Project 1 From TT WS6 - Twin Turbo Trans Am

First and foremost, I have never TIG welded, or actually welded anything in my life. I know my welds don't look great, I'm still practicing.

This is an intercooler I'm making for my twin turbo build. It's a Treadstone 25x9x3.5" core.

Cutting off the ends of the tanks and smoothed them.

http://www.turbofbody.com/images/int...endtanks-1.jpg

http://www.turbofbody.com/images/int...endtanks-2.jpg

Welded the endtanks.

http://www.turbofbody.com/images/int...nks-welded.jpg

Welded to the core.

http://www.turbofbody.com/images/int...tanks-core.jpg

Bottom endtank I tacked on just to mock up for now.

http://www.turbofbody.com/images/int...ntercooler.jpg

Mocked up on my car.

http://www.turbofbody.com/images/int...ler-mocked.jpg

Now you are speaking my language (as fara s turbo's anyway).

I remember back abotu 10 years ago when Harlan turbo'd his firehawk.


Found some pictures of it here:
http://hauln.net/LS1Tech/members/Harlan/

I bet that thing is going to be a beast when it is all said and done. Years back I put a turbo on a little 4 banger and it was unreal the difference.

Only thing, is that cooler really going to be that low to the ground? Maybe it's the picture playing tricks but it looks like the clearance is 2 or 3 in?

Please don't take offense to this, but I wanted to suggest this to help you. I do not consider myself to be a good tig welder, but there is a little trick I was taught that helped me very much with aluminum. When I first started learning I had a hard time keeping the puddle going. For me that was the challenge, and I did not care how the weld looked. The good thing about aluminum is after you have your bead welded you can go back over it without filler and make the weld look more uniform.

One thing Jody from WT&T does that helps me is just laying the rod flat then working the torch. When you think about the entire process of tig welding there is a lot going on. Your working the foot pedal, torch, and rod compared to mig and stick welding. Laying the rod flat into the weld takes that part out of the question.

Im actually getting ready to start and redo my turbo car and have been debating on what inter-cooler core to use. I have always used garrett/precision cores but have been continually leaning toward Treadstone for quite some time now. Hopefully you get her up and running before its time for me to by my core. I think I will make your opinion the last one I receive about Treadstone on whether or not to buy it. For the price they cant be beat compared to Garrett/Precision, I just want to ensure I get the same performance out of it or damn close. Other reviews I have seen and opinions have been good so far. I will be starting my manifold here soon and will be posting it as a project as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SeanMurphy265

One thing Jody from WT&T does that helps me is just laying the rod flat then working the torch. When you think about the entire process of tig welding there is a lot going on. Your working the foot pedal, torch, and rod compared to mig and stick welding. Laying the rod flat into the weld takes that part out of the question.

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if what you're looking for is a pretty *looking* weld, and you are practicing your puddle control then it's okay to lay your filler rod into the joint and then weld over the top of it. However, this is not a practice to adopt as an actual welding technique. The idea with TiG welding is that you are trying to get maximum weld penetration, and then fill in the gap left behind by the fused metals. Simply laying your rod in the joint will melt the rod to the seam and leave you unable to judge your weld penetration and leave you with shallow or cold welds that are weak and prone to failure (especially in aluminum).
It takes practice to get your timing and penetration correct to make good welds, and with TiG welding there is no shortcut, it just takes lots and lots of practice. Practice with it and you'll get the hang of it.

The power of Tig indeed! I'm sure those fins are brazed together and conduits are paper thin. Any significant amount of heat will dislodge the assembly or burn holes right through. I've had to do some repair of some intercoolers and radiators and found it hard to pass a leak down pressure test after soldering it back together.

How much boost are you planning on running through there?