Intake is aluminum?
- Thread starter laserjock
- Start date
jhenegh
Truck Still Earns its Keep
Din ding ding. My problem as well. Checked out spool gun options for 120V mig welders and wasn't impressed.
IDIoit
MachinistFabricator
yup, cast aluminum too.
you can use steel if you wish, but alot of fab work required.
ever seen a PSD intake plentum?
the trick is, if you MIG or TIG IT, preatheat the hell out of it, and you MUST get it very very clean, i also clean
with muratic acid before welding.
you can use steel if you wish, but alot of fab work required.
ever seen a PSD intake plentum?
the trick is, if you MIG or TIG IT, preatheat the hell out of it, and you MUST get it very very clean, i also clean
with muratic acid before welding.
I have looked into a spool gun before. The "correct" gun for my welder costs almost what the welder does. I tried it once before without the spool gun and it was a miserable experience. I fumbled and cussed my way though making a little bracket for my stove pipe but vowed never to do that again. I tried both common wire alloys and niether of them would feed through the gun. Oh well. Back to hoping plan "A" works.
IDIoit
MachinistFabricator
what are you trying to do?
I have a GT3788 turbo for the truck that I am planning to mate to a Banks plumbing kit. If you look at the Moose Boost thread, Heath basically was trying to do the same thing and what you find is that the turbo and the intake hat are trying to occupy the same space. Plan A is to correct that with the adapter for the up pipe because you have to have one anyway, might as well make it the way you want it. Plan B was to do what he did and mod the intake so it takes up less room. Not quite there yet but will be soon enough I hope. Stay tuned.
FarmerFrank
Full Access Member
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I welded up this one at work one evening, turns out it warped on me a little or something because it lasted about 5 minutes after I started the new engine. It cracked the tops on 3 runners on one side. But I looked cool on the engine stand.
jaluhn83
Full Access Member
TIG welded mine when I fabbed up the new intake setup and didn't have any issues with either welding or cracking so far. (~3 yrs now) Didn't preheat it or do any crazy cleaning either, just got all the grease off. Probably helps that I used some fairly thick plate (3/16 - 1/4" iirc) and a decent amount of heat.
no mufflers
Full Access Member
If you talk to Mel at Conestoga diesel, he might have an answer. we were talking at the rally and discussed about an adapter to bolt up to the hypermax setup and use the moose boost. I know you have the turbo and banks setup already.
Yeah, I've seen them but honestly, I'm not sure that would solve the problem. Once I get cleaned out a little more and get some body work done, I'll do a crude fit and see how things are going to line up. That should tell me what direction to go.
IDIoit
MachinistFabricator
you do know Aluminum can be MIG'd right?
dont know how well it would hold,
all i know is that you use aluminum wire (duh) and straight Argon, instead of c02/ar
dont know how well it would hold,
all i know is that you use aluminum wire (duh) and straight Argon, instead of c02/ar
Yep I know. I've actually done it...badly.
Here's the problem. You really need a spool gun to do it. The wire is too soft to feed well through the standard gun. I ran 100% Ar and tried it with the standard gun. About every other arc, it would *** up at the feed roller as it enters the gun liner. I have no idea how many feet of wire I went through to get 4 little welds done.
Now a spool gun is great except the damn things cost about what the welder does to get one that is "compatible". There are hacks out there to make cheaper ones work but I just haven't found it necessary to go through that hassle yet. I may some day just so I have the capability in hand but going to the trouble and expense setting up for it, I'm a fair piece into a little tig that would be as capable as my mig in aluminum and well, let's face it, it's a tig. It's just better at some things.
sjwelds
Full Access Member
Forget a spool gun. Who wants to always be changing out the itty-bitty 2-lb spools of wire? Ain't nobody got time for dat....
Push-pull gun FTW!!!!! A complete setup with drive rolls in the feeder as well as drive rolls out in the gun handle. I can feed .035" (small) 4043 alloy (soft) wire all day long and absolutely no feeding problems....
Also, not just any TIG will work on aluminum. You want AC output with high-frequency arc starting capability....
Push-pull gun FTW!!!!! A complete setup with drive rolls in the feeder as well as drive rolls out in the gun handle. I can feed .035" (small) 4043 alloy (soft) wire all day long and absolutely no feeding problems....
Also, not just any TIG will work on aluminum. You want AC output with high-frequency arc starting capability....
IDIoit
MachinistFabricator
did you have the manifold bolted down when you welded it up?
