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sup guys, so I noticed the manifold/crossover connection was leaking on both the driver and passenger sides at the vband. I’ve looked and looked and can’t find anyway to seal them outside of welding new flanges on. I’ve double and triple checked to make sure they were lined up right as well as checking for flatness on the flanges. I can’t figure out why they keep leaking or how to stop it. Any suggestions?
Not all V bands are created equal. Some copper roofing flat sheet cut as a washer/shim gasket is thin enough to go between and will help in a bind. One time use though the heat cycles will likely harden them and too thin to anneal so keep that in mind. You can also heat the pipe up with a rose bud nearish to each side of the v-band before clamping to help reduce any pull against the seal.
Buy a set of copper header collector gaskets and cut the ears off. It works great. I had one flange that would not seal and this fixed it. I have also been able to re-use it a few times and it still seals.
As I was discussing this with my fab guy who is 3rd guy tackling my turbo system, we got to thinkn...It cant be rocket science, just careful use of good welding techniques, and other simple fixes like shown in all the posts above. The 18 wheelers you see on the road everyday use vbands on turbo systems that routinely run 50psi+ for 100s of 1000s of miles. I'm sure that some will always be worse than others. But I like the idea that there is more than one solution possible. I cant wait to go thru these pains,lol. None of my shyt leaks or has leaked.....bcuz it doesn't run yet and by default is now perfect! lol...Someday!
Upon reassembly, I will try the tips in Truckdougs video as it seems simple enough and makes sense. After that, pile on the bandaides,lol. I'm staying tuned for any other tips/tricks as this is mostly still new to me.
p.s. What do you guys mean when you say hand file em down? I'm confused. Meaning keeping the two surfaces flat like how a cylinder head meets the block? checked with a straight edge?
The male/female v-bands don't help with leaks. They only help with keeping the two pieces of pipe aligned, which is basically what the clamp does anyway. Once clamped, they can't be misaligned anyway.
p.s. What do you guys mean when you say hand file em down? I'm confused. Meaning keeping the two surfaces flat like how a cylinder head meets the block? checked with a straight edge?
It means to flatten the mating surfaces that get warped during welding. Kind of like a cylinder head and block, yes.
filing them down= get 'em close cross filing and then use a single cut file to draw file them. i can get 'em to seal really nice that way.
to check flat, sharpie the surface lightly and then rub a machinist's 123 block over it. the high spots will be bald. keep filing. once it's all bald, it's under a tenth flat. one stripe of sharpie ink is about .00002" thick
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Crossover vbands leaking 
