Paul,

 Got the headers back from the welder and they look pretty good.

 The intake hardware had issues

 He did not weld the injector holder to the 2" tube because the sample
 weld that he ran just melted.

 He said he needed a water cooled tig torch

 The point where the injector holder contacts the tube at an acute angle
 does not permit him adequate access

 Should this piec use JB weld for sealing and tack welds to hold it
 secure?

 Was wondering what your experience was.

 Thanks for any help

 Joe Berki
 Limo EZ

 I have a couple more if you can find a better welder :)
 Aluminum is not easy to weld.

 You can glue them on with epoxy if you treat the aluminum
 first.

 Paul Lamar

 Donnknow if a water cooled tig torch is the answer. The water cools the
 torch, not the weld. Aluminum is difficult to weld because it tends to
 melt away from you if you don't have the knowledge and experience to
 weld it. It seems as if your welder was welding the aluminum as if it
 were steel.

 Get a different welder or perish the thought-- have a professional do
 it. In my intake manifold, I welded what I could, but will use JB in the
 acute angles and where I couldn't get my torch.

 Rich


I gave the welder a sample of the tube that I wanted the injector holder
welded to.

I believe if i went with a thinner wall it would be a non-issue.

What wall thickness would you recommend for the injector holder tubes?

Joe

Greetings, Joe,

I used 16G runners to which I welded  the injector bosses. I used 16
because I was able to get mandrill bends from which I made my manifold
(modified extensively from the existing Renesis)

Welding Aluminum, as I mentioned is quite tricky,  and like flying
requires training and practice--(as noticed by the difference between my
first welds on my induction system, and the last -- in this current
series after not having done it for a year or so). Your welder should be
able to tell you which gauge metal he is comfortable welding (If any).
The thickness of the material, within limits should have no effect on
the weld or its possibility, dependent, of course, on the welder and
the  type of equipment used. Something in the back of my mind says that
the Lincoln people were welding aluminum foil with their square wave
machine at OSH one year.

Aluminum can be welded with gas (acetylene and O2) with a Henrob torch.
When my son was in 7th grade, his teacher was teaching the concepts of
welding. He stated that Aluminum couldn't be welded with Gas. Whereupon,
taking the challenge, I, using the Henrob, welded two soda cans together
(at the bases-- a little thicker) and left the filler rod connected
--Not a lot of brownie points for my poor son.

Please understand, I am not a professional welder. Professionally, I
deal with headaches. Anything I might say on this list is a matter of my
understanding and personal experience.

I have attached a picture (sorry for the angle) and possibly size. (I
will try to get better pix later if there is interest) which shows the
welds and the induction system, some of the cooling system and exhaust,
as it matures.

Rich

Looks good Rich. I like the pocket in the Tracy PRRU spacer :)
I would love to see some more pictures. Bigger! :)

Paul Lamar

Welding aluminum is tricky because of two factors.

"Hot shortness" ...... most Al alloys have a vanishingly small
plastic range .... look at some phase diagrams .... they go from
solid to liquid in a very narrow range of temperatures.  Combine this
with the fact that Al conducts heat very well and it is tricky to
maintain a weld fusion zone.  As an aside, some of the problems
caused by the thermal conductivity of aluminum can be controlled by
really good preheating of the masses you are trying to weld.  Heat
the whole thing up to 800F and welding becomes somewhat easier but
you need more energy and more body protection to do this.

Added to this is the fact that humans like to **see** something
happening .... as feedback for what they are doing.  When welding
steel, it is easy to see the metal get red and then orange and then
yellow as it goes through the solid-plastic-liquid stage.  Makes it
easy to control the weld puddle.  Aluminum goes through these 3
stages at a much lower temperature so you can't see it, it happens in
the range humans call infra-red ... cause we cannot see it!.  By the
time it turns visibly red it is melted and gone.  There are special
glasses you can get that enable you to see these temperatures a bit
better.  Ask any GOOD welding supplier.  But, of course, this rules
out any form of arc welding (if you want to pass your next eye
test!)  They only work for gas welding.

Gas welding of aluminum is not that difficult .... they trained young
"rosey the riveter" women off the street to do it on a production
basis in WW II .... remember the RR/Packard Merlin was a water cooled
engine!  You need to find a welder that is SKILLED in this kind of work.

Another possibility is brazing.  There are ways of brazing
aluminum.  Again, you might consult a GOOD welding supply house for
materials and equipment.  They might even know someone who does this
kind of work on a day to day basis.  But you have to watch your
alloys here .... it is easy to get cracking if you don't do things correctly.

You might also go to a local engineering university that has a
metallurgy program .... get a consult or take a course or just buy
the textbook they use for welding arts.

SD