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Mach10 Welds Better Than Aaron FTW!!11

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:46 am
by Mach10
I have very little acheivements in my life to be proud of, so you'll have to forgive me for taking this:

Excuse the camera phone pics, but I'm very pleased with how well this turned out, and I'll take some REAL pics later today or tommorrow.

It's the exhaust crossover for a 3.4TDC, 2-1/4" piping that comes together into a collector and exits at 2.5"

Image

Image

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:22 am
by Mach10
Argh... Too bad I can't fucking use a Camera phone... It was set to "antique." Which is why everything came out green

I hate Motorola phones. It's SO ass-backward to set up. :cussing:

On top of that... Antique? What the fuck? Sepia-tones are YELLOW, not green.

Fucking japanese engineers :cussing:

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:39 am
by Kohburn
so your grandpa made those thing 80 years ago? very impressive :thumbleft:

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:16 pm
by whipped
How am I supposed to judge weld quality when you're 5' away, and it's already painted? :la:

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:19 pm
by linenoise
it appears that "my gawd am I really saying this" aaron takes much better pictures than you do FTW!

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:26 pm
by Mach10
I'll get some REAL pics up this evening. My proper digi was out of batteries and <insert lame excuse here>.


Trust me... The welds are better. :thumbleft:

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:47 pm
by Aaron
Wow, you owned me.

Want to see my exhaust? One thing, you might actually be able to see it :thumbleft:

Yah, your welds own mine. But my exhaust flows more. I'll grab some pics when I tear it apart this weekend.

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:56 pm
by Mach10
Hooray! Recognition! :la:

How'd you route yours? 2-1/4" -- 2.5" mandrel doesn't exactly strike me as having much in the way of restriction...

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:19 pm
by donk_316
lmao! nice..... antique setting? why would a camera come with stupid settings like that?


PHOTOSHOP!!! Probably aarons crossover with the shitty welds photochopped out.

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:25 pm
by Aaron
Mach10 wrote:Hooray! Recognition! :la:

How'd you route yours? 2-1/4" -- 2.5" mandrel doesn't exactly strike me as having much in the way of restriction...
I went off the factory manifolds with a 2.5" mandrel bent, out the back, then made 2 sharp turns into the muffler, and then had 2 mandrel bent 2.25" outlets to the Caddy tips. Very similiar to this one done by Blue Shift. Mine doesn't have a cat, uses MUCH uglier welds, and uses a Spinteck muffler. To be honest, the performance between your's and mine will probably be about the same. But mine weighs less, was easier to build, and was cheaper. Your's will be quieter, and probably sound a bit better too.

Image

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:31 pm
by Mach10
That's some pretty tight fitting...

I'm not so sure about the stock manifold routing, though; the tight crossover to the rear manifold didn't strike me as being terribly efficient.

Mine comes off two front manifolds, and into a collector before chasing around the cradle into a massive flowmaster 80.

I've got less tight bends which is in my favor...

But I think the overall length would give you the edge, since I'm running a good extra 3-4ft of piping.

I went with the flowmaster after listening to a couple of clips... The flowmaster 80 resonates at the right pitch and frequency for my own taste.

http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/80_series.html

That midrange resonance (I know, this is an LT1) is what I want more of, and it's more civilized than the other flowmasters which I usually find too raspy.

The spintech was a VERY close second... What cinched it was that I could get the flowmaster 80 crossflow locally, and for less... :salute:

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:39 pm
by Kohburn
Mach10 wrote:The spintech was a VERY close second... What cinched it was that I could get the flowmaster 80 crossflow locally, and for less... :salute:
is it the same shape as the stock fiero one? i'm looking for a replacement for my dad's 2.8 turbo setup

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:42 pm
by Series8217
That's not yours a-rod!

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:56 pm
by Mach10
The Flowmaster80 is the same shape as a stock Fiero;

Inlet on the bottom, balanced outlets on the top., 2.5" in 2.5" out.

Thing is, it's about 1-1.25" longer on both sides, so some massaging is going to be necessary. Likely, I'll be trimming about 1" off the outlets, and I WILL have to relocate/modify the stock spring hanger brackets a little.

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 2:19 pm
by Mach10
Ok, so that's a single peice right down to that 90º bend. My question is how should I attach it to the flex coupler?

I bought one 'cos I figured I wouldn't get any pussy if my exhaust shatters every time I hit a speedbump. But I do want the system to be somewhat sectional, so I can take it apart if I need to.

The flex coupler fits OVER the 1.5" straight at the end of the elbow; I was thinking just using a u-bolt to lock it down.

Trouble is, I have never had much luck with those stupid things holding together. I was thinking of perhaps the U-bolt, and then a couple of spot-welds to stop it from coming apart. Not quite quick-release, but easier to take apart than having to cut through a $90 flex pipe...

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 2:24 pm
by Kohburn
40$ v-band makes everything better

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 2:31 pm
by Mach10
:scratch:

I thought a v-band needed a special kind of flare to work?

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 2:33 pm
by Kohburn
Mach10 wrote::scratch:

I thought a v-band needed a special kind of flare to work?
yeah when you buy them you get the band and the flanges that you weld to the pipe

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 2:40 pm
by Mach10
Ooooohhh.... Eeeen-teresting... :thumbleft:

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:29 pm
by Aaron
Series8217 wrote:That's not yours a-rod!
I never said it was, in fact I said very clearly that it wasn't and I gave proper credit to the owner.

My 2.25" outlets did not fit in the factory U-hangers, so I pulled out the hanges. My exhaust is light enough that just 2 bolts on the downpipe hold it without movement or leaks. I've never liked Flowmasters on the 3.4 DOHC, in fact I hated them. But I canc learly understand your side, as it was probably a lot cheaper, and didn't take 3 weeks to get.