Ravenous
15+ Year Contributor
- 414
- 2
- Sep 20, 2003
-
West Linn,
Oregon
I know this isn't as cool as custom intake manifolds or control arms but I am pretty pleased with my first "fabrication" project. I am a novice welder to the utmost degree. I have maybe welded 10ft of bead in my lifetime. I inherited a Clarke 110 volt welder but could not track down consumables so for my 30th birthday I purchased a Hobart Handler 187. The reason for this project is that I purchased one of the early Punishment Racing FMIC kits right after they came out. The kit I received caused the stock BOV to rub on the hood. At that time I didn't have access to a welder so I cut the BOV stalk and brazed the tube back together. Well my surface prep sucked and I didn't break through the oxide layer on the aluminum tubing so my braze cracked causing a boost leak. I have also recently installed a Holset HX-35 and my stock BOV started leaking boost and eventually blowing open at 22psi, which was awesome for an unmolested BOV. I decided to up the game a little bit and purchased an HKS SSQV BOV and decided to make a new pipe out of 304 stainless since I can weld that material.
I started by ordering a 45 degree 2.5" mandrel bend from Columbia River Mandrel, which is semi-local to me. On receiving the tube I realized that a 45 degree bend was not enough and that I actually needed closer to a 55 degree bend. Rather than trying to source this odd bend and spend more money I opted to cut a wedge out of this tube and reweld it to get a closer bend. I cut the tubing using a reciprocating saw and was able to get a fairly straight cut with mild cleanup.
Here it is tacked back up after cutting:
Here you can see the brazing on the old tube and the new pipe with the weld ground smooth and the AIT bung installed. I relocated it to the bottom of the pipe for aesthetic reasons. I know that grinding a weld makes it weaker but this a rather light duty part. Notice the splatter around the bung, I attribute this to welding stainless with 75/25 instead of tri-mix but I may be mistaken.
This picture is just prior to cutting the hole for the BOV Flange. You can see the three alignment marks I made with a Sharpie so that I could make sure I welded the flange in the appropriate direction after test fitting on the car.
After the hole was cut with PLASMA!!!! I love this thing! I have a cheapy may explode at any moment Ebay special Slice50D wired into 220 through a 50 amp plug. The literature (if it can be called that) indicated that the cutter needed to be on a 50 amp breaker but it came with a 30 amp plug. WTF The first thing I did after purchasing it was take the cover off and tighten all the internal fittings and make sure all the connections were solid and replace the plug. It has the much touted on ebay
Toshiba mosfets but I have already sourced IGBT's for replacement if necessary. It has cut everything I've thrown at it so far and for less than the cost of a Thermal Dynamics replacement torch. (I would love to have a TD unit and they are worth the money.... I just don't have enough).
After a little cleanup on the flange hole I welded on the HKS SSQV flange. I ordered this from ebay as it did not come with my BOV. This is where I ran into trouble as an amatuer welder. The flage was already notched to match the tube but the angles to get the weld in were quite awkward. This is where I will spend my time practicing as I had a hard time following the compund curve necessary to do this cleanly.
All together and in the car. I probably spent just as much time trying to get the circlip on as I did fitting up and welding everything. Ultimately I had to take the front cover off the BOV and grind down the tip of my favorite needle nose to make it work but it is on and air tight now. I blew my boost leak tester apart at 30psi testing it, which hurt my hand. If that compared to the 12psi it topped out at before is any indicator of the performance increase, I will be a very happy camper
. The splatter is more obvious around the flange and the welds are heavier than they needed to be (not to mention ugly!) I felt like I was trying to out run the wire speed going around the flange. I should of stopped and slowed the speed down instead of trying to move faster. I may redo it in the future or I may just grind the welds smoother and paint the tubing. The tape on the recirculation part of the intake tube is just a temporary patch. I am going to cut it off and weld an aluminum patch in it's place with my father's spool gun.
I also removed the "whistle" insert when I took the cover off the SSQV, it sounds awesome(all air whoosh, no ping or whistle) now that it is vented which while not necessary is still a nice perk.
I made sure to scrub out the tube with a bottle brush (not a hone, but litterally a brush for cleaning bottles) and hand filed the burrs and splatter off the inside of the tube. I did not feel it necessary to bead this particular tube because of where it is mounted. The couplers have to be loosened down the line to get this tube in, so it is more or less wedged into place. Altogether it was a fun little project and as I get more proficient with my tools I will move on to bigger and better things. I'm thinking I may do a throttle body elbow and flange next so I can weld in bungs for a meth/water injection setup! 
Maybe a v band connector too! This is how it starts 
!
I started by ordering a 45 degree 2.5" mandrel bend from Columbia River Mandrel, which is semi-local to me. On receiving the tube I realized that a 45 degree bend was not enough and that I actually needed closer to a 55 degree bend. Rather than trying to source this odd bend and spend more money I opted to cut a wedge out of this tube and reweld it to get a closer bend. I cut the tubing using a reciprocating saw and was able to get a fairly straight cut with mild cleanup.
Here it is tacked back up after cutting:
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Here you can see the brazing on the old tube and the new pipe with the weld ground smooth and the AIT bung installed. I relocated it to the bottom of the pipe for aesthetic reasons. I know that grinding a weld makes it weaker but this a rather light duty part. Notice the splatter around the bung, I attribute this to welding stainless with 75/25 instead of tri-mix but I may be mistaken.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
This picture is just prior to cutting the hole for the BOV Flange. You can see the three alignment marks I made with a Sharpie so that I could make sure I welded the flange in the appropriate direction after test fitting on the car.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
After the hole was cut with PLASMA!!!! I love this thing! I have a cheapy may explode at any moment Ebay special Slice50D wired into 220 through a 50 amp plug. The literature (if it can be called that) indicated that the cutter needed to be on a 50 amp breaker but it came with a 30 amp plug. WTF The first thing I did after purchasing it was take the cover off and tighten all the internal fittings and make sure all the connections were solid and replace the plug. It has the much touted on ebay
Toshiba mosfets but I have already sourced IGBT's for replacement if necessary. It has cut everything I've thrown at it so far and for less than the cost of a Thermal Dynamics replacement torch. (I would love to have a TD unit and they are worth the money.... I just don't have enough).
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
After a little cleanup on the flange hole I welded on the HKS SSQV flange. I ordered this from ebay as it did not come with my BOV. This is where I ran into trouble as an amatuer welder. The flage was already notched to match the tube but the angles to get the weld in were quite awkward. This is where I will spend my time practicing as I had a hard time following the compund curve necessary to do this cleanly.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
All together and in the car. I probably spent just as much time trying to get the circlip on as I did fitting up and welding everything. Ultimately I had to take the front cover off the BOV and grind down the tip of my favorite needle nose to make it work but it is on and air tight now. I blew my boost leak tester apart at 30psi testing it, which hurt my hand. If that compared to the 12psi it topped out at before is any indicator of the performance increase, I will be a very happy camper
. The splatter is more obvious around the flange and the welds are heavier than they needed to be (not to mention ugly!) I felt like I was trying to out run the wire speed going around the flange. I should of stopped and slowed the speed down instead of trying to move faster. I may redo it in the future or I may just grind the welds smoother and paint the tubing. The tape on the recirculation part of the intake tube is just a temporary patch. I am going to cut it off and weld an aluminum patch in it's place with my father's spool gun.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I also removed the "whistle" insert when I took the cover off the SSQV, it sounds awesome(all air whoosh, no ping or whistle) now that it is vented which while not necessary is still a nice perk.
I made sure to scrub out the tube with a bottle brush (not a hone, but litterally a brush for cleaning bottles) and hand filed the burrs and splatter off the inside of the tube. I did not feel it necessary to bead this particular tube because of where it is mounted. The couplers have to be loosened down the line to get this tube in, so it is more or less wedged into place. Altogether it was a fun little project and as I get more proficient with my tools I will move on to bigger and better things. I'm thinking I may do a throttle body elbow and flange next so I can weld in bungs for a meth/water injection setup! Maybe a v band connector too! This is how it starts !
