308 V12 conversion begins

The lens in my helmet is a 12 to block the high power alum welding arc. I usually use an 8 or 9 fo rthis type work. The instant on helmet I ordered is adjustable form 9-12 so it should be perfect. I picked up a new 8 lens for my other helmet too today....I don't know what happened to my old one.

 

Tonight was start the collector night. I'm making the angle 15 degrees. Now I know you see it tacked on but don't get scared, it's coming back off. I just tacked it of to use the header as a jig and the next time I get into the shop I'll cut it off so I can weld and grind the inside of the collector and do some more work on the end of the header, then the collector will go back on for real.

It looks like there is just enough room to leave this collector straight and go into a 4" radius 2" OD pipe. The other one will need to be a little tougher though as I'll need to use a 6" radius whcih means a longer flow path. If I want the headers to be parallel I'll need to put the collector on the bend to get the lenght right. The other option is a straight collector that comes off the bend at about a 30 degree angle....might look messy. I'll need to think about this because neat counts and is worth a little extra work.
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I like to live dangerously

 

Thanks Wil...every project I start I say "tis is the day I get the robo-welds"...and every time it's not.

 

I can tell you that I didn’t give it enough though before I started cutting and the piece shown in the first pic I posted is a bit wrong. I used it anyway because I’m to cheap to waste a $15 piece of tubing but it means filling a gap with weld. I’ll post a pic of the problem next time I’m in the shop…probably Monday.

The right way to do it is probably like this:
Cut to length. The require length is about = (Tube size-exist OD/2)/sin15
(this will be a little short because of bend radius and because the tubes don’t touch in the middle…a CAD layout will get the correct number or 30 minutes of tig, I just added 1/2” and called it close enough)
Mark the centerline on the OD.
The tube end needs to be 360-(360/#of tube), so for me it’s 240 degrees. The tube it 1.75, so 2/3*1.75*3.14= 3.667”, then I measured ½ each way from the centerline and marked it.

The exit end is =(exitOD/3)*3.14. for me that is 2.00/3*3.14=2.09, again split at the centerline and marked.
Draw a line connecting the 2 marks you just made and cut. I cut the first one with a cut-off wheel in a die grinder and it worked fine but that finished off the cut off wheel and I found I didn’t have any more. The next to I cut in the cut saw just holding the part with a pair of vise grips….I’m sure the safety people at work would not have approved but it was very fast and easy.
Then I beat the exit end to about a 2” OD and started fitting and welding. I had to do some grinding in the middle 1/3 of the pieces to get them to fit right.

When I do the next one I’ll take pictures of each step which will probably make it more clear.

 

Yes, it’s next on the list and that is what I meant by more work on the header. I couldn’t do it last night because I was out of cutoff wheels.

 

That’s what I usually do to…I only thought about it after I realize I cut the tube wrong.
All the math says is you want to cut the header end of the tubes so they go to the tangent points where the header tubes touch each other. On the exit end the length of all the pieces welded together need to add up to the circumference of the diameter you are trying to make.

That’s really all there is to it other than picking a length. Length and angle go hand in hand. I wanted a 15 degree angle or there about so I use trig and a little estimation to give me the length that would get me close. I used 3.5” measure along the outside of the tubes (by chance it’s 2 times the primary tube OD)…which really was a tad short so my angle is more like 16 or 17 degrees. Burns only sell 1 flavor and it looks like 15 degrees, but SPD has 12, 15, 20, 25 so I’m right in the middle and since I have no idea what ideal is I guess what I have will be just fine

 

In other news I sent a couple emails to cam guy this week . The first one explained the Lana knows I’m hiding money so if he wants it he’d best get the cams done and the second explaining that “tomorrow” was over a week ago and if his measuring guy is that busy I’d be happy to give him the address of a place that would be happy to turn them around in a day or 2 at the most as it’s only 30 minutes worth of work.

No response.....I'll call on my way home tonight.

 

Yes the $276 vs $45 in material is a big apart, but looking at the foam noodle headers I was thinking I’d have collectors on bends and I can’t buy those pre-made.

 

Don’t worry, the points are coming, patients.

 

How did you even find that at this point?

I have trouble finding stuff I wrote last week much less last year.....this thread is out of control. I think it would need to be it's own topic with everything broken in to 4 or 5 sub topics and then cross linked somehow if I was going to find anything specific in it. Finding a picture in here is getting almost as bad as finding a specific one on the bikini thread