'65
Why are you looking to weld it up yourself? You probably are aware that you can have it done for you faster and for less money and less time than it will take to develop the necessary proficiency yourself. You'll also have some assurance it will be a professional job. I wouldnt think an exhaust header is an ideal beginner project, but it's a better choice than a trailer or many others I've seen people planning for. Accessability can be a real challenge... you will have to put whatever heat and filler you'll be using through any necessary contortion to reach the entire joint despite any obstructions.

I know when dollars just dont apply to the sense of a decision I maight make, and under those circumstances I'd encourage you to look far forward in your plans to purchase equipment and consider how well this investment will serve various other interests you may need welding for. To do it properly plan on some formal training as well; it will give you the hands-on you need to make the right decisions.
Those disclaimers aside, let's see how well we can help you reach your goal.

There are a bunch of posts about new welding equipment that should come up in a search... check under shop talk... I believe you"ll get better satisfaction from pointed, short, specific questions that develop after discussions with weld-supply houses who specialize in welding equipment, or after reading those posts I mentioned... and it seems a lot of us aren't used to this new section; you might have better luck in general up in "shop-talk"

If you're willing to bevel the end of the pipes and weld to [the block side of] the flange, then cut it back to flat, you can weld it with just about any process you have handy; the job will be clean and invisible.

Regards,
D

How did your project come out? Sorry to not spot this subject until now but if you're still puttin' ideas together I've got a few thoughts. Why the schedule 40? Have you considered pre-bent mandrel sections? Some of the most reasonably priced out there is from Schoenfeld in Arkansas. You can get j-bends from them for $5-7 apiece in 16ga, they're excellent quality for the money, I used them for a set of headers I have under construction. Also, you might be happy with 3/8 flanges. After choosing this thickness, I've pretty much decided it's a very happy medium between the common 1/4" flanges sold commercially and 1/2" that wouldn't have the slight give/flex needed for sealing to the cylinder head.
Not sure if it's okay to post this link here but in the meantime feel free to stop by my fabrication page and check out a couple of snapshots I've taken of my headers so far.

http://www.datarecall.net/~tbird88/tops.htm

Good luck with your truck,

'bird

My first real welding project was to build a 180 degree header layout for my V8 Fiero. To see a pic go to http://homepage.mac.com/emarsh/ and click on the picture titled "Fiero Engine."

I bought myself a gas MIG welder to do the job. The fact that I didn't have any real welding experience didn't help, but it really wasn't the right tool for the job.

Welding tubing is much more difficult than welding flat stock. The tubing needs to be turned over several times for each section which means that the weld has to be terminated and restarted each time.

I find that a Mig welder is much more difficult to restart a weld with than a Tig welder. The Mig gas defuser makes it more difficult to see the work being done as well.

I had a lot of problems with burn through. I was using 1/16" wall tubing. To some extent this was because of my lack of experience but it was also because the Mig welder doesn't allow the heat to be adjusted while welding.

If you have not done a job like this before let me pass along what I've learned. First of all, proper fitting of the pieces to be welded is critical. Each section of tubing should fit to its counterpart with no air gap between them anywhere. Next, be sure to tack each piece in several spots before laying the bead down. Otherwise by the time you are half way around expansion from theheat will likely open gaps betwen the tubes.

If I were doing a header for a turbo, and I may actually be doing one shortly for my turbo Suzuki Hayabusa. I would probably go for 1/16" wall stainless u-bends. If welding you will have to use a Tig welder and be sure to fill the inside of the tubes with argon as well. This is to prevent the metal when heated on the inside from chrystalizing. This isn't necessary if you use mild steel tubing.

Good luck with your project.

Eric Marsh

reguardless of what anyone says you can use mig, tig or god forbid even a stick welder on material as thin as 16 guage. 16 guage stainless steel {321} would be the propper material to make a header from, but you cant hang the weight of the turbo from it. for a weight bearing manifold schedule 40 pipe is often used and seems to work fine. if you built something to turn your work for you {slowly} you can easily weld it mig. but with all fabrication work tig seems to be the way to go. the foot pedal controls amperage, as where in mig the wire speed handles that, so if things start to get too hot theres nothing u can do without stopping, or having a friend man the wire speed knob. if i were you id buy a tig, spend a couple hundred bucks and take a tig class at lincoln or hobart brothers. the knowledge is priceless. then u can charge all ur friends to weld up there projects. just so no one gets the wrong idea starting and stopping with mig sucks, and is cake with a tig. since filler metal only gets put down when you want it too. so yeah, get a tig. actually get a lincoln 185 and tell me how u like it... lol