Help With Making Aluminum Intake Elbow
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by Steve85 » Wed Jan 13, 11:13 pm
For more information, please visit Pipefun.
I want to build an elbow like the one below. It will cost me more in materials and trial and error and time than just buying one but I want to DIY this. I want to open the hood and see what
I did.
What I need to know is what grade and what thickness of aluminum do I use? For the TB mount I will use that section from a TPI plenum. I have one in the shed and they are a dime a dozen if I screw up the first one. This is a normally aspirated application.
Thanks!
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by T » Thu Jan 14, 4:14 am
Well if it's your first, try making one out of card board first. Kinda just like you would with the aluminum. This way you can make templates of the pieses you will need to make. We use 1/8"- 3/16" & 1/4" -1/2" for the base plate and parts that are going to need to be machined for flatness and fitment. Hope this helps, T-flow
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by Steve85 » Thu Jan 14, 9:18 am
Great, thank you!
I definitely plan to do a cardboard mock-up. I have some pretty tight fitment requirements with such a low hood.
Does it matter what alloy I use?
I guess what ever would be best for being able to shape and be OK with MIG welding it? It's pretty intimidating to go to supply shop, online anyway, and see so many choices.
I'm trying to find a local supply shop so I can talk to someone there too but no luck so far...
Last edited by Steve85 on Thu Jan 14, 1:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by T/A kID » Thu Jan 14, 12:20 pm
Just got done building one for my supervic conversion for my LT4 setup.
Mine has more volume compared to that one (opend carb flange)
Pretty hefty price tag of $315, whats your app?
Get your aluminum and start peicing it together, then go have it tig welded.
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by Steve85 » Thu Jan 14, 1:17 pm
What material did you use?
Application is 85 Corvette with single plane conversion. So I have about 9.1 inches above the front "china wall". The problem is at that height the IAC for a TPI style TB hits the water outlet of a sbc single plane intake. I'll need to modify that as well, I've seen a few examples so I know what to expect. I have an 18* top end that I want to be able to use it on as well so clearance gets even tighter.
I plan on having a larger plenum area rather than just the 90* into the carb flange. Almost a SuperRam like plenum...
I got a spool gun from the wifey for Christmas so I really want to use it for this. It may not be a pretty at first, but I'll save the templates and worry about pretty when I have more practice
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by Unkl Ian » Thu Jan 14, 2:20 pm
Some Aluminum alloys are readily weldable, some are not weldable.
Should be a chart somewhere.
is weldable, IIRC.
is weldable and can be shaped easily.
Please help make Speedtalk a Troll free zone.
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by Steve85 » Thu Jan 14, 2:46 pm
Unkl Ian wrote:Some Aluminum alloys are readily weldable, some are not weldable.
Should be a chart somewhere.
is weldable, IIRC.
is weldable and can be shaped easily.
Well, there you go. Searched "Aluminum alloy chart" and...
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=310
/
Characteristics
[Non-heat treatable.
Medium strength work hardening alloy.
Good weldability, formability and corrosion resistance.
Uses
Vehicle panelling, structures exposed to marine atmospsheres, mine cages.
Characteristics
Heat treatable.
Medium strength alloy.
Good weldability and corrosion resistance.
Uses
Used for intricate profiles.
Architectural extrusions (internal and external), window frames, irrigation pipes.
I probably should have thought of this before, but one of the websites that sells custom elbows redirects to ".com"
So armed with alloy selection and a thickness recommendation I can begin design. It will likely include mostly flat surfaces so there isn't a lot shaping and bending.
Re: Help With Making Aluminum Intake Elbow
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by jsgarage » Fri Dec 17, 8:36 pm
If you want to learn more, please visit our website alloy elbow.
Two suggestions: get a common weldable alloy in fully annealed condition like , and 2)- remember the thing doesn't need to be fully round. A flattened oval may help your space limits. 1/8" wall should be strong enough to hold moderate boost. It doesn't need to be structural.
You might invest some time in searching out the recent Engine Masters TV show where they dyno tested a half-dozen different commercial elbows and found some that worked, some that didn't and one that worked well with a 1" spacer but poorly without a spacer. No sense in cu$tom-designing something thats known to have problems. Good luck.
Classification by Material
According to the valve body material, it has stainless steel, carbon steel and alloy steel elbow.
Carbon Steel Elbow
Material in carbon steel, referred standards as:
ASTM 234 WPB and WPC
ASTM A420 WPL6
MSS-SP-75 WPHY 42, 46, 52, 56, 60, 65 and 70
Stainless Steel Pipe Elbow
Stainless steel pipe elbow has higher strength and higher corrosion-resistances than carbon steel elbow. For general surface treatment, stainless steel elbow is used in high corrosion environment, such as chemical plants, offshore and gas pipelines. Surface treatment in 2B or mirror, these are used in food industries and sanitary purposes.
Material in stainless steel, referred standards as:
ASTM A403 WP 304/304L, 316/316L
ASTM A270
Stainless steel 90 degree elbow
Stainless steel 90 degree elbow is a most common use of pipe elbow for stainless pipelines. Other than this is stainless steel 45 degree elbow, both of them in large requirements for butt weld, socket weld, and threaded connections.
How to Make Steel Pipe Elbow – 2 Options
Speaking of the forming of these steel pipe elbow, it has many steps. Even so , it is considered quite simple compared to other production processes.
Option 1 to manufacture steel pipe elbow
First, we could weld the closed end of a polygonal circular shell or a polygonal sector shell. When the pipe inside filled with pressure medium, its cross section will change from a polygon to a tubular shape. Under internal pressure, the section will be a circular shell. Ring can be cut into four 90 degree elbows or six 60 degree elbow or any other size requirement. Due to advances in technology, the welding process can be applied in different application. For example, it is now possible to weld and manufacture larger diameter steel pipe elbow, especially large diameter that in long radius.
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Option 2