View Poll Results: what metal to use to build turbo headers?

stainless steel

84.21%

mild steel and have them coated

15.79%

Voters: 19. You may not vote on this poll

what metal to build custom headers?

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Oct 19, 2009 | 10:48 PM

awd-rwd racer

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what metal to build custom headers?

doing a budget build. gonna be making my own headers. what do you guys think?

Oct 19, 2009 | 11:55 PM

z28boysteve

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From: Houston

with a budget build headers are a complete waste of time and money put manifolds on it it they are great under 1,000 Horsepower and I know of a friend who has a 9 second 4,500 lbs truck with them.

Oct 20, 2009 | 05:17 AM

Fireball

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From: Cecil County Raceway!!!

do you have a TIG welder?

Oct 20, 2009 | 08:13 AM

awd-rwd racer

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Fireball

do you have a TIG welder?

yes i do. the engine is in a rx7. so i dont know if the truck headers will work the way i want them to. plus the custom factor looks great

Oct 20, 2009 | 09:06 AM

02SSLE

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From: Conway, AR

Stainless is about twice as much as mild.

Oct 21, 2009 | 01:17 AM

livefast1

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From: easton, md

just use mild steel its alot harder to mess up, you don't have to back purge, don't have to preheat use special rod and slow cool (if you plan on welding to cast) o and its gonna be alot cheaper. if you ever wanna spend the coin you can always have em sent out and jet hotted.

Oct 21, 2009 | 01:53 AM

CW00BlackTA

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From: Mesa, AZ

If you decide on stainless consider 321 or 347. These grades were designed for welding and your welds won't rust when you are finished.

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Oct 21, 2009 | 06:35 AM

pwrtrip75

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From: Janesville, WI

Quote:

Originally Posted by CW00BlackTA

If you decide on stainless consider 321 or 347. These grades were designed for welding and your welds won't rust when you are finished.

When you weld stainless you use stainless filler rod, usually a grade above what you are welding....304 will never rust. You can weld 304 also. You dont have to back purge it either...unless you plan on making it worthy of using in a hospitol, food processing plant or dairy farm.

This is for the fittings in the link below.....304 SS.

Quote:

Fittings are made of corrosion-resistant Type 304/304L stainless steel, a dual-rated material that contains no more than 0.035% carbon, so it's easy to weld. All fittings meet MSS SP-43, ANSI/ASME B16.9, ASTM A403/403M, and ASME SA-403/SA-403M.

And to the person using schedule 40.....why so thick? Thats like .145" a lot of people use the .065 paper thin tubing. Sch 40 I think is kind of a waste of money, and a lot of extra weight.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/115/16/=45l0s3
There you can buy stainless elbows for a reasonable price.
45735K215 - sch 10 (.109 wall thickness) 1.90" OD elbow 304 SS - $7.52
http://www.mcmaster.com/#cad-2d/=45l231