Caj Darkmoon

I'd just like to know if a welder rated for up to 1/4" steel would work for putting an exhaust together. I had some welding experience back in high school so I can handle doing it, but I'm not technically up to par on welding, so I figured some of you might know. smile.gif

The welder in question would be something like this: E-Bay Link

01steve

i'm guessing by your experience, that this would not be a good welder for exhaust work (not even by some of the best welder i've ever seen, and i weld for a living). this is a stick welder it would be possible to weld steel and even stainless steel with this machine-... but to stick weld on pipe is hard enough, to stick weld on really thin pipe (exhaust system) is ridiculasly hard. you'd be better off with a TIG or GTAW or heliarc (all the same process of welding). that is the process that most catback systmes are welded with. MIG or GMAW (another process of welding a.k.a. "the squirt gun kind") is what was used on your stock exhaust system. with MIG, it's easier to get a nice looking weld on the outside but is famous for interrupting the exhaust flow on the inside of the pipe.

what are you looking to do weld mufflers and parts on or build a custom catback system?

Caj Darkmoon

That's the thing though, stick welding is the only kind I'm decent at. And yeah, I was thinking about doing a cat-back.

01steve

i'm all for custom-... but i gotta stop ya dead in your tracks. if you are only decent at stick welding this is not going to be easy for you at all. it wouldn't be easy for any welder (doubting if it's even possible on that thin of a tube). before i landed the deal of a century on my current exhaust-... i was considering making my own "apex'i influenced" exhaust. i TIG weld 5-6 days out of the week and was considering making my own custom exhaust. i really need to get my own TIG welder that way i can make some custom parts for us. the best thing i can tell you to do is, get all of the neccessary pipes (preferably stainless), MANDREL bends, resonators, flanges (bolts or nuts welded to flanges make it easier to install while under car), something that act as an exhaust hanger when properly formed, and muffler. number each piece in order from the engine to the bumper. for instance, 1) flange 2) straight @ 23" 3) 45 degree-.... so on and so forth when it comes to getting the correct angle placement hold the angle and the section before it in it's poper place and once you are sure it's right mark a SINGLE line across the joint-... use you imagination =====-// the =is the straight pipe the - is your line and the // is the bend. once you have it all figured out (and ideally tacked w/ MIG gun) take it to a good TIG welder and have them weld it up. i hope this helps-... i wish i had my own TIG that way we could all benefit from a few custom parts.

hamhead

^^ I'd have to agree, the only thing I've ever done is stick weld and its not really easy to do exhaust piping. I stick welded my exhaust to my muffler, and I had so much frustration with little itsy bitsy leaks.