. Too bad the world will never see them...

Thanks Thad. The world not being able to see the welds is not necessarily a bad thing. I struggled with the welds that join the outlet tubes to the muffler. Not only was the space tight making it difficult to fit the torch in there but the muffler is made of aluminized steel so TIG welding it just plain sucked and the welds show it. It was as if I was welding in tar or molasses; makes for a nasty weld. This would be have been a weld for MIG. Many times I have ran into situations where a MIG would be suited over TIG. After this last job, I am convinced I need a MIG welder. Will be getting one as soon as I figure out which one to get.

Looking good! Your thread makes me hate my car! :-)

Thanks. At least yours runs

Love the attention to detail. The noise maker diverters...... Are they gonna be WOT operated or manual?
Looking forward to the sound check!!

The valves will be vacuum actuated. I will use the Sport button to activate the vacuum control valve. Thankfully, the Sport button is an analog switch; it provides a ground signal to the DME and in return, the DME sends a ground signal to enable the LED on the sport button. Should be relatively straight forward to use that to activate the vacuum control valve.

Little update. I didn't like the sanding marks on the tips so I bought some fine sandpaper and polish. I will try knock down some of the scratches but also try no to make the tips too shiny. I don't want a chrome like finish.

[tptrsn]

Thanks Thad. The world not being able to see the welds is not necessarily a bad thing. I struggled with the welds that join the outlet tubes to the muffler. Not only was the space tight making it difficult to fit the torch in there but the muffler is made of aluminized steel so TIG welding it just plain sucked and the welds show it. It was as if I was welding in tar or molasses; makes for a nasty weld. This would be have been a weld for MIG. Many times I have ran into situations where a MIG would be suited over TIG. After this last job, I am convinced I need a MIG welder. Will be getting one as soon as I figure out which one to get.

I welded a tube to the side of a nasty old (rusty and carboned up) aluminized muffler last night. High frequency pulse on my new welder that arrived yesterday seemed to help out a ton working on that garbage. Lol

I don't have a mig currently either, other than my one that runs from car batteries. It is only really useful for heavy work, but the upside is that it's a spool gun, so if you want to pound some welds into heavy aluminum it will do it. I do consider getting a nice little 110V mig from time to time, so I'll be interested in what you choose. My dad has had a little Lincoln 110V mig for probably 20 years and I've used it a lot. Works great.

[Schitzo]

It's Sunday night; time for an update.

Made some progress on the exhaust. I finished the driver's side rear section, including the V-band, and started on the passenger side. The passenger side is tacked in place but yet to be welded. I plan to do the welding tomorrow. I am too tired to do it tonight.

Passenger side V-band installed. Great ground clearance which is what I was going for.



V-band welds close up. I think they turned out great.


Passenger side rear section tacked in place.

[JimLev]

Nice welds Schitzo, I'm jealous.

[Aryana]

Very nice work

[daniels635turbo]

😇

[nsogiba]

getting there!

how long until she runs?

[tptrsn]

That V-band weld is ART!!

Is that your Ford 8.8 rear end in there? This thing is going to be a beast.

[Schitzo]

getting there!

how long until she runs?

Definitely getting there. I procrastinated a lot this past summer so I am now trying to catch up. The two big jobs left are finish fabricating the exhaust and put the engine together.

Is that your Ford 8.8 rear end in there?

yep

[octanematty]

Excellent work! Looking forward to more updates!

[Schitzo]

Sunday night update.

The main exhaust is done save for the center mount. Headers are next!





I am very happy with how it fits. All those hours spent getting things just right definitely paid off.

[JimLev]

Lookin good, that was a lot of welding. I've got the same tranny jack, it sure helps for those of us without a lift.

[daniels635turbo]

Nice job with the oval section, now you have some clearance.....
https://youtu.be/YdfW0Lesn58

[bimerok]

Great job. That exhaust work looks amazing.

Nice job with the oval section, now you have some clearance.....
https://youtu.be/YdfW0Lesn58

how pathetic and embarrasing was that! Another failure of the service.

[Schitzo]

Lookin good, that was a lot of welding. I've got the same tranny jack, it sure helps for those of us without a lift.

That jack has come in very handy for many jobs including installation and removal of the rear subframe.

Nice job with the oval section, now you have some clearance.....
https://youtu.be/YdfW0Lesn58

Ouch! Looks like secret service need to spend a week with Stance nation kids to learn how to drive.

Great job. That exhaust work looks amazing.

Thanks

In preparation for starting work on the headers, I picked up some square tubing to use for making support jigs that way I can work on the header off of the car. I also started cleaning the tubing that way I don't need to do it before welding (except for a final wipe with acetone).

I bought the header tubing from these guys (http://www.stainlessheaders.com) last summer. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they had moved their location from Fargo, ND to Burnsville, MN. As it turns out, they are a 15 minute drive away from my house so it will fast and easy to purchase tubing in case I need extra bends. I also re-watched their 6 part exhaust header fabrication videos. I linked video series below for anyone who hasn't watched them already. The guy in the video is who sold me the mandrel bends. Great guy to talk with. I had some questions about header fabrication which he was kind enough to take the time to answer.
https://www.youtube.com/user/stainlessheaders/videos

I was asked what my settings are when welding stainless. Below I have included what I found works best for me after welding the rest of the exhaust.
3/32" 2% lanthanated tungsten (I use 3/32" only because I ran out 5/16" tungsten and have a lot more 3/32" left)
0.045" 308 rod ( I messed with 0.030" and 1/16" rod but found 0.045" to be ideal for me)
#8 ceramic cup ( I prefer this over the larger cups. It still provides adequate coverage)
20 cfh argon with 8 seconds post flow
5 cfh argon back purge
100 amps (no pulse). Yes, this is very high for 0.065" wall exhaust tubing. I set the amps this high to allow me to tack weld the pieces together easily and quickly. With the amps this high, I can tack the tubing together without filler wire. I simply give the pedal a quick tap (on/off) to form the tack weld. This works great when you are underneath the car and can't quite use both hands to tack weld. It is demonstrated in the video below starting at the 3:00 minute mark. When doing the actual welding, I use the pedal to control the heat so I am not using the entire 100 amps; I probably don't even exceed 50 amps.
https://youtu.be/FppoWj8MyfE?t=3m

[tptrsn]

That is so fantastic that stainless headers is local to you!!! They have so many fantastic looking aids for building headers. Now I know you're going to knock this project out in "quick" fashion. Quick for what it is, anyway. A BIG project.

[Schitzo]

That is so fantastic that stainless headers is local to you!!! They have so many fantastic looking aids for building headers.

When you enter their office, there are 4-1 collector/mufflers combos that you see as soon as you walk in. The welds on them are pure art. My kind of place! Interestingly, their main business is aircraft exhausts.

Here is another place I just learned is in my back yard! For MN, that is huge!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKYZYBX51hU

Now I know you're going to knock this project out in "quick" fashion. Quick for what it is, anyway. A BIG project.

"Quick" Well, It has to be; Allow me to explain. Earlier this year the sister in law bet me I couldn't get this car done by a certain date so let's just say it's now personal!! It is no coincidence that there has been weekly updates recently lol. I am not a gambler but I am also not about to lose a bet to someone who believes it takes a month to extract an engine from a car!


Did some work on the car this evening. I removed the front end, installed all the stuff that might interfere with the header and started plumbing the passenger side.

[turbotalon1g]

amazing work, can't wait to see it done.

Are you planning to attend any events with the car this year?

[Schitzo]

amazing work, can't wait to see it done.

Are you planning to attend any events with the car this year?

I am sure I will bring it to some of the local events

Spent the last couple nights trying different configurations for the passenger header and last night I finally settled on one I liked the best. To aid with routing the tubes, I made a cardboard template to mimic the four tubes in the area around the starter. This made it easier to visualize how the tubing needed to be routed from the head to the template. Since the tubes will run close to the starter, I will need to fabricate a starter heatshield. I used a template made of thick cardboard to simulate the starter heatshield. The actual heatshield will be made of thinner material (haven't yet decided on what material to use). The thick cardboard ensures there will be plenty of room between the header and heatshield once I make the final part.


Once I had an idea how the tubes needed to be routed, I made the mock-header using the Iceenginework kit. This kit is fantastic. Wish I had gotten it sooner; I wasted a lot of time playing around with PVC tubing. One thing I didn't know about this kit is that you can custom order only the number of pieces and angles that you need. In my case, I ordered only enough to make one header and in three configurations: straight, 2 degree bend, and 3 degree bend.

Routing I settled on. I started with the rear most tube, #8, and working my way to the front.


Once I settled on the configuration above, I started fabricating the #8 tube out of stainless tubing. What is refreshing is how much faster I can cut the smaller header tubing (O.D. 1.875") as compared to the rest of the exhaust that I just finished (O.D. 3). I am home alone all weekend so I plan to spend all weekend in the garage. Hopefully, I will have the passenger side done by Sunday night.

[garretvs]

One again showing you are the Top Gun on this Forum!

[unnatrl]

One again showing you are the Top Gun on this Forum!

I concur. Keep the updates coming!