Where to buy ’Weld Els’ in UK??

A friend and I are looking at a diy turbo conversion on either his 325i, my golf 16v or both. Just Cos.

To fabricate the manifolds we've been looking at loads of american sites that use 'Weld els' to form the complex shapes..

These look the biz. Nice and sturdy so they can take the repeated heating and cooling, plus easy to weld and come in some cool bends n stuff..

Has anyone done this over here? Where did you buy them from? I'm guessing a commercial gas pipe supplyer or something like that. Would appreciate some example companies and prices..

Many thanks,

Jai

 

Weldable elbows ya mean.
To be honest, you can only buy them in standard degrees (90, 45, 30 i think). What sort of material are you looking at??

 

Stainless steel Im pretty sure we get ours from this lot. I'll reply again tomorrow when i get to work and dig out one of the catalogues !

 

Aalco I use them also but I don`t think they do butt weldable elbows.

 

oh yes they do !! lol

 

Get a hydraulic pipe bender and some pipe

Problem sorted

 

For the size bore of the pipe you would need, i doubt you would get the bends tight enough. Good plan though if there's plenty of room in the engine bay.

 

Depends how good a pipe bender you get

I know i could easy make tight radius bends in thin walled pipe no problem

 

you don't want thin walled pipe for a turbo mani tho

 

You want short radius (unless you have room for a standard radius elbow) schedule 40 butt weld elbows in mild steel - any industrial plumbing supplier can get them.

 

Oh FYI I think (though I may be remembering wrong) that the 2.5l turbo diesel BMW engine manifold fits straight on to the 2.5l petrols - might just be the 5 series though.

 

The trouble you have with the e36 3 series is the steering linkage on RHD cars get right in the way...

As for my valver, does anyone have any suggestions for orientation of the turbo so it'll fit in the tight space and be easily plumbed.. I know it varies from turbo to turbo but you know what I mean...

Thanks for the replies and links guys..

Jai

 

Oh, and those stainless weld els.. Is stainless much harder to weld? For the life of me I cant remember from materials lectures..

Jai

 

Harder to weld and more likely to crack because it expands more. Have a look at the manifolds from ATP - that'll give you an idea of where to mount the turbo.

 

Like this...

 

Thats a pretty handy picture.. What flange is that using? Is it the typical T3 one?

From what I can gather reading Maximum Boost that manifold would get pretty hot and the wastegate would empty cylinders 1 and 2 better than the other two.. Do atp get good results that you know of?

As for the flanges.. Is there anywhere ato buy them pre-cut? Would I be better off drawing them in autocad and having them laser cut (maybe Uni Teccies will help if I buy em a pint) or just getting busy with drill and grinder on a piece of 5mm plate?

Have any of u guys done this?

Jai
Edited by: jaistanley

 

It's a standard T3 flange. Never heard of any probs with the ATP manifolds - or if you don't want to build it yourself there is a bloke called "Zornig" on the VWvortex who makes nice ones cheaply (he's a cracking weldor) from butt weld fittings. You can just get the flanges cut at a machine shop - somewhere with a plasma cutter is ideal, but an oxy cut does the same job and just needs cleaning up more. 5mm plate won't do - you need at least half inch stuff.

 

Is that guy based in the uk do you know? Probably cant afford to buy one anyway.. thats why i'm looking at DIY. I know an awesome welder here in cov, does it full time. If I tack it up he'll make sure its solid for a few pints.

To be honest I need to sort the re-build and some sort of EFi first. Megasquirt AVR or Bosch of some sort looks like the best bet.

Thinking of going with low pressure turbo (5-6psi) and standard comp ratio. Thingy bell that wrote Maximum Boost reccons this is a viable option with excellent intercooler and good management.

Jai

Edited by: jaistanley

 

He's in the US but his manifolds are cheap - around $270 as I remember. Very neat welds. He'll ship to the UK if you really want, but a stack of people on here could do the same job and cheaper.Or build your own for about 30, and have it TIG'd. Digi 1 will do your management.......

 

digi 1.. bosch motronic basically then. been thinking of doing that mod for a while.. can anyone lend a hand with it.. what do you need, how to do it etc.

jai