Should I gas weld my headers?

I don't have access to a TIG welder anymore so I was thinking about gas welding my Speedway header kit together. Any drawbacks like strength, warping? Anything I should know before I embark on this next project. I really don't want to MIG weld them.

 

I know alot of people who've done them that way...go for it...

 

That's what I'd do.

It'll probably be stronger than TIG. The entire welded area will have been heated and normalized when it cools off.

I've welded the tubes to the header plates on the inside. Makes for a neater job.

 

You can do it, " Grasshopper " Give it a shot thats how we used to do it and it worked just fine. Rags

 

That's the preferred way for me.

Lots easier than dinking around with the welding hood etc.

Welding pipe to flange with the TIG on the inside is a great way to do it . . . small bead requires very little draw filing.
Nothing wrong with using a MIG there either.
Or stick, did a few that way back in the day.

What helps in the pipe to flange connection is to run a fillet of braze around the tubing at the flange on the outside.
Adds a lot of strength and is a commonly done deal on drag race cars.
If you remove all the flux, VHT paint and the like stick just fine.

Still running the home-made headers on my 32 roadster, 46,000 miles an 14 years and so far no probs.

 

I gas welded my set of speedway headers. Worked better than MIG in my estimation.

 

At the risk of sounding ignorant, why not?

 

Thats the way real rodders did it in the old days no chicken Mig or tig.

 

you can mig them,bolt the flang to a head and have at it

 

Depends, are you a decent gas welder? If you can weld with the torch....go for it! Sounds like C-9 has the plan.................

Tim D.

 

I want too know also , have new kit in garage , as we speak !

 

Welding the starter tubes to the heavier flange will be the tricky part at first. It takes a little practice to gas weld 18Ga tubing to the heavier flange. Welding pieces of 18 ga tubing together is a piece of cake. I like to tack the starter tubes with a MIG just to hold it in place and then gas weld it from the inside. It's easier to fill gaps without a big weld build up. Once that is done the tacks can be ground off just for looks. It's just easier to MIG the two different thickness metals. You can do it with a torch but it takes a little practice to aim the flame so that the flange gets hot enough to melt and then wash the flame onto the lighter tubing before it melts and falls away. It's just practice.




The welds can be dressed with a carbide cutter in a die grinder. The same can be done to the less attractive MIG welds

 

made my entire exhaust system that way and i have a tig welder..although i bought my headers,,so for what ever my opinion is worth..

 

Thanks for all the good advice fellas (as usual) I think I'll be able to get into the tight spots with the gas rod better than the MIG. I have a good MIG, a 220v Hobart 175a but I have some free time at work and I'm there for twelve hours at a time. They have a nice torch setup and a lot of filler rod. If I can make some time pass and get some hotrod chores done while I'm at work that saves me some precious time. Besides, I just finished the gas weld section of my schooling two weeks ago and I got an A so I want to see if I can do it. I really like the idea of brazing around the outside, I'll be doing that for sure.

 

Here's how mine came out.

 

There is nothing like being handy with a torch. The flanges sometimes are a tight fit with the bolts. So with a torch you can heat the tubing (after the flange weld is done) and dimple or dent in the area where clearance is needed to have the bolt sit square.

 

Some really good advice here!

For those that don't know, the braze around the outside of the flange helps the tubes seal a lot better.

The MIG can be hard to use in really tight spots like that, and you end up having to grind more. I can usually make a gas weld a lot smaller and more presentable than a MIG in cases like that. Besides, being able to gas weld sure seems to impress those who have only been exposed to electric processes.................even though I love hearing guys say "I can gas weld, but you got that messing flux stuff on the rods and the brass can't be nearly as strong as the steel" Huh? Or the classic "Why ya usin' copper wire to braze?".

Tim D.