V-band clamp is welded on,it only gives alittle more clearence than a standard 3 bolt flange but it also allows you to tuck everything up closer to the floor.
Your almost helping my argument lol.. The mandrel bends are what I cant see happening in a garage without having aquired them somehow. I didn't think about purchasing them cause I wasn't thinking that far into it. Anyway, I agree it can be done but not easily or at least not fast. Alot of the guys here are mechanics not necessarely fabricators. I would like to make some but since I can't even get motivated to get my car done.. I am glad we discussed this cause I see now that IF I ever were to do it there is a way to get those bends that I would never be able to produce myself. I always imagined myself cutting up some boxed ones to modify. Which I feel could save some time. But as you said, I have never done it so I could end up with open headers
I built a lot of stock cars by bending up cages and tacking them in place until I can get a real welder to finish it up for me. I'm a professional tacker LOL! In fact, I'm waiting on a friend of mine, when he gets some spare time, to come up and knit my Maverick cage solid. The only problem that I see, in tacking up a loose header, and then giving it to someone else to weld, is the possibility of it being dimensionally changed as the heat of welding is being applied to it without it being bolted up solid to an engine. I have sent separate parts out to be welded elsewhere before but, what I have done in the past, was to take a couple of pieces of angle iron and make up some sort of frame to tack the entire part to so the point A to point B didn't shrink from the heat
I can see that.. I had gates that ended up with a curve when I first started lol.. I would think a certified welder should know how to handle different objects to be welded. Making a retainer jig to hold a header in place sounds logical..
Usually when I tack, I do it 3 or 4 times around the perimeter of the tube. When I've taken them to Chris his TIG (TIG is a lot cooler than MIG or Stick) guru does and excellent job. The first time I took some headers to him I did weld stringers...........but Chris told me there was no need to do it........................so I don't. On a header you don't have to be perfect with the exception of the flange which seals to the heads...........if that is warped you just need to get a thicker gasket...............IMHO
If you can tack weld, you can weld. All it takes is a little more practice to weld. It's welding, not rocket surgery, anyone can learn to weld. Thousands of women did in WWII.
When I can weld as good as the picture I posted above................I'll consider myself a real welder........................until then I'm just a novice.
Looking at the pictures, I may have to send the shocks back to them. The bottom ends don't appear to be interchangeable. That's a bummer, I'm really not wanting my car to sit around longer.
From the photo of the collector, it looks like the weld was done by some sort of a machine welder - seems way too flawless to have been done by a human hand
I saw like about three different styles. The one with a grease fitting seems like it would be the best choice.
