Ok, i gave up on the SS to mild steal idea and decided to just order new weld ells, and make my own tee's whitch i accomplished today.. I also cut the pipes off of the stock manifold so that i could use the flange on mine.

My question is, i need to grind out the ports in the manifold flange to make them a bit bigger, basically to remove the factory welds, what is the best method to doing this. I am guessing some special bit on my drimmel, but im not sure what bit will give me the best bang for my buck, i know those things are expensive.. any ideas?

 

You are going to want an air powered die grinder and either some grinding stones or a tungsten carbide bit.

 

Welding stainless weld el's to a mild flange is not a problem. In fact many prefer to do it this way. Use a cardide burr or a collection of them on a air gringer to remove the material in the ports.
-Michael-

 

Where do you guys buy your weld-els from? Seems like a mild steel flange would have less problem with warping vs the SS. How do most people keep the flange from warping when welding? Bolt it to a spare head or something similar to keep it flat?

 

There are many schools of thought on this. I have heard bolting the flange to a large piece of aluminum will make it not warp, some say to use mild steel. Some say you must let it cool to room temp before unbolting. Using one or all of these things will probably help.
-Michael-

 

Bolt it to anything to absorb some heat. Resurface to flat when done.

 

yeah, resurfacing is the way to go, and that will ensure that you dont have any leaks.

 

it's going to warp some when welded no matter how you clamp it or cool it. if you find a way to negate thermal expansion I'd love to invest. there are things you can do to minimize the distortion, that's it.