Factory Turbo Exhaust Outlet Mod

['94IDITurbo7.3]

i decided that since my turbo was off it would be a good time to upgrade my exhaust outlet along with the rest of my exhaust.

this cut was the first cut. i drew a line using a sharpie on an Altoids mint box so it would be an even line all the way around. got that idea from a fellow member who did this.

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this is still the first cut, now with the 3" v-band flange sitting on it.

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Since the first cut left quiet a bit of the housing to be ground away to make it a true 3" ID, i decided to cut more off. this resulted in the need for much less grinding. for this one i followed the line that was in the molded in the outside of the casting.

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this stuff did not cut good with a hack saw so out came the saw-zawl. that was kind of a mistake. power tools make the job go faster. power tools at WOT make the job go EVEN FASTER the picture speaks for itself.

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i am not to worried about the un-evenness though since i am going to use my 4" angle grinder and smooth it out and try to get the ID even closer to 3".

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

i did some grinding to smooth/even out the cut. i am happy with the way it is now.

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[Darrin Tosh]

Lookin good Eric!

 

[subway]

nice, thats on my list of things to do, i think the stock crushed pipe is part of my high EGT's on my truck.

 

[riotwarrior]

superdamnfatastic...seriously thats gonna be a very nice setup for a decent DP...nicely done!

 

[icanfixall]

Nice work. I hope your going to tig weld that inside and outside. With a tig torch you can handle the heat so you get proper penatration. This is the wrong area for a crappy weld. No real grinding is needed on the inside weld if you choose to weld it inside.

 

[redneckaggie]

I just modded my housing and I actually had the outlet housing bored on a cnc mill to accept a piece of 3in exhaust tubing slipped into it about 1/8 to 1/4 inch and then welded with cast stick rod.

You dont have to have a tig but it is best, make sure you have rods or wire rated for cast iron and if you are going to butt weld leave a small gap between the flange and housing, this will help lots with penetration. any way you weld it is best to find a torch and preheat the metal before you weld, and do not cool the weld rapidly, it is actually better to take the piece and submerge it in sand or some other form of insulation and let it slow cool

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

i don't have access to a TIG machine, so i will be welding with my MIG machine.

i will also pre-heat with an oxy torch.

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

here is a practice weld i did.

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[boosted power]

I MIG welded mine about a year ago, and it seems to be holding up just fine. Looks like you got the right idea. If you're not done yet consider beveling the edges of both the flange and the outlet. This will give you a MUCH better weld than just a butt weld. At the very least use a wire wheel or scotchbrite to thoroughly clean the surfaces that you are going to weld on.

This isn't the best welding process for the job, so best make sure that there isn't anything working against you!

 

[redneckaggie]

I have never used mig on cast before but that weld doesnt look horrible comparing to tig or stick cast, I learned a long time ago that the key to welding is prep work and not how pretty the bead is but make sure it is 100% metal no perosity or flux in the weld, clean both pieces, pre heat, and get cracking. make sure you have that gap I spoke of and make sure you penetrate well. That is my main complaint with short arc. I have seen so many people run beautiful beads that were weak as hell because they did not penetrate good

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

some pics of the dp.

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[runkeeg26]

Looking good!

 

[icanfixall]

You really need to bevel the weld gap and make sure its clean inside and out of any cast crap like rust or scale. The gap between both pieces should be at least 1/16th inch for penatration. When its making good penatration it will sould like bacon and eggs cooking. The easy way of making a gap is to bend a piece of weld wire into a "V" form. Plcae that on the joint and tap weld several places. Remove the wire and weld smoothly till you have overlapped the start finish. Keep it warm with a torch of any kind till you can bury it in a bucket of sand so it cools slowly overnite. I do not think your welding cast iron but I do think its cast steel. There is a big differance. One welds easy and the other is crappy at best for the garage type welder. Anr impuritys in the weld bead will cause porosity in the finish weld. Only grinding them out will fix it. Some really good welders can burn it out but thats what a long time welder knows how to do. Not everyone can burn it out. Most just burn it up and make holes. Its too bad you don't have something you could put the parts in and slowly rotate them as you weld it. Strike and arc and weld till your back to the start. No moveing around the circle.

 

[KyleQ]

I like what I see here, but my ignorance is in the way. I've got a turbo setup in a box and I'm missing a few parts, the down pipe is one of them. What are you guys doing here - is the factory stuff that restrictive?

I would bevel the **** out of those two parts, heat them up in a grill, tack weld in 4 to 6 places, reheat and then burn it in in opposite patterns and then bury it in a bucket of sand and forget about it for 24hrs.

Good luck!