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Got My Old Friend Back

  • Thread starter Thread starter CarMichael Angelo
  • Start date Start date Feb 27, 2014

CarMichael Angelo

my rearend will smell so minty fresh,
15 Year Member
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Feb 27, 2014
#1
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #1

I bought this combination TIG/Plasma cutter back in 08. (think I paid something like 800.00 for it then) It uses some sort of goofy ass technology to perform the TIG function that makes it very light (only weighs about 30lbs). The Plasma cutter is like 180 amp variable, capable of cutting through 1/2" steel. The TIG torch has a trigger, and I bought the variable foot control as well . I never had the patience to learn to master the TIG portion, so I rarely used it. It sat right here in the corner, being mostly unused w/ the exception of the plasma cutter up until sometime in 2012 when I sold it to a friend for 500.00 w/ an empty bottle of 100% argon.
I bought it back yesterday for 300.00, only this time the bottle was full.
He was kinda rough on it, the bakelite fitting that surrounds the gas output is shattered, and he let alot of the connector screws get really loose to the point of a few falling out,....but other than that, I plugged it in and cut a chunk out of a piece of .500 plate in like 5 seconds,...... so the P/C part works like day one.

I'm gonna build the intake for my car out of 16ga. mild steel. Unlike the exhaust manifold, I don't want to have to grind off the welds,..so I'm gonna have to spend some time learning to do a better job w/ the TIG function.
 
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MikeH686

Mine is only two inches though.
10 Year Member
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#2
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #2
My only advice for tig welding mike is make absolutely sure your fittings and metal is absolutely clean. Other then that it's all a matter of time behind it to get good at it I'm not a professional by no means because I don't have ready access to one of these bad boys
 
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84Ttop

They make new pistons every day, so why worry?
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#3
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #3
Just keep the tungsten out of the puddle and you'll be fine
 

NIKwoaC

中國製造
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#4
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #4
Why mild steel VS stainless or (better yet) aluminum?
 

tannerc91gt

This last 25% is foreign territory at this point
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#5
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #5
NIKwoaC said:
Why mild steel VS stainless or (better yet) aluminum?
Click to expand...
Because if you're learning to TIG, those last 2 suck a lot worse haha
 

MikeH686

Mine is only two inches though.
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#6
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #6
For some reason the last thing I did tig was on an aluminum boat and I could get a so so weld on the plate of the boat but the deck rails I was adding to the bow for some reason I kept blowing holes through it and the railing was thicker aluminum guess I over compensated for that
 

tannerc91gt

This last 25% is foreign territory at this point
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#7
  • Feb 27, 2014
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MikeH686 said:
For some reason the last thing I did tig was on an aluminum boat and I could get a so so weld on the plate of the boat but the deck rails I was adding to the bow for some reason I kept blowing holes through it and the railing was thicker aluminum guess I over compensated for that
Click to expand...
I learned on mild steel, like everyone should IMO. Moved to stainless and chromoly and then to AC for aluminum and damn it, that was frustrating as hell. Then tried my hand at oxyfuel welding aluminum and that's god awful personally. I went back to mild steel after that and I like to pretend aluminum never happened. Hopefully some day I'll get to practice a lot more
 
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CarMichael Angelo

my rearend will smell so minty fresh,
15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
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Birmingham, al
Feb 27, 2014
#8
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #8
NIKwoaC said:
Why mild steel VS stainless or (better yet) aluminum?
Click to expand...
#1. Like everybody has said,...Mild steel is the easiest path to learning. I have spent several hours over the last several years working with it, so at least w/ steel I can hack my way through it.
#2. The machine will not weld aluminum, so that is a non-option for me.
#3. The material to build it out of steel is right down the street from me, and what I can't get from there, most any exhaust shop will have. Besides that it's way cheaper than anything else. I have a plan for the intake, and steel is the easiest path to getting it done.
 

NIKwoaC

中國製造
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#9
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #9
Hmm, well I will be watching this closely, because I have serious interest in fabbing an upper intake for my Windsor project to fit it under the stock hood, but my welding skills are far from adequate to have any sort of faith in myself to do it in aluminum.
 

horse sence

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#10
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I can weld stainless and mild steel ,decent . but Aluminum was a lot easier for me some how.There is nothing prettier than cleanly tig welded aluminum.
I have thought about building and intake myself. We modified a fuel injection manifold for our class 7s ranger and converted it to webbers and it worked great.
 

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor
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#11
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  • #11
So THAT's the plan. Mike is going to fab one up in mild steel to send to horse sence to replicate in aluminum.

I tell ya... Those old guys are crafty.
 
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stykthyn

I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.
15 Year Member
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Feb 27, 2014
#12
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #12
I saw the title and assumed this would be a thread about viagra
 
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NIKwoaC

中國製造
15 Year Member
Oct 31, 2006
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Feb 27, 2014
#13
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #13
stykthyn said:
I saw the title and assumed this would be a thread about viagra
Click to expand...

LOL!
 

madspeed

Colonel Mustard
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Feb 27, 2014
#14
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #14
Or he's really a she and its the start of a 28 day cycle
 

horse sence

15 Year Member
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Wile Coyote's stunt double
Feb 27, 2014
#15
  • Feb 27, 2014
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I can't remember where i saw it ,Street Rodder mag. i think ,the guy built an aluminum intake using 1/4 " aluminum plate for the runners and 1/2 " for the flanges and carb mount ,the flange and lifter valley were one piece and the runners were welded as seperate runners attached to the carb mounting plate ,He left all the welds as they were , it was a work of art .
 

horse sence

15 Year Member
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Wile Coyote's stunt double
Feb 27, 2014
#16
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #16
I found these two on the net
 

NIKwoaC

中國製造
15 Year Member
Oct 31, 2006
5,525
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214
Chengdu Province
Feb 27, 2014
#17
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #17
horse sence said:
I found these two on the net
Click to expand...

Browse and enjoy my friend:

http://www.hogansracingmanifolds.com/
 
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horse sence

15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
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Wile Coyote's stunt double
Feb 27, 2014
#18
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #18
Oh my goodness just imagine this on a 428
 

84Ttop

They make new pistons every day, so why worry?
5 Year Member
Jul 2, 2009
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South Jersey
Feb 27, 2014
#19
  • Feb 27, 2014
  • #19
Forget Hogans... John Marcella is top of the game in my opinion.
http://www.marcellamanifolds.net/images/Images.html
 

NIKwoaC

中國製造
15 Year Member
Oct 31, 2006
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Chengdu Province
Feb 28, 2014
#20
  • Feb 28, 2014
  • #20
84Ttop said:
Forget Hogans... John Marcella is top of the game in my opinion.
http://www.marcellamanifolds.net/images/Images.html
Click to expand...

Oh yea, his are beautiful, too.
 
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