I'm stubborn, lazy and cheap... but really i'm not any of them.. 🤣 Welding has always been something i've wanted to learn and I need to have a small piece of 2.5" pipe welded into my CHE midpipe.. During the day I work, and my wife is a nurse so her hours are all over the place. I am also pretty selfless and always feel guilty leaving her with the kids, so I just can't/couldn't bring myself to drop the part off at an exhaust shop, even if she would tell me to go do it.. That and I just don't feel like driving(lazy). Next up, I just couldn't justify the cost(Cheap).. Last, I hate asking for help from a neighbor or another car enthusiast(stubborn).. So, what do I do? I order a welder online... It kinda solves all of the problems without solving any..
I get to learn something i've always wanted to learn. The cost of an exhaust shop is instead repurposed and spent on me being able to do it myself now and in the future. I don't have to leave the house, except to pickup the welder.
Today I will be picking up a pretty basic Flux Core welder. Should be sufficient enough to both learn on and do some basic exhaust work with, not to mention, weld the small 2.5" pipe..
@pattielipp There are some good online welding instructional videos. The ones that specifically cover exhaust pipes were useful even after I took welding classes. You will find that a good (auto-darkening) welding helmet is really valuable. you can't weld well if you can't see what you are doing. And don't forget the protective equipment (gloves, jacket) and pay a lot attention to protecting your feet!
@pattielipp There are some good online welding instructional videos. The ones that specifically cover exhaust pipes were useful even after I took welding classes. You will find that a good (auto-darkening) welding helmet is really valuable. you can't weld well if you can't see what you are doing. And don't forget the protective equipment (gloves, jacket) and pay a lot attention to protecting your feet!
Dave
Amen on protecting the feet!
2007 S2000 (New Formula Red)
2005 Spyders (Two in Paradise Blue Metallic, One Super White)
2004 Tundra SR5 Double Cab (White with 2UZ-FE Engine)
2003 Tundra SR5 Access Cab (Silver Stepside with 2UZ-FE Engine)
2003 Sequoia SR5 (Black with 2UZ-FE Engine)
1970 Olds 442 W30 (Nugget Gold )
I'm stubborn, lazy and cheap... but really i'm not any of them.. 🤣 Welding has always been something i've wanted to learn and I need to have a small piece of 2.5" pipe welded into my CHE midpipe.. During the day I work, and my wife is a nurse so her hours are all over the place. I am also pretty selfless and always feel guilty leaving her with the kids, so I just can't/couldn't bring myself to drop the part off at an exhaust shop, even if she would tell me to go do it.. That and I just don't feel like driving(lazy). Next up, I just couldn't justify the cost(Cheap).. Last, I hate asking for help from a neighbor or another car enthusiast(stubborn).. So, what do I do? I order a welder online... It kinda solves all of the problems without solving any..
I get to learn something i've always wanted to learn. The cost of an exhaust shop is instead repurposed and spent on me being able to do it myself now and in the future. I don't have to leave the house, except to pickup the welder.
Today I will be picking up a pretty basic Flux Core welder. Should be sufficient enough to both learn on and do some basic exhaust work with, not to mention, weld the small 2.5" pipe..
We'll see how this goes.
I was in the same position when I wanted to redo my exhaust. As you know Maryland is just too expensive for any exhaust work and the quotes I got were outrageous. Some people suggested going to Pensilvania and have the Minonites do it as they don't charge that much. I was frustrated so I decided to challenge myself.
One skill I always wanted to learn was welding but I thought I would need lots of instruction to do it right. I had to learn a little more in depth of the various methods of welding, what really helped me was watching many youtube welding channels to learn how to weld and what to look out for.
I will keep this short. I found out that if you are welding exhausts you can easily get by with a flux core welder from Harbor Fright. They say that the HF flux core isn't that great so its best to get the stuff they sell in Home depot made by Lincoln Electric.
The harbor fright welding helmets are not that great visibility wise. I bought a better one at Lows and that is the trick to having good welds is the visibility of seeing what you are doing makes the biggest difference. I practiced on cut pieces of my old exhaust and also by stitching two pieces of pipe together. I learned from my mistakes of over penetration and under penetration. I would also take a hammer after welding by trying to break the welds to test the strength so I know I was doing it right. These welds are not pretty but that doesn't matter as you can grind them down. The best way I found is to stitch spot welds around the tube if its thin so you don't burn though. Its really not that hard and is actually fun to do once you get the hang of it.
A nice dual voltage welder allows you to weld both thin metal as well as thick.
I am older, so I also needed cheater lenses even though I had a very good self darkening welding helmet with my progressive lens glasses.
The cheater lens allowed me to see the puddle much more clearly and improved my welds tremendously.
I also prefer gas, but a flux core welder will get the job done.
Get some scrap the same thickness as the metal you are going to weld, clean it, and then use the welder settings in the book for that size/type of metal for your initial testing. You will probably have to tweak those settings to get a nice bead as well as stitch weld so you don't deform the metal.
Once you have the settings correct, you are ready to weld the desired metal.
Still have yet to pick up the welder.. apparently, even if the online store says next day pickup and shows it's in stock, doesn't mean they'll actually pull it from the shelves... 🤷♂️🤷♂️ It is what it is, I have other things I can do, which is exactly what I have done.
As of today I just finished pulling the control arms, replacing the bushings with a set of Devs Solid/poly bushings, and then installed my old CHE lower front brace after giving it a nice thick respray of black spray paint.
I've also gone around the car and sprayed any areas I see rust with a high temp anti rust paint to stop future rust. Hopefully it prevents any further corrosion.
Once I finally get the word that my order has been processed and I can pick up the welder, I won't be wasting any time to learn enough and get this exhaust done
Both of my build threads have now been merged and put in the correct place, so i'll be continuing here.
First real appearance mod has been ordered. I'm starting to realize that parts that were once easy to find are getting more and more difficult as time goes on. Just to find the C-One air scoops was a task, and even more difficult was the fiberglass center console. I'm holding off on the center console, but the side scoops have now been ordered.
The external appearance modifications I have planned are pretty basic; C-One side scoops, TRD replica side skirts and front lip, and then the RCNType rear diffuser.
After installing the other parts yesterday, I'm hoping to wire up the WB02 this afternoon, or at least start on it.
Both of my build threads have now been merged and put in the correct place, so i'll be continuing here.
First real appearance mod has been ordered. I'm starting to realize that parts that were once easy to find are getting more and more difficult as time goes on. Just to find the C-One air scoops was a task, and even more difficult was the fiberglass center console. I'm holding off on the center console, but the side scoops have now been ordered.
The external appearance modifications I have planned are pretty basic; C-One side scoops, TRD replica side skirts and front lip, and then the RCNType rear diffuser.
After installing the other parts yesterday, I'm hoping to wire up the WB02 this afternoon, or at least start on it.
Its a lot harder to get parts these days because much of it has been discontinued. The car is vintage now. Watch out for the TRD replica fiberglass especially the side skirts as they are wavy and hard to get right. I had to buy someone else used cracked original to replace with and painted them myself which turned out nice. If you have a chance spend a little more and get the original poly and have them repainted to match your car.
Got the welder today, didn't practice, went right into the exhaust 🤣 Never said I was smart, and figured I have a grinder if it gets to ugly. I'm very good with my hands and anything creative so I just wanted to go right into it and learn from experience. I've watched enough videos at this point so I just needed to do it.
Anyways, parts were UGLY, parts looked professional. I was very pleased with how about half of it turned out, and part of the weld could have passed as professional.. I won't talk about the other half, however... Lets just say the grinder came in handy there!
After cleaning it all up, put the gasket on, bolted it all back up, and then started it up, and Exhaust leaks galore. 🤪 Fully expected. haha To be honest, it was a lot better than expected and the leaks were only at the doughnut gasket. Tomorrow i'll be pulling it back off. I need to align of the muffler.. again.. and fix the fitment.
Got the welder today, didn't practice, went right into the exhaust 🤣 Never said I was smart, and figured I have a grinder if it gets to ugly. I'm very good with my hands and anything creative so I just wanted to go right into it and learn from experience. I've watched enough videos at this point so I just needed to do it.
Anyways, parts were UGLY, parts looked professional. I was very pleased with how about half of it turned out, and part of the weld could have passed as professional.. I won't talk about the other half, however... Lets just say the grinder came in handy there!
After cleaning it all up, put the gasket on, bolted it all back up, and then started it up, and Exhaust leaks galore. 🤪 Fully expected. haha To be honest, it was a lot better than expected and the leaks were only at the doughnut gasket. Tomorrow i'll be pulling it back off. I need to align of the muffler.. again.. and fix the fitment.
That is pretty brave. When I first started I made a lot of mistakes and would constantly fuse the flux core wire.
You need to practice on some scraps. Welding on thin tubing is not easy. You might get a weld but you will never know if its strong. It has to have some penetration but if you go too far you will burn a hole. Once I understood how to move the puddle and for how long I got better. Eventually I found that spot stitching worked the best for me. Also learning how to do some filling when you burn though is also tough.
@dev Never said I was smart.. 🤣 I ended up welding two bolts onto the midpipe today so that I don't risk having the bolts disconnect. After doing that and switching to straight bolts without the springs, Everything is tightened up and no more exhaust leaks here. Moving on to the next part of the exhaust... The Three Amigos; There is a leak there in the middle section on the side without the screw. Im planning on getting some of the manifold maker you guys mentioned to fix this leak. I'll probably pick some up this evening after returning the pipe cutter I borrowed from Advanced Auto.
just some progress from yesterday and the day before. The first of the two images was before welding the pipe into place and cutting it to size.
Thats exactly what I did. I brought two couplers that didn't fit to I went back with the entire downpipe and found one that does. Cut at the right length to support the gasket and then stitched welded the pipe in place and filled in the gaps. Instead of a grinder I used the cut off tool to grind down the welds so the donut gasket sits flush. I also thought about welding in two bolts or some washers where the bolts go. That flange is a crapy design and I don't know what they were thinking except that it was a one size fits all application flange. This downpipe is cheap for a reason but if they have taken the time to put in the necessary features so it doesn't leak on both ends I would have gladly paid $100 more.
