What material should I use for my turbo down pipe?
Mild steel?
Stainless steel?
What thickness?
Good prices here for stainless 316
http://www.nero.co.uk/index.php/tube-pipe/nominal-bore-schedule-10s.html
What about 304 SS?
Mild steel stainless has a habit of cracking!
Quote from: boosted;870047Mild steel stainless has a habit of cracking!
Cracking where? At the welds?
Stainless a lot more brittle than middle steel....i work in a factory (diary) full of 316L. the heat cycling on a down pipe will make it brittle and crack along welds unless quality triple pass welding by coded welder and decent thickness! Mild allot more maleable wrap it and nobody will know. Or Titanium! £££££
If I go with mild steel it will have to be thicker so it doesn\'t warp. I think 304L 1.6mm will do and I\'m probably going to get it ceramic coated if I can afford it. It will be supported too so there\'s no weight on it.
Definately getting the manifold coated inside and out to keep the heat I. The pipes and spool up the turbo
Can you get hold of st/st 321 ? this does not suffer from chromium percipitation like 304.:Hammer
.....Thats what my mate just told me.... he\'s a coded welder! And thats what they use on heat exchanger flanges !:D
321SS is expensive. It has titanium in it etc which makes it better in high temp applications.
I haven\'t seen anywhere that sells it though. Best have a check
Its as much to prevent corrosion too, the chrome migrates in the stainless away from heat effected areas (when welding) and can corrode at the welds. The titanium doesn\'t migrate and still offers the corrosion resistance.
I\'d got for 304 or mild-steel, both are easily obtainable at reasonable prices.
Plus the proper ceramic coating is only done on the outside, and is not cheap but can help hugely with engine bay temps without the need of wrapping the pipes.
Shaun