INTMD8

I've decided to use 1 1/4 schedule 10 304 stainless weld els for my turbo header fabrication.

Pro Turbo Kits said that 14 gauge ceramic coated mild steel would last between 5-7 years on a street car. I suppose it's possible, but I just don't trust it. (not to mention the price they quoted me for u-bends was higher than what I can buy 304 stainless for).

I'm sure 321 would work great, but it is alot of $$$$$$

The 1 1/4 304 schedule 10 is 1.66 outer diameter and 1.442 inner diameter. (My exhaust port is a 1.45x1.45 'D' ) , and having a wall thickness of .109, I think it will be plenty strong.

I've seen a few pics of turbo manifolds constructed of this stuff, and they look great.

Any reason why I shouldn't do this?

arnie

Unless this a tried, proven, established, and 'seasoned' system, you will probably want to do a little redesign B4 the 5-7 is up, so why bother with SS?

Go to a plumber for weld els. Then compare the price to SS, again. I ? your choice of pipe size. (a little small)

INTMD8

I could only find schedule 10 in 304 stainless. The thinnest I could find the steel pipe is schedule 40, which is very thick.

The inner diameter of 1.442 is almost identical in size to the outlet of my exhaust port.

From the research I've done, most people tend to agree that a smaller than usual pipe diameter is helpful on a turbo car to keep velocity high.

There are some crazy fast turbo mustangs (150+ trap speeds) that run 1 5/8 primarys (which have close to the same inner diameter as the pipe I'm planning to use).

Guido

Your motors have typically been pretty stout though even in NA form. Im sure you have a good set of heads and will have a matching cam so a larger tube wont hurt you at all. I use 1 3/4" 16ga. tubing for my turbo headers and Im using a big T88. It has very little lag.

Im sure that the weld els would work great for you though. We use stainless 10 ga. weld els here at work quite often in high temperature industrial furnace applications and those are stout pieces for header construction.

Good luck!

INTMD8

Well, I called a few places to order mandrel bends for my downpipe, and they all insisted that ceramic coated mild steel is the best material for a street turbo header.

I ordered all the mandrel bends through MAC in 1 5/8 mild steel.

Hopefully they won't melt off the car.

pugs97_30th_Z

just curious...what is a weld el?

and what is schedule? I assume that is the thickness of the walls...but why not just go by gauge?

All this lingo is confusing me but I want to learn

arnie

Fitters and plumbers in construction, when fabricating pipe runs used to transport steam or gases in general, are required to use pipe of a minimum wall thickness and material to meet federal specs for given application. Weld Els are short sections of pipe used in these environments. They are manufactured with a chamfer on the O.D., at the end of the pipe, to allow it to be welded together with another section. You could start here:

http://www.wheatland.com/sch40.htm You could then substitute '80' for the '40' in the address to view a thicker schedule.

All this lingo is confusing me...

Any reason you should be any different than some of us others?