A nice bit of Flange
Discussion
Got get up with the flared end on the exhaust manifold, which has half rotted away, leaking despite how hard I tighten it.
So I found a stainless flared end on the flea for a tenner, will chop the end off the old one and weld the new one on, with a new flange too.
Should last it a few more years....
So I found a stainless flared end on the flea for a tenner, will chop the end off the old one and weld the new one on, with a new flange too.
Should last it a few more years....
Aye, that's the proper way to do it; my car has a short length of stainless at the bottom end of each mild steel header. Mind you the choice of welding rod can be an issue; one of mine cracked completely around the weld a few years back and had to be TIGed back on.
..and of course you rarely find the clamping rings in stainless.
..and of course you rarely find the clamping rings in stainless.
In the end no-one would make what I wanted!
SO I bought a 54-50mm stainless reducer and a flange on the flea.
A bit of fettling later (I tried metal spinning to no avail so in the end I flared the end by heating it red hot and then bending it out bit by bit with an ajustable spanner set to 2 mm.)
I am hoping any small bumps will be squashed back by the flange acting on the olive, which is quite a hefty one rather then the brittle cast iron type. In any case it will be ten times better than the non-existant end that has almost disintegrated!
The flared end split in two places so I had to weld it and grind it back. I also had to grind out the flange a bit - the hole was 52mm but the "reducer" had expanded a bit more - to 53mm O.D.
SO I bought a 54-50mm stainless reducer and a flange on the flea.
A bit of fettling later (I tried metal spinning to no avail so in the end I flared the end by heating it red hot and then bending it out bit by bit with an ajustable spanner set to 2 mm.)
I am hoping any small bumps will be squashed back by the flange acting on the olive, which is quite a hefty one rather then the brittle cast iron type. In any case it will be ten times better than the non-existant end that has almost disintegrated!
The flared end split in two places so I had to weld it and grind it back. I also had to grind out the flange a bit - the hole was 52mm but the "reducer" had expanded a bit more - to 53mm O.D.
Well after more metal bashing to get it on there - the expanded bit was very slightly too small and the right hand manifold isn't round at all near the end due to bends etc - it is on.
I worked out a neat way to get the flange faces true and parallel with where they need to be - first trap a flat-sided block of wood between the new flange and the exhaust it buts onto, and then do up the opposite flange to the point where it's around the same gap as the block of wood (you can see this in the background):
Then you tap the metal around a bit so it's aligned with its opposite hole.
When it's all in place, weld it up:
No leaks at all and it's much sturdier than the old one it replaced. If I have to do the other side eventually, at least the pipe is rounder on that one.
I worked out a neat way to get the flange faces true and parallel with where they need to be - first trap a flat-sided block of wood between the new flange and the exhaust it buts onto, and then do up the opposite flange to the point where it's around the same gap as the block of wood (you can see this in the background):
Then you tap the metal around a bit so it's aligned with its opposite hole.
When it's all in place, weld it up:
No leaks at all and it's much sturdier than the old one it replaced. If I have to do the other side eventually, at least the pipe is rounder on that one.
Gassing Station | Wedges | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff