Alright, i can't quite put my finger on it.. but SOMETHING is wrong with this sequence of images.....

 

 

Perhaps it's the flash altering the images? maybe the rusting stainless steel? maybe the overuse of silicon rtv? hmm.... i'm leaning towards the whole pipe not connected to the flange thing... maybe...

 

So. to put this to rest, i give a big ol' and to Borla Industries.

I'm sick of having to send these pipes back every 6 months... so i'm taking it into my own hands this time. I'm going to weld the snot out of these things. Stay tuned for massive amount of electricity and molten metal.... :cool:

Yeah, i hear that, mine split where the two pipes come together.

 

I'd caution welding, its stainless steel, and that seems to be harder to weld, and when you do weld it, its prone to stress fracture, hmm, sounds like its not a good metal to make exhausts out of.

 

If i ever meet a borla employee, i'm gonna sucker punch him.

More pics

 

 

Note: this is the FIFTH time these have broke. the first few times in the same place you spoke of noah.

 

I'm going to tig weld it, fill her the pipes up with argon, use stainless filler rod, you know, do it correctly

 

I spoke at length with an employee at borla, and reamed them out pretty hard, then spoke with one of their manufacturing engineers, and proceeded to tell him exactly what the issue with their process was

 

Man i hate people who suck at their jobs...

Thanks for the heads up on shoddy workmanship.

"Well, I tacked it... what else do you want?"

 

WHAT did they use to cut that flange? A dull rock? I was unimpressed with their header design, now I have even less interest in them.

i'm sure when it was originally cut it was nice... but the welds just sucked hard.... the end of that pipe is still in the flange... welded on.. the material is just gone...

I have a feeling that they squelched the welds once they did it... that'd harden the material somewhat, making it suck. Now, i know you can't 'really' harden stainless.. but you can make it brittle, so i'm guessing that's what happened here. When i re-weld it, i'm going to keep it nice & hot for a while... and quasi-anneal it

 

Oh, and it looks like they used some sort of plasma cutter to cut the flange... although it looks like it was some sort of manual system, not mechanized... eh...you can see the ripples where someone was going along w/ the torch...

Any idea what the annealing temp is for that SS? I've thought of getting a large kiln or electric oven to do such stuff.

 

Might have been just an oxy/acetylene cutter. That was one of my first thoughts. Too hard to either use a circle jig or hole cutter? Or at least clean it up with a grinder?

Whats really funny about all this, is that my materials book, when describing stainless steel, says specifically not to use it in areas where extreme temperature variations are common.

 

Whats really funny about all this, is that my materials book, when describing stainless steel, says specifically not to use it in areas where extreme temperature variations are common.

 

 

which makes perfect sense (same thing mine says). Now... the question is, why do so many people make exhausts out of stainless? and have alot less problems than i'm having

which makes perfect sense (same thing mine says). Now... the question is, why do so many people make exhausts out of stainless?

Maybe because consumers think that SS is the best material, so manufacturers pander to what sells? Sort of like aluminum in cooling products?

... and have alot less problems than i'm having

Maybe you are Special?

Whats really funny about all this, is that my materials book, when describing stainless steel, says specifically not to use it in areas where extreme temperature variations are common.

 

 

There are at least two dozen distinct alloys called "stainless steel". They all have different properites. Some grades of "stainless steel" even rust to a limited extent. The proper grade of s/s is can be a very good choice of material for an automotive exhaust system. Monel would probably be a spectacular alloy for an exhaust system, but you wouldn't want to pay for it.

There are at least two dozen distinct alloys called "stainless steel". They all have different properites. Some grades of "stainless steel" even rust to a limited extent. The proper grade of s/s is can be a very good choice of material for an automotive exhaust system. Monel would probably be a spectacular alloy for an exhaust system, but you wouldn't want to pay for it.

 

It's T-304... which.. is eh... there's better alloys for this application...

One side welded completely... i can get her redlined now and not hear any leaks!

i can feel a leak on the other port... so that's the task for tomorrow.

As a welder by trade ill tell you that you could be the best welder in the world and that will just brake agane , "note that the weld never broke" the pipe broke just after the WELD and just putting more weld wont help for long its the header flexing up and down everytime you hit the gas the only proper way to stop it from ever braking it to put a gusset near the flange and solid mounting brackets all the way down the header bolted to the engine and tranny solidly to stop the pipe from flexing, also do you dont have a proper flex joint at the end of it , not the donut type but the braded flex pipe is a must on a subaru because of the soft tranny mounts .

 

Most aftermarket headers dont have proper mounting points for subarus because they are use to making small Honda headers

Thats a high stress area, i can explain the physics and engineering, but i just woke up. Technically when your welding the pipe on the car, your welding it to the flange, uour not welding it to the broken pipe.Thats problem #1. Problem #2 #3 #4 have already been stated by others (that entire SS thing). Not to mention i dont know if the flange is stainless steel or a cheaper grade of stainless or what.

There is only one solution for this... BTW just what IS with the rtv on an exhaust port?

I found the cheapest pipes vis JC Whitney, and they were walker pipes.

 

nipper

Stainless steel in most forms has aprrox. 18% Chrome and 8 Nickel in the mix with iron and carbon (1-2%).

 

Those same metals that stop the rust also weaken the material. It also makes the pipes "ring" and hence cause more noise.

 

Mild steel is the exhaust material of choice for those who want their systems to last long and refrain from cracking. Nevermind the rust. Paint it, powder coat it, whatever if it must last more than ten years.

 

The point made by rguyver is very important too, if the exhaust is suspended correctly it will crack again.

Be sure and use a respirator while welding stainless.

The welding of stainless releases hexavalent chromium which is quite nasty and of big concern for OSHA these days.

 

swi66

Safety Co-ordinator

alright, no holes now

so, now to support em properly.. and brace the two pipes against eachother...

nipster: Andy was too cheap to buy a new gasket i'm getting the proper materials soon.

 

I'm going to blame the nickle for making this whole thing a pain... screws up everything :-\

As for the flex joint, it's a roo' joint, from an 03' wrx