[John Tice]

Tac,Tac,Tac; What kind of welding are using, Tig, torch, torch brazing, silver solder? If you’re painting or plating the finished product, brass or silver solder will work just fine. Going to a local community college & taking a welding course should be done FIRST. With a good course the student should be able to TIG together a beer can. My dad started me brass brazing in grade school. Brass you say? Brass brazing needs to be learned first before steel welding. Another tip, Tig welders should weld with stainless alloy 308 filler rod, no more bubbles or boiling. You’d be better off with a used Miller than a new HF woop-ti-do. Practice on scrap metal is the only way to gain proficiency.
:Cheers:
:thumbsup:

 

[HondaATC]

John, Tig welding. Machine is old and well seasoned, no new gee whiz stuff here

Its going together okay, I just wish I had a better fitment on everything. I probably have a bit too high of expectations on this first one though.

 

[John Tice]

Maybe a 6” wide HF belt sander to sand the joints flat before putting them together??

 

[seattle smitty]

I used a 9" or 12'' bench disc-sander/grinder with medium-to-fine grit paper. But you need to hold the piece as steady as you can, and feed it in real slow, or the sander will grab the edge of the sheetmetal and bend it in an eye-blink as it yanks it out of your hand. Nothing you can't fix, but it startles the hell out of you and makes you cuss most emphatically. Expect this to happen a few times. Wear welders gloves, and make sure the grinder table is set with minimum gap to the disc; if you allow your glove to get caught and pulled into that gap, I don't want to hear about it.

If the fit is bad enough, i.e., not very flat, you can just lightly touch the cone to the disc sander, just enough to mark the high spots, and then take them down with a fine grit flap wheel in a small sidegrinder, holding the cone in one gloved hand and the side-grinder in the other. You could then do any final flattening with the bench sander. And console yourself with the truism that the mark of an experienced welder is his ability to fill gaps and holes, including the holes he blows (I gas-welded all the pipes I made, long ago).

 

[mgty3whlr]

The pipe looks great so far, obviously progress and perfection takes time.

I did have a chance to mess around with a "cheaper version" Tig welder that didn't have the pedal but I didn't have much success.
I did get a couple of fair to ok weld lines but inconsistent.
I would like to try a nicer high end type of Tig welder with a pedal so I can be able to weld 2 beer cans together "as per John Tice" lol.

I've seen some pristine Tig welding and would love to master that style of welding as I am pretty good at Mig.

Joe

 

[John Tice]

Yes sir; back in the old days when I did that, bear cans were made or steel instead of aluminum. A good TIG welder needs to be water cooled with a foot throttle.

 

[seattle smitty]

This man's work will blow you away; the master of TIG, John Marcella of Marcella Manifolds (google it, go to his site, to Intake Manifolds, and then look at them close up).

 

[HondaATC]

Its getting there guys, a couple more hours this evening spent on it. Ihave about 18 pieces (including silencer and stinger tubing) left on this thing. I am going to have to clearance my kick starter a bit and rethink my one coolant line since its so fricken big (its hard to tell how massive this thing is even with the pictures). Also learning a bit more here and there as far as tricks making it easier. Belt sander definitely helps, as do a pair of channel locks to help twist and fold edges sometimes. I've also been trying to make good use of my rocket cone and 2x2 piece of pine as a soft hammer to do some more massaging of pieces into place. Definitely feel like I needed a 3rd hand a few times, but its getting there. Has a few places and things I don't really like, but for the first one I've ever built, not going to complain too much yet.

 

[John Tice]

I hope you’re going to run a before & after DYNO test on this beautiful project.

 

[seattle smitty]

I'd be real proud of that pipe! Meanwhile, you should consider getting into alky outboard racing; almost all of our pipes are straight, and infinitely easier to fabricate than pipes for any bike, and especially one like yours!

 

[HondaATC]

Thanks guys! The sleds make about 130-140hp on gas (the twin cylinder ones) with stock pipes, so I'm figuring I should be able to make about 60-65 out of this thing without too much issue. As long as it runs atleast as good as a stock motor with room to tweak - I'll consider it a success considering how it was built basically entirely out of scrap metal and shit laying around in my barn. The center cases were total throwaway when I started with them.

After the pipe is built and mounted I need to figure out how to re-arrange the one water spigot mount I basically covered up with the pipe. Other than that, it'll be time to just start buying parts (crank, case and trans bearings, gaskets, etc.) and start on assembly. Finally...

 

[John Tice]

Your project is Exciting, keep up the good work.

 

[Iceracer]

What brand and kind of slip roll are you using? And what is that massive bullet for, unrelated to building pipes of course.

 

[HondaATC]

I bought a cheap chi-com unit from harbor freight for about $150 from what I recall with one of their discount codes. It is the smallest one they make and I had a hard time finding to roll a tight enough radius for the smaller sections, this one and one offered by woodward fab on ebay were the only ones I could find that did small diameters.


I have no idea where that rocket cone actually originated from. I was driving some dirt roads about 15 miles from my house 10 years ago and seen it laying in a drainage ditch, so I stopped and threw it in the truck. Its been great for forming stuff around ever since

 

[Iceracer]

I've been eyeballing that Woodward fab unit with the 1" rolls. About time to pull the trigger on one. Have a couple pipes I want to try some different stuff with, once I get the Dyno here it will be go time.

 

[HondaATC]

Its a squeeze. I don't want to build another one of these, its ridiculous how much of a squeeze everything is getting to be. I'm in the worst area right now, basically.

 

[HondaATC]

Got my very last section tacked on finally.


I get to do the stinger tubing and the silencer now - and then I can begin finally welding this thing up completely, and putting mounts on it...

 

[John Tice]

When I grow up I wana be just like you.
It sure would have been nice to have a before & after dyno run. It would be nice if all of your efforts are worth your time.
Hat’s off to Billy
:Cheers:

 

[HondaATC]

(Almost!) Finished product on the bike - I have to do some stuff to connect the silencer, slip joint, weld it up, and then make mounts, so not exactly a completely finished product, but hardest part done atleast!




And John, I got a stock bike that'll be perfect to dyno side-by-side with this one when its finally finished!

 

[John Tice]

Maybe your dyno man who ever he is will run your rig for no charge. The write up that you’re going to do about him in E2S would more than likely give the dyno man many more returns than he can imagine. How about a picture of you next to pappy?
I can imagine watching your father stalking around the garage wondering “What in the Hell are You Doing”
:Thumbsup2: