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Making a tube header for the turbo side

SS FORCE said:
Looking really good Nate. I like the way they turned out. I never realized keeping heat in the headers made that big of a difference with turbo spool.
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Thanks SS. I had heard it made a difference and with how much just a turbo blanket help it made me a believer. I'm really hoping that the improved merger of the driver and passenger sides together with the wrapped crossover makes a nice improvement in spool.

Burning oil said:
Nice. Hopefully your rings come in today, They did not get here yesterday like I hoped.
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Thanks for the update Leroy. I'm out of town for the weekend and I still have some stuff to do to the block so this isn't holding me up. I appreciate your service.

bowtiebutler956 said:
Nate, you are Hard Core! That is some amazing work, and look forward to seeing how it works out.

Matt
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Ha, thanks Matt. Good to see you checking in.
 
I added the provisions to the fixture for the driver side manifold. That will be a winter project. Time to get back to engine work now so I can get this turd back on the road.
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Well boo. Went to put the engine in last night with the header installed and it hits the firewall. So for now the engine is going to go in with the stock manifold and I will rework the header later to make it fit correctly. In hindsight, I hadn't really considered the clearance in that area as much as I should have, but without the engine in the truck while doing the fab it was hard to visualize where some of the potential clearance problems would be. Now I know and when I do the header update I will be able to check it in the engine compartment real-time since the engine will be installed. I guess this will actually be a good thing because I will be able to see and report how much of a difference just the header change makes when I do get it installed later. Also with the delay I may be able to do ceramic coating by then too - either DIY or the White Lighting by Swain Tech I've been wanting.
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I know 2 that tried different products, 1 began flaking in a few months & the other less than 6 on off road rigs not daily drivers. Don't remember the products used. One went to the tape wrap & the other had professionally done & no problems since.
 
,The big factors are surface prep & application. Both of which can be tricky on used, rusty, cast iron manifolds with lots of nooks-n-crannies. I've coated many cast iron & smooth tubular pieces over the years.

When doing a long time rusty cast piece, after thoroughly (and I mean thoroughly!) abrasive blasting, there will still be tiny oxidized pinholes. Coated right, it takes many years, but the tiny bit of rust in the pinholes may come back. Chem baths can help to further dissolve pinhole rust. Iron phosphatizing (sometimes referred to as "pickleing") can help. Probably the biggest factor is having the entire surface smooth enough that once coated, the surface of the coating can be polished smooth/shiny. It's the aluminum particles in these coatings that provide corrosion resistance.

A complete, consistent aluminum coverage oxidizes over and stops further oxidation (aluminum's oxidation process is essentially self-sealing/self-limiting). But surface has to have complete aluminum coverage. If high & low spots remain (common in rough castings), the Al will get polished off the highs, & the lows don't get smeared smooth/consistent - and that's where any remaining rust pinholes will get thru.

Smooth a new manifold or turbine housing, coat it right, and it'll last. Smooth exhaust tubes are easier.

The second thing is applying the coating at recommended thickness. Easy on a flat surface. Much trickier with lots of nooks-n-crannies. Takes practice to get enough material in the nooks, without too much material on the surrounding, easily accessed areas. Get the coatings on too thick & they'll delaminate (flaking off). I set the gun to spray the minimal amt of material & then focus on the nooks, slowly getting them covered.

Third thing is keeping the material mixed while applying. The Al particle don't want to stay suspended, so mix the heck out of it to get it uniform before pouring into gun. Then keep it agitated every few seconds in the gun. If allowed to set, the Al particles quickly settle to the bottom.
 
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I put the stock manifold on top of the header today and there is a huge difference in how much more space it takes up. It's still manageable, but it looks like I got a little too greedy with space. I'll get it right next time.
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pacificdrumma said:
That's a bummer Nate. But you will surely be able to make it work. And when you do, give me a price for one :)
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Thanks. I don't think it's going to be that bad to make it work...and when I do it will help that the engine is in the truck so I can confirm right away whether it works.

Let's see....I'll use regular shop rate of $80/hour x 25 hours of labor.....that equals $2000. So sure, for $2000 I'd be happy to make you one! :D

j/k, I had originally thought maybe I would make more of them, but it was more of a pain than I expected so I'm not so sure now. Maybe I can figure out how to improve my processes and make it feasible to duplicate.
 
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