Exhaust system

[garyhdn]

Hi all, My first question on here so be gentle :rolleyes:

What is the best material to make an exhaust from ? ( metal is too obvious lol )

I have no further details i can add, I am storing as much info as poss before i start chopping and welding things.

Cheers, Gary

[addjunkie]

i know chopperbuilder site not popular right now but for this stuff its very very good, many posts on similar stuff design , construction, welding techniques and where to get pre formed bends etc.........many posts by some very very knowledgable peeps.

[Blackjack]

1.5mm (1/16") wall ERW tube.

You will have a hell of a job trying to bend it without a proper tube bender, and I don't mean one of those push through pipe benders that Clarke sell, those will just kink the tube and even if you pack it with sand and bugger about for ages, the radius of the formers isn't tight enough for exhaust pipes.

However, several places sell perfomed bends for this sort of job. Merlin Motorsport at Castle Coombe for one.

Buy the bends and a length of tube, then cut and weld the pieces together.

Some times you need a "twist" in the bend, especially on stuff like Brit style hi level crossover pipes. Bought in bends are the most common way of doing this unless you've got a bender that does spirals.......

Cool thing about 1/16" wall ERW is that it goes up in 1/8" increments on the OD so sleeving bits together is fairly easy.

[Grav]

I used to work for an exhaust manufacturer and even with the proper tools you can kink the tube if the machine isn't set up correctly. Blackjack, as ever, is right. ;)

[devon-tony]

I bought loads of mandrel bent tubing from demon tweeks

they got them in standard and tight bends, thinkn mine are mostly 1.5" od and about 1.6mm thick wall

very good and easy to use, now all I got to do is work out the best way to weld them together, probably going to tack them together to the best of my ability on the bike then get them welded properly :o

[Blackjack]

One of the yank muscle car exhaust type firms does rings that sit inside the pipe and a swage round them that are specifically designed for doing this.

Real Steel might be able to help you out with them....

http://www.realsteel.co.uk/

Or not.

[trikerdrew]

I hates and despises exhaust bends I does.They hates me-they do,all curley and uniformely bent -mocking me they is!

I have a Clark bender.

Blackjack is our resident guru(smart arse) and knows his onions.Sickening as it is to us mere mortals.

I feel better now.Been trying to bend up four into two for kwak gtr1000,trying 90% progress 10%. Getting good at scaring next doors cat with improvised javeline.

[devon-tony]

One of the yank muscle car exhaust type firms does rings that sit inside the pipe and a swage round them that are specifically designed for doing this.

Real Steel might be able to help you out with them....

http://www.realsteel.co.uk/

Or not.

these sound very interesting, any further info?, checked the site out and just nitrous kits and guages

what Im worried about it putting holes etc in the pipework and then being stuffed with regards to an exhaust with holes in it

only place that does exhaust welding round here is crappy car place, they weld stainless systems with steel wire!! or at least they did when they did my car!!

the one guy I rang that specialises in tubing and pipe welding said it would be £500+ to weld it, not worth his while otherwise :(

Im not going to give up, even tried the local college for welding courses but they not runnign till next May

reckon theres going to be lots of swearing and practicing, followed by lots of phone calls to buy more tubing :(

[garyhdn]

Wow,
Thanks for the replys guys, Getting the steel is not a problem as i work in a steel wharehouse, loads in scrap in the bins after they get bent by side loader drivers ( oh, by the way i am a side loader driver hehehe )
What i intended to do was use the 4 into 2 section on the original pipes and just extend from there straight out, saves me having to bend stuff. :rolleyes:

Bike still at the design stage at min and still trying to talk myself into changing the bike first as its a chain drive and i want to trike it, but i love my old hag so more thinking to do lol.
Gary

[Blackjack]

these sound very interesting, any further info?, checked the site out and just nitrous kits and guages

what Im worried about it putting holes etc in the pipework and then being stuffed with regards to an exhaust with holes in it

only place that does exhaust welding round here is crappy car place, they weld stainless systems with steel wire!! or at least they did when they did my car!!

the one guy I rang that specialises in tubing and pipe welding said it would be £500+ to weld it, not worth his while otherwise :(

Im not going to give up, even tried the local college for welding courses but they not runnign till next May

reckon theres going to be lots of swearing and practicing, followed by lots of phone calls to buy more tubing :(


Welding.....

Tried Bristol? Or is that too far?

Did we talk about this before? The £500 rings a bell.

As far as Real Steel goes, some of that squiggly stuff is writing. Some of the writing is a tel-e-phoooone number. This is is an old fashioned thing where you dial the tel-e-phoooone number and speak to a real person by means of sound.

Much like typing on a forum, only faster!!!!!!


:)

[devon-tony]

Hi yeah did chat with you via PM about it a while ago, but my little girl been in hospital and to be honest brain gone fuzzy

I might now have got hold of a bike trailer for cheap money, so I will have a play with tacking it together and maybe we can do a deal :)

will see how it goes

but my preference would be to let someone who knos what they are doing weld it properly first time, any costs involved will be out weighed by the cost of new tubing and all the things I will smash in frustration at not being able to do it :(