auldy

Im looking to fabricate my own exhaust in stainless steel for my mk1 project, what im wondering is can i tack weld the bits together with my mig? I would then get the local welding company to tig it all up.

Cheers,auld

gouch1

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...tainless-steel

crazycage

you could just tack it with your mig , the welder will then re tack it inbetween your tacks with his tig then grind off the old mild steel ones and weld it up.

ajamesc

ive welded stainless a few times at work with are mig it dose work may not be ideal but works

auldy

Thanks very much for the replys guys, very helpfull!

Cheers,auld

stevieturbo

You could do the entire thing with the MIG.

Why are people obsessed with TIG ?

For an exhaust, TIG is pretty and nothing more.

If you want it to look all nice and pretty, by getting it professionally TIG'd together. There is no point tacking it with mild steel wire with your MIG. Unless they intend to grind the mild steel back out again.

You'll need to buy a roll of stainless MIG wire. But if you can weld, may as well just MIG the entire thing that way.

xr2wishy

iTrader: (2)

just get some argo-shield light and stainless wire, i made all my boost pies, water pipes and exhaust with my mig.
not as tidy as tig granted, but job done.

botters

iTrader: (2)

as above or you can even just use argon just makes the start of the weld abit splattery

stevieturbo

And if you want after it's MIG'd, you can buff the welds down with a flap wheel and the pipe will almost appear one piece if it's all done neatly.

foreigneRS

on the outside - the inside will probably look like a spiders nest with wire poking through everywhere :cry;

stevieturbo

Only if you're really really shit at welding.

Even I'm beyond that stage and can weld pipes together with little or no protrusion with a MIG.

The only time there may be a little is if trying to fill gaps. So just cut the pipes so there are no gaps, then everything is neat inside.

Rax

iTrader: (1)

I did weld my speed bump holes up on my stainless pipe with my mig.The only thing I was told about doing this is the weld will rust.Maybe wrong,maybe true I dont know.

botters

iTrader: (2)

if you use mild steel wire ten yes it will, if you use stainless wire it wont

Rax

iTrader: (1)

Yep,mild steel (copper coloured wire) in both my migs.I now believe what I was told After all if two people tell you the same thing then its true

foreigneRS

why does it take 2 people to tell you something you already know before you belive it? if the wire is made of mild steel that rusts, how could it possibly suddenly not rust, just because you've plonked it on top of stainless?

GARETH T

for anyone who wants to know a little more about welding, have a watch of this guys videos on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/user/weldingt...eature=g-all-u

ts.tm.jb.fingers

get it tig welded,much better weld if done properly with argon backing gas aswell,or purged as its called,that will give the weld full penatration,any welder worth his trade will know what to do for a good weld,even more so on a exhaust,with all the heat exchange,mig tack it up,then get it tig welded properly after imo,job done

Rax

iTrader: (1)

1 I was not sure
2 I didnt know what bloody wire it was
3 Next time I will be more serious,so please forgive me as I am truly sorry

TommyB

Once you use TIG there's no going back.

stevieturbo

Why's that ? You wont do much body repairs with TIG. You wont make quick brackets, tack stuff in place one handed with a TIG.

As already stated. TIG is great if you need it to look pretty. Other than that there is pretty much no benefit, especially for an exhaust.

It's a bit like the yanks obsession with TIG'ing rollcages. Most of them will say if it isnt TIG welded, it's useless or weak.

I guess WRC dont build theirs right.

So in your eyes. What are all the benefits TIG offers that make it so superior ?

TommyB

To be fair we are talking about exhausts and fabrication.

Aluminium brackets, get the TIG,

How many rally cars barrell roll at 330mph or even 200mph? I've worked on pro mod cars and I think having a TIG welded roll cage has saved people.

TIG is stronger and far easyer to control heat and penetration.

I still use the mig for fitting panels and hate being burnt ha ha.

GARETH T

fuck tig welding an exhaust,,, it would take me hours LOL

like all tools,,, its about selecting the right tool for the job.

auldy

Thanks for all the replys guys!

Think i mite get some stainless wire and get it all tac'd up then get a local welder to tig it all together.

Any recomendations for a small 5kg roll?

cheers,auld

stevieturbo

TIG welding is used on such cages because of the materials used in their fabrication. And having a well designed and fabricated cage saved lives. It certainly isnt because they are TIG welded.

How many drag cars impact directly into trees at any speed ? Or how many might fall off a cliff and drop hundreds of feet ? None that I can ever recall.

Drag strips are designed so there is little chance of any direct impacts which would cause severe damage.

A proper weld is a proper weld regardless of method.


And what you you mean by recommendations for a 5kg roll ? Any welding supply shop should have it. 5kg will last you a long time, and stainless isnt overly cheap.
Although it can do no harm having it.

GROUP A

i have a GRS motor sport Radiator that has small leaks either side at the top of the radiator, i was told it can be repaired but its made of ally so its a bit of a job.

can anyone on here do the job to fix it ? will pay !!

stevieturbo

Is it the header tank or actual radiator tubes leaking ? Makes a huge difference to whether it can be repaired or not and how easily.

GROUP A

all hoses and header tank itself is all tight and top notch, its the radiator itself as you can see the pink coolant stains from where it was leaking.

scarabman

I can weld alloy but your a bit far away really,but if you are desperate i live near wokingham berkshire.pm me.I have the right alloy grade rods for rads.

scarabman

i made my own exhaust using the mig stainless wire and argoshield light,unless you use pure argon it will be slightly black but works perfectly well.turn the amps and wire feed up and pulse weld it.it will spatter unless you use anti spatter spray.if you going for a shiney magazine look exhaust then its worth using some.





if you look down the the exhaust you can see there is good penetration but also not alot of weld on the inside,not bad considering I didn't purge weld it.

stevieturbo

It only splatters badly if using far too much wire/current. When the settings are right and workpiece nice and clean before welding, there should be virtually no splatter And gas really makes little difference. Ive tried both.

You're weld is quite obvious in the photo ( not making a dig BTW as it's probably neater than a lot of mine lol ), but the weld to the right is also MIG'd

focusv8

Done by Robot I'd guess, with perfect setttings.

.

stevieturbo

I have done similar welds myself. Although I wouldnt be able to manage a full circle around a pipe. If both pieces are clean and the settings are right, and no air gaps to fill, then it is very achievable. Maybe not as perfect, but very close.

GARETH T

theres nothing wrong with the welding on the left,, i would be happy to have that on my exhaust

COCHYN

TIG all the way for me, if you're making something, why should it look ugly? Here's a few of my old intercooler pipes.

GARETH T

tig is all well and good,, and i personally love tig,,, but it has one massive disadvantage, its slow!
if you gotta pay for someone to do the welding,, there is nothing at all wrong with mig!

scarabman

yeah should of pointed out the weld on the right was done on a welding lathe and yes it was mig.I had to use 0.8 wire as thats the only stainless wire i had.It would of been better with 0.6 and amps and feed turned down.With pipes its sometimes easier to trigger pulse weld like i did as you get a uniform looking weld rather than overlaps from continious welding and stopping to rotate the work.I was more concerned about too much weld protruding on the inside of the exhaust.

GROUP A

hopefully you can fix my Rad scarabman !! would be a massive bonus as its GRS one and not cheap by a long shot lol

scarabman

the guy from grs only works after hours from his normal job so not a big company but he does turn out some good stuff.all custom hence the price tag.