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cleaning out exhaust pipes

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Old Aug 18, 2010 | 06:05 AM
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Default cleaning out exhaust pipes

hey guys i welded up a custom turbo system my question is how do you clean them to ensure that nothing goes into the engine (cold side) and nothing goes into the turbo. Ive been cleaning them for several hours and got anything visible out but what im worried about is where the pipes were welded together. when the weld pierced through the metal the opposite side formed almost a crust that flakes off im worried the with the heat and exhaust velocity a piece of the crust that did not come off using conventional cleaning methods will break off and into the turbo or motor. How did you guys solve this problem or is it not something to worry about.
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Old Aug 18, 2010 | 01:12 PM
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Cram at lot of rags all the way through. Back purge when welding. Cram a lot of rags through. Cram more rags through. If a rag gets stuck,try shop air,needlnose pliers,long curved rods,etc..
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Old Aug 18, 2010 | 04:19 PM
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take a section of 3/8th chain and feed it through and pull it back and fourth. also turn the pipe a bit, that will get them little mig wires out.

or when you go to weld them take ur time and clean iso on the pipes and make sure you have good welds
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Old Aug 18, 2010 | 08:13 PM
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I just took a 3 foot piece of 1/2 inch steel cable and chucked it up in a cordless drill and snaked it through the pipes. The cable will start to come apart and hone the inside of the pipe.
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Old Aug 18, 2010 | 11:40 PM
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so just any steel cable from lowes, and it unwinds just from the drill action?
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Old Aug 19, 2010 | 12:19 AM
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I used an extended tip die grinder bit, and just welded section by section and cleaned them before i moved on to another. also you can go to an auto parts store and get a ball hone and make a longer shank for it. then fire the car before to blow out any other dust in the hot side. As for the cold side(aluminum), the welds should not have gone through if you tig welded it, just weld it with less heat so it doesnt push through. Hope that helped at all.....
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Old Aug 19, 2010 | 04:30 AM
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the cold side is stainless and yeah next time i will clean piece by piece as i weld it (i was just too anxious to get it done lol). so there is no tool specifically for this like a steel wool snake or something
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Old Aug 19, 2010 | 09:05 AM
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not that i know of, slag from welds would probably wrip steel wool apart neway.
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Old Aug 19, 2010 | 02:52 PM
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A proper welder who backpurges etc would see no contamination on the inner tube when welding.

The guy who made my headers, the welds in the inside, looked exactly like the welds on the outside !!!
I deliberately drilled a hole for an EGT probe near a weld so I could look lol

The other option is just to MIG the pipes. Car less chance of all that crap on the inside with MIG. ( at least with my crap welding its better )
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Old Aug 19, 2010 | 05:31 PM
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Originally Posted by stevieturbo
A proper welder who backpurges etc would see no contamination on the inner tube when welding.

The guy who made my headers, the welds in the inside, looked exactly like the welds on the outside !!!
I deliberately drilled a hole for an EGT probe near a weld so I could look lol

The other option is just to MIG the pipes. Car less chance of all that crap on the inside with MIG. ( at least with my crap welding its better )
your welder backpurged and was using stainless....backpurging isnt necessary with mild steel. it wont sugar up and **** the weld. your guy did a good job if everything looked the same in and out
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Old Aug 19, 2010 | 05:34 PM
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The welding and work really was fantastic.

I'll be getting him to build me a system later this year to replace the POS I threw together lol
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Old Aug 19, 2010 | 06:51 PM
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the crossover is mild steel that i MIGed and it barely got anything on the inside the only problem is the metal flaking on the inside . The cold side i TIGed stainless and did not back purge so a few spots sugared but with the stainless pipe that was used flaking was not an issue
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