This is a tricky one any ideas.

What material is available to me to make a patern for an air pipe from my turbo to intercooler?

It is about two feet long with 2 complex bends in (bends in more than one plane), one less than 90deg, which is tight. It will need to be 48 to 50mm OD and would have to be easy to bend by hand as it will be made by trial and error, you know bend a bit try it bend some more etc.

I have thought of plastic pipe which bends when heated and also copper plumbing pipe with insullation foam on the outside to give the added radius.

Any other ideas?

Nick

exhaust flexi pipe ?

Do you mean the stainless braided type?

the convoluted type

The same as from top of exhaust manifold to air inlet filter for cold starting and running.

quote:

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Originally posted by Nick Davison
The same as from top of exhaust manifold to air inlet filter for cold starting and running.

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I don't know that type, tell me more.

available from jetex comes in 2" 2.5" and 3" dia

looks like this
Rescued attachment Image2.jpg

A much more professional material is High Temp Silicon hose (230C max) - but it's about £50 for a metre from Rally Design

PS: for tight bends you will need the wire reinforced type

hi terrapin

in original question

What material is available to me to make a patern

hence the sugestion of flexi pipe

That is getting there, I spoke to the company and the flex pipe will not bend enough to form the radius I need. It may be possible to buy the two bends and fit a flexy bit in the middle as the bends are at either end, it will just be a matter of getting the right bend.

Good site though and it will be usefull for when I get round to doing the exhaust.

Nick

Have you considered abs or pvc sewer or hi- efficientcy furnace chimny pipe- or large diameter copper.
I will probably going with copper or pvc for mine- should easily hold up to the temp and 20psi.
Dale

If you can get copper at 48mm ID then that could be a possibility. It would be had to bend to the desired radius though.

I will be able to make a patern from the flexi manifold to air filter pipe and then see about getting one made to the patern. I had my roll bar bent by a chap near Lincoln who can do all diameters of stainless, if that has a thin enough wall and is light enough then it may work.

I have also considered taking a mold from it in glass fibre and then casting a carbon one, it may be worth a try provided I can get a good finish on the exterior and sufficient strength in the wall to hold the clips.

I would probably find that I will have to resort to a metal one in the end though.

Nick

as its under pressure from the turbo, does it need to be really smooth inside?

if not, why not use steel tube, and cut 'segments' in it to form stepped bends, welding the segments together afterwards.

atb

steve

That is a possibility and has been done to good effect before for turbo installations.

One drawback, not withstanding the fact that the intercooler will slow the air down, any sharp bends or angles in the transfer pipe will induce turbulance and drag in the airflow to some extent which will ultimately slow the flow of air to the inlet manifold and induce more turbo lag.

Having said that if I started out with some preformed bends, as can be bought from places like Jetex, the sharp angles will be kept to a minimum and it could look good if polished or painted well.

I do like the Idea of having a pair of nice looking carbon pipes under the bonnet though. I have reservations whether I can manufacture them to a good enough standard.