Thread: Everybody that is currently building a car...

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Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Hard to find a mandrel bender that will do the thin exhaust tubing without kinking, most die sets of header tube size will do a minimum of around .080" tube, double the thickness of most headers... They get to be real hi-dollar units to do the thin wall stuff...

That what I was afraid of. So what kind of bender will work for the bare basics without kinks? What do I look for in their spec sheets before actually calling them? Woodward? Or are we talking the huge floor units like a muffler shop uses. Honestly Ive always wanted a nice tune bender and don't mind spending money on one. I've got a ton of project ideas I'd like to tackle. Reverse trike, rock buggy, etc.

David

I go the cheap route & buy prebent mandrel tubing. Then just piece it together like a puzzle.



Before I pick up the scaffold deck with the tall forks 12', I wanted a little assurance it wouldn't tip over, so I'm building outriggers. There's not a lot of room on one of these things to fit out riggers but I found a place where everything clears everything else, just barely.





I still have some gussets to add & a couple other odds & ends.

Then I have a flow restrictor to build to slow the bucket down when the scaffold is attached.

Originally Posted by Stovebolter

That what I was afraid of. So what kind of bender will work for the bare basics without kinks? What do I look for in their spec sheets before actually calling them? Woodward? Or are we talking the huge floor units like a muffler shop uses. Honestly Ive always wanted a nice tune bender and don't mind spending money on one. I've got a ton of project ideas I'd like to tackle. Reverse trike, rock buggy, etc.

David

David,
Most of the stuff I've seen from muffler shops has all kinds of wrinkles & kinks in it. I think you'll be much better off using pre-bent's like Jerry suggested, especially the J bends as they have a short & long end that gives lots of flexibility. Looking at the units from Stainless Headers MFG they're done with pre-bent sections, at least it appears that way to me. You can always grind the welds smooth and polish if you use SS and TIG them.