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turbo welding trick

curtis

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May 4, 2003
Messages
11,892
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Clarksville TN
Ok many of you have done it. Taken the wastegate flapper pull it shut and weld the flapper to the housing, Others remove the flapper and place the gate out the side by the o2 housing. So today I was fabing up my turbo and getting it ready to sell a local guy, he's buying it for his 1st gen and bought a bep dsm manifold which has the wastegate flange cast to the number one runner. I was planing on just welding up the flapper but the bullseye housings have a large hole and leaves the inlet of the turbine with a large area for turbulence etc.

So I took a piece of copper sheet and cut a 2 x 3 square out and radiused it and formed it to fit down in the scroll and block the hole then I went to the side and started filling it in with the mig welder. I skipped back and forth and it was finally filled then I removed the copper it was stuck in a few places and had to rip it out with a pair of vice grips then I took a carbide burr and cleaned it up then a cartridge roll, I had a few spots that I missed so I welded it from the turbine side and then went back over it with a burr and then the rolls again. Turned out perfect. I had heard about backing stuff with copper but never tried it till today.

Here's a picture

 

381gvr4

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Nov 5, 2007
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Wakefield, RI/Meriden, CT
Nice work Curtis!! Thats thinking with your melon!
 
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CP

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West Simsbury, CT
Are you planning to tell the guy what you did, in case it separates for some odd reason?
 

grocery_getter

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Jun 20, 2004
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Kent - industrial suburbs of Seattle, WA
I think it will separate curt. Cast iron and er70s6 (if that's what you used) have different properties.
 
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jepherz

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Aug 8, 2004
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KC, Missouri
Wow, I wouldn't have even thought you could weld to that with a MIG. I'm along with the others about it separating though. Looks awesome though!
 

89coltgt

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Mar 14, 2006
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Ste Genevieve, MO
I think as long as you welded the hell out of it, it will probably hold up, especially if you got it to penetrate at all and filled in the entire hole.
 

curtis

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May 4, 2003
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Clarksville TN
It want separate, its a bullseye stainless steel housing not cast, plus it penetrated hella deep and I took my time letting it cool between welding sessions. If it was cast I would have just machined a plug and pressed it in.
 

jepherz

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KC, Missouri
What mig welder did you use? I've only used 110 volt migs but can't even get them to weld decently to stainless flanges. That's nuts!
 

curtis

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May 4, 2003
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Clarksville TN
^ first thing you need to do is go play on someones 220 welder and learn to use it then a 110 is useful. I learned on a 110 and couldn't weld for crap then by buddy bought a big 220 unit and I learned quick but its mainly practice and cleanliness. Mr Boostin Hard educated me on this.

What I used for this is just a 110 100 amp lincoln just like they sell at lowes or home depot racing, I used .030 wire and turned the amps up and wire speed about 5.5 out of 10. I played with it till the wire was just fast enough not to melt to the tip. So rather slow for it to be cranked up on high. I think what helps is turning the gas up and having the copper perfectly formed keeps the gas totally sheilding the weld while I did this.

Now what I've learned using this gay little welder is amps of the circuit needs to be there. I live in an older neighborhood and you can look at the wiring for the neighbor hood and tell its old, you can see green wires instead of black insulated stuff all over. If I weld during the morning from 8am to 1pm stuff turns out fine but at night after everyone is home and ovens are running etc welders spit and sputter and want burn in and ticks me off. I like the noise its suppose to make that nice little sizzle hum. But this doesn't matter with this little welder or my tig. One of these decades I'm going to replace the box and run in a 200 amp just to the shop and 200 to the house but just never found the time. I also try to plug in the mig as close to the box as possible, my dirty work bench has a dedicated circuit straight from the box but if I need to weld outside I have a 25 ft piece of romex with a plug on one end and just a normal plug in a plastic box on the other its definitely a rigged up drop cord but doesn't drop the amps like a normal cheap orange cord does.

You may want to just install a plug in right at your breaker box using some large gauge wire and then make up a cord using some large wire and run into a plug so you have a direct feed, I've done this before and will set you back about 60 to 100 bucks but well worth it. wire size is all dependent on the amp draw of the welder and the length of run. My tig has a 50 ft 6/3 SO cord ran for it about 25 ft of it is routed up and around on the ceiling and then the rest is rolled up beside the welder so if i need to move it over toward the garage end. Can't weld outside with it yet, but plan on running a dedicated cable to the garage door when I do the new panel.
 
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Barnes

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Feb 9, 2003
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Richland, WA
Quoting curtis:
... stainless steel housing not cast..



You mean it's cast stainless right?
 

@ my body shop, we use copper padded visegrips for spot/plug welding bodypannels and they are amazing. best $40 i've spent in a long time, this way, you cant burn through and i don't need to break out the spot welding machine.
spot weld tool
copper characteristics are amazing, for welding purposes
+1 for thinking of using copper sheet
 
Last edited by a moderator:

GVR4_1057

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Sep 3, 2008
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676
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Brucetown VA
+1 on not using extension cords on a welder. Unless they look like garden hose they will render your 110V welder a piece of dookie.
 

curtis

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May 4, 2003
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Clarksville TN
Quoting BarnesMobile:
Quoting curtis:
... stainless steel housing not cast..



You mean it's cast stainless right?



Yea cast stainless, not sure of the mix but I'm sure its a high nickel content they use.
 

JNR

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Apr 23, 2004
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ca
Quoting GVR4_1057:
+1 on not using extension cords on a welder. Unless they look like garden hose they will render your 110V welder a piece of dookie.



Good advice and this is a good rule to remember on any large capacity electric motor (i.e. air compressors, refrigerator, etc.)...

Curious how come you didn't use a piece of stainless sheet, c'bore the hole, lay it in, weld and grind?
 

beaner

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Jun 22, 2005
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b'ham, mi
Quoting GVR4_1057:
+1 on not using extension cords on a welder. Unless they look like garden hose they will render your 110V welder a piece of dookie.


I've had opposite. If I use the heavy duty orange extension chord, the welds suck and won't penetrate like they should. If I use an awful 1 dollar extension chord instead, the welds are fantastic in comparison.

Just my personal experience.
 
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