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Thread: Tack welding stainless steel with a Mig welder

  1. #21
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    The “tinny” sound you don’t like is probably more from the headers and mufflers than the tailpipes and most headers are mild steel. Most new cars use stainless exhaust systems and you can barely hear the exhaust at all.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


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  2. #22
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    http://pypesexhaust.com/i-12200930-5...nge-sgc11.html

    "409 stainless steel.

    Pypes Exhaust Systems are designed to deliver enhanced performance, provide extra punch in the passing lane and improve gas mileage. Fabricated using the highest quality materials, our smooth, 16 gauge, mandrel-bent, Stainless steel pipe ensures maximum exhaust gas flow, which can significantly boost horsepower. The stainless steel construction of our pipes and mufflers enables them to resist corrosion and extends the life of the system."
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


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    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
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    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  3. #23
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NCW View Post
    Pretty simple. You simply fill the innards of what you are welding using a plug at both ends, a regulator to feed argon (100%) into the chamber and proceed to TIG as usual. Be prepared to spend some bucks on gas.

    http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...-tank-of-argon
    I put as tee on my regulator with a small valve on it and connected a 1/4" nylon hose to that. I didn't use a second regulator. I plugged both ends with some foam pipe insulation leaving a small hole in the center on each end. Then I inserted my hose in one end and turned on the gas a little. You don't really need to flow much gas, all you really have to do is displace the air. I didn't use much gas as far as I could tell on my gauge. Ideally you'd have a flowmeter on the line but I just guessed.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  4. #24
    Registered Member NickP's Avatar
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    There is a Y kit available or simply rent or use your backup bottle and a regulator.

  5. #25
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Who needs a "kit" for this? You can get the parts at Home Depot.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  6. #26
    Registered Member NickP's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by chevynut View Post
    Who needs a "kit" for this? You can get the parts at Home Depot.
    Just providing and alternative to those that might want something different but, it's all good.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick_L View Post
    You can tack weld stainless just fine with a mig welder and carbon steel wire. Thing is, the welds will rust eventually, actually sooner than later on an exhaust system. The hard way to prevent this would be to tack weld everything again with tig and SS filler wire, then grind the mig tacks to removed the carbon steel filler. You probably will still have a contaminated weld though.

    Why not try to find a spool of stainless mig wire for your mig welder and try it? I think what you want is 309 alloy stainless, at least that's the filler I use for tig with 304 and 321 stainless. The cost of a small roll won't be much. What I don't know is how your typical 75/25 mig gas for carbon steel will act.

    If you're not going to have stainless mufflers (you mentioned Flowmasters) - why not go with steel tubing too? You can probably do it with steel and ceramic coat it for about the same cost or lower than stainless. Something to consider if you haven't bought tubing yet. That's the way I'm going - the headers and fabricated tubing will be carbon steel, ceramic coated - but I'll just leave the mufflers aluminized, and use high heat paint on the flanges I weld to the mufflers.
    Rick, I tried MIG welding stainless wire with 75/25, and the weld comes out black, and like 55 Rescue Dog said, it spatters more.

  8. #28
    Registered Member WagonCrazy's Avatar
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    So to recap a few things I've learned from you guys on this topic:

    It's possible to weld stainless pipe/bends/mufflers/vbands/exhaust tips with my Mig welder and existing steel wire, but the welds themselves will eventually rust (if not coated, painted, jet hotted, etc).

    It's possible to do same as above, but use stainless wire with my Mig welder, and that will require a bottle of 100% argon. 2# spool of stainless wire is about $25 and the small bottle about $100. But the headers are mild steel, so I still need to deal with a jet hot coating process for those.

    2 1/2 inch diameter is going to be fine for this system, based on 340 hp LS1 engine and long tube headers. 3 inch is not necessary.

    Magnaflow mufflers are ONLY stainless steel.
    Flowmasters are ONLY steel.
    Borla's are ONLY stainless steel.
    Choices...seems like a mix and match thing going on here.

    So I have mild steel headers to start with. Thinking about just fabricating the rest of the system in mild steel (except the mufflers in stainless since they can't be adequately coated on the insides), and Mig welding it all myself, then having all pieces jet hot coated (except the mufflers). I may even just hide the tips up under the bumper extensions (left and right) like I did on my 9 passenger wagon build. That way, there's no need for stainless tips because you really don't see them.

    Choices, choices...
    1957 Nomad- LS1/T56 on C4 chassis
    1959 Fleetside Apache 1/2 ton, shortbed, big window, 327ci.

  9. #29
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Paul, have you priced stainless bends and tubing, as well as Jet Hot coating everything? My headers are mild steel (Earle Williams') but everything else including the mufflers is stainless. I bought the stainless parts on eBay and from Burns Stainless. I have a sheetload of 3" stainless tubing that I didn't use and don't even know why I bought so much....also have a lot of 2" because I was going to build headers but realized j-bends would have been better for that. Not sure what I'm going to do with all that stuff.

    My exhaust system cost about $2500 so far including headers, bends, tubing, expansion joints, v-band clamps, flanges, DMH electric cutouts, hangers, and mufflers. I still have around $300 in header coating costs so it's pushing $3000 but it's 3.5" and 3" stuff.

    If I were you and cost was a concern, I'd add up the costs both ways. Maybe you could borrow a 100% argon tank from a friend and just pay for the gas used instead of buying a tank. If costs were the same, I'd sure go with stainless myself, even with mild steel headers. Keep in mind shipping costs for the Jet Hot coating of all that tubing. I'm not sure why headers would drive the rest of the material selection. Remember the headers will stay hotter and are less likely to rust out than tailpipes.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  10. #30
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    The headers, and the pipes ahead of the mufflers burn off moisture very quick, but the mufflers, and tailpipes don't, which is where it's a better idea to use stainless. I would think about keeping it simple and mig weld the front pipes, and either temporary mig tack weld the rear stainless pipes, or weld them up complete with steel wire. I'm sure they would last for many years.
    Last edited by 55 Rescue Dog; 12-16-2017 at 04:19 AM.

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