TECH - Press Forming Tube for Exhaust Flange

Beau · Dec 26, 2012

Movin this one up.

It's old, so I think a Hijack is OK.

Anybody else have any ideas for this process? This is a good one but I'm interested to see others.

bcowanwheels · Dec 26, 2012

I,VE gotta make a new set of sbf T-BUCKET headers and I want to eliminate as many welds as possible. your ideas guys are a real blessing to this old man. i have a tall press and can fab -no problem- now I,ve gotta learn the "take up" on my model 3 J.D. SQUARED bender and 1 1/2" tubing. always something to learn

John boy · Feb 23, 2019

Twisted Minis said: ↑

Kind of last minute for Tech Week, and I know I won't win, but I got my header flange from Hot Rod Chassis last night and it gave me an idea. I want to use 1.5" tube for my header, because thats what I can bend, and it matches my cones from Cone Engineering. As you can see, it doesn't really fit.

So last night I though I might be able to make a die to press the tube over and force it to take the form I wanted. I found an aluminum square that was close to the size I needed, so I ground it down real quick and tried it with a piece of copper pipe. It made a pretty rough square, and galled the aluminum a bit. But I now know it could work, and it also showed me what kind of space I needed to leave for the tube to form over and provide a good gap.

I found I needed to leave about 3/32" between the die and the inside of the flange for the tube to fit well. So this morning I started building a die out of steel. It needed to be 1 3/16" wide on one side, and 1 5/8" on the other. Not having any large blocks of steel, I cut three pieces of steel 1 5/8" wide at the bottom and 1 1/4" wide at the top. I used two pieces of 1/2" plate and one piece one 3/16".

I cut them larger than I needed, because I'm not that great with the plasma, and needed them to be smooth. So I got out the 9" grinder and went to town until they where all roughly the same size.

I then welded them together with the 3/16" plate in the center of the two thicker plates.

I then proceeded to grind the blocks until they all matched. Then I raduised the corners to match the die as best I could, and did some finish grinding with a 4.5" grinder and a 120 grit disc.

I made sure it fit inside the flange well, and adjusted it as needed until I was satisfied.

Now time to test it out. I coated it in some low heat lithium grease to help the process, and make it easier to remove.

I then pressed the other side of that same copper pipe onto the die.

The die was easy to remove with a hammer and a brass punch. It left the tube looking like this.

I tested the fit, and I was happy. It fits very snug on the back side of the flange, and left a weldable gap at the front. I think if I press the tube on just a little farther I can tighten the gap at the top so I can TIG weld it.

I didn't have any thin wall steel to test this with, but I wanted to post it any way. Steel gets delivered here next Monday so I will report back when I try it in steel.
Click to expand...

John boy · Feb 23, 2019

could you make 8 of these cones for me to fit my sbc flange kit
Thanks John 905-263-2737

Twisted Minis said: ↑

Kind of last minute for Tech Week, and I know I won't win, but I got my header flange from Hot Rod Chassis last night and it gave me an idea. I want to use 1.5" tube for my header, because thats what I can bend, and it matches my cones from Cone Engineering. As you can see, it doesn't really fit.

So last night I though I might be able to make a die to press the tube over and force it to take the form I wanted. I found an aluminum square that was close to the size I needed, so I ground it down real quick and tried it with a piece of copper pipe. It made a pretty rough square, and galled the aluminum a bit. But I now know it could work, and it also showed me what kind of space I needed to leave for the tube to form over and provide a good gap.

I found I needed to leave about 3/32" between the die and the inside of the flange for the tube to fit well. So this morning I started building a die out of steel. It needed to be 1 3/16" wide on one side, and 1 5/8" on the other. Not having any large blocks of steel, I cut three pieces of steel 1 5/8" wide at the bottom and 1 1/4" wide at the top. I used two pieces of 1/2" plate and one piece one 3/16".

I cut them larger than I needed, because I'm not that great with the plasma, and needed them to be smooth. So I got out the 9" grinder and went to town until they where all roughly the same size.

I then welded them together with the 3/16" plate in the center of the two thicker plates.

I then proceeded to grind the blocks until they all matched. Then I raduised the corners to match the die as best I could, and did some finish grinding with a 4.5" grinder and a 120 grit disc.

I made sure it fit inside the flange well, and adjusted it as needed until I was satisfied.

Now time to test it out. I coated it in some low heat lithium grease to help the process, and make it easier to remove.

I then pressed the other side of that same copper pipe onto the die.

The die was easy to remove with a hammer and a brass punch. It left the tube looking like this.

I tested the fit, and I was happy. It fits very snug on the back side of the flange, and left a weldable gap at the front. I think if I press the tube on just a little farther I can tighten the gap at the top so I can TIG weld it.

I didn't have any thin wall steel to test this with, but I wanted to post it any way. Steel gets delivered here next Monday so I will report back when I try it in steel.
Click to expand...

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TECH - Press Forming Tube for Exhaust Flange

Beau
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from St. Paul, Minnesota

bcowanwheels
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from kingsport, tn.

John boy
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from bowmanville Ontario Canada

John boy
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from bowmanville Ontario Canada

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TECH - Press Forming Tube for Exhaust Flange

Beau Member from St. Paul, Minnesota

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John boy Member from bowmanville Ontario Canada

John boy Member from bowmanville Ontario Canada

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Beau
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from St. Paul, Minnesota

bcowanwheels
Member

from kingsport, tn.

John boy
Member

from bowmanville Ontario Canada

John boy
Member

from bowmanville Ontario Canada