Posted By: 70dusterjohn
sheet metal intakes.. - 09/15/09 06:00 PM
How thick of steel do they use for this.. Where can I get some flanges for a big block.. 
sheet metal intakes..
Posted By: B G Racing
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/15/09 06:05 PM
John,most sheet metal intake are of aluminum construction.ie: Hogans,Wilson and others.Sheet metal is just a general refrence term.
Posted By: Jerry
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/15/09 06:30 PM
yes most are aluminum but steel can be used. i've built one with 3/16 steel flanges and 18-20 gauge sheet to make the runners. yes its tedious but if your playing around there is nothing wrong with actually using steel. plus you can mig weld it, although tig works better and if really your in a bind i even saw one person braze it. he then had it powder coated and you couldn't even tell.
Posted By: BobR
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/15/09 07:53 PM
Quote:
yes most are aluminum but steel can be used. i've built one with 3/16 steel flanges and 18-20 gauge sheet to make the runners. yes its tedious but if your playing around there is nothing wrong with actually using steel. plus you can mig weld it, although tig works better and if really your in a bind i even saw one person braze it. he then had it powder coated and you couldn't even tell.
Absolutely no good reason that I can think of to use steel.
Posted By: B G Racing
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/15/09 09:48 PM
Why would anyone want to use steel?Aluminum is so easy to form,weights less.and dissipates heat better as well as being easier to machine.Can it be done? Sure,so can a radiater.Is it practial? No,you never see and aftermarket manifold either cast or fabricated from steel 
Posted By: Jerry
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 02:04 AM
for us that may build one or two manifolds in our lifetime to have something different and dont weld aluminum, its much cheaper to use steel, plus it lets me play at home with different ideas and fitments etc. sure if i was to go into manufacturing professional intake i would also make them aluminum, but they are not easier to make than an actual steel intake. lighter is also debatable because you have to use thicker aluminum. sure can they be lighter, of course, will they always be? no. again, can you make them out of steel yes. why would you? because you can and can't afford $4000 for a custom hogan or wilson intake.
Posted By: Stanton
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 03:21 AM
Steel ... why waste the time and effort on something that weighs a ton and likely won't work. Better to buy a used aluminum intake that'll be lighter and work better. Put your steel fabricating skills to use somewhere better suited to them ... suspension, frame, etc.. Ya wanna play with steel ... build your kid a gokart or a lawn ornament for the wife!
Posted By: mr_340
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 03:34 AM
I seem to remember the High & Mighty intake made of steel tubing and rubber hoses. Here is a picture of it at the Hemi Reunion last year.
Posted By: mr_340
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 03:40 AM
I think the guy on the right built that intake. Somewhere I have a picture of a crazy intake he built for his street car (had a 392 in it).
Posted By: B G Racing
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 03:52 AM
Quote:Jerry,I checked out your site,very impressive.With all that capability and access to the state of the art tooling,Cnc and etc. I can only question why you would even consider something as unconventional and outmolded as a steel manifold.We have built our own inhouse manifolds as well as supplied custom made ones from Tim Hogan for way far less than the dollars you have mentioned.The finish work to radius and blend a steel manifold would in it's self negate any cost savings.As advanced as your company is I would still question your logic and thought process for entertaining such a project"steel intake manifolds" weather it be one or 1000.To anyone that wants to try good luck.
for us that may build one or two manifolds in our lifetime to have something different and dont weld aluminum, its much cheaper to use steel, plus it lets me play at home with different ideas and fitments etc. sure if i was to go into manufacturing professional intake i would also make them aluminum, but they are not easier to make than an actual steel intake. lighter is also debatable because you have to use thicker aluminum. sure can they be lighter, of course, will they always be? no. again, can you make them out of steel yes. why would you? because you can and can't afford $4000 for a custom hogan or wilson intake.
Posted By: sixpackgut
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 09:57 AM
for sale
Posted By: Jerry
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 11:49 AM
THe reason i did it was for prototyping. i didn't want to spend money on something that wasn't going to work and had to be modded lots of times. once the design is finalized i would definitely make them out of aluminum. right now i'm currently working on a manifold to mount an eaton m90 or m112 with intercooler to a small block mopar. will it work? i don't know. is it worth doing all the cad work? nope. this is something i can mock up in my garage late at night and make changes as i go. not to mention steel is cheaper than aluminum. the flanges i machined on my cnc. i made a fixture plate to make big block and small block flanges and can do one set at a time. i figure i can make them out of steel or aluminum or titanium if i chose later. right now the runners are made out of exhaust tubing so the interface to the manifold is plenum is round and then it goes rectangular at the flange end. the plenum is made from 18 gauge steel that i can cut with my harbor freight plasma torch and i can tig it together with my harbor freight tig welder. its more of a testiment to show what can be done in a garage on a budget. and yes even though i have cncs at my disposal my primary business is not automotive parts otherwise i'd be broke and out of business.
so for the little guy working out of his garage without the formula one budget i say use steel. for anyone else with the skills to work in aluminum good for you. i hope to acquire these skills when i get some time.
so for the little guy working out of his garage without the formula one budget i say use steel. for anyone else with the skills to work in aluminum good for you. i hope to acquire these skills when i get some time.
Posted By: B G Racing
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 12:59 PM
Jerry,I see your point and respect your methodology.We have in the past made proto type mock-up with cardboard and duct tape and after much observation and changes we constructed a actual proto type from aluminum.Flowed and tested and made changes.After all that we found it better cost and time wise to consult with a manifold builer like Tim Hogen and others and let them build the manifold to our requirements.Now we only built a one of one specific manifold for a special application and the rest we just buy a Hogen,Wilson or others and modify it.
Posted By: Jerry
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 02:36 PM
i agree that for an all out points car or someone that is racing every weekend i would pony up the cash for a hogan. but when your at that point you've exhausted all cast manifolds and need something different.
for a guy asking if he can use steel i would assume that its a garage build just because he can. i agree that professional shop should use aluminum, there are alot of advantages.
for a guy asking if he can use steel i would assume that its a garage build just because he can. i agree that professional shop should use aluminum, there are alot of advantages.
Posted By: B G Racing
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 03:12 PM
Quote:
i agree that for an all out points car or someone that is racing every weekend i would pony up the cash for a hogan. but when your at that point you've exhausted all cast manifolds and need something different.
for a guy asking if he can use steel i would assume that its a garage build just because he can. i agree that professional shop should use aluminum, there are alot of advantages.
Jerry,I know John and just wanted to clarify for him that fabricated aluminum manifolds are commonally referred to as "sheet metal manifolds" and I don't think John had that consecpt in his mind so that he didn't get in over his head in a project with out all the information. 
Posted By: Anonymous
Post deleted by Defbob - 09/16/09 03:17 PM
Posted By: B G Racing
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 03:32 PM
Quote:
Quote:
There are many different metals that can be made into sheet metal, such as aluminum, brass, copper, steel, tin, nickel and titanium. For decorative uses, important sheet metals include silver, gold, and platinum.
Your correct Fred,sheet metal is just a sheet of some sort of metal.John was applying the terminology to an intake manifold,thus we can all "assume" that he needed to be guided to correct material and application.What would a 4X8 sheet of platinum be worth? 
Posted By: Hurst390
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 10:51 PM
AMC intake prototype by herman lewis for his new heads..
Posted By: instigator
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 11:12 PM
Invisible Intake!!!!
And Aluminum can be mig welded....got a guy at work that can make Mig look like it was tigged.....didn't know alum could be migged with ordinary wire feed welder with just a couple simple accesories different rollers...straight argon...teflon liner.
And Aluminum can be mig welded....got a guy at work that can make Mig look like it was tigged.....didn't know alum could be migged with ordinary wire feed welder with just a couple simple accesories different rollers...straight argon...teflon liner.
Posted By: B G Racing
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 11:25 PM
Quote:
Invisible Intake!!!!
And Aluminum can be mig welded....got a guy at work that can make Mig look like it was tigged.....didn't know alum could be migged with ordinary wire feed welder with just a couple simple accesories different rollers...straight argon...teflon liner.
Absolutely,at the construction company we mig weld all our aluminum structures,brackets and even truck bodys and accessories.For our race car shop we still like to tig weld.
Posted By: Jerry
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 11:35 PM
again yes thats true that you can mig weld aluminum, but making it pretty is really tough and takes alot of practice, i spent a bunch of money on my spool gun and argon tank and teflon liner only to make a birdsnest everytime. again not that its not doable, but the home guy probably won't. not to mention you cant do aluminum with a 110V mig. you need at least a 220 v mig so you can get enough heat into the aluminum being welded.
Posted By: maximum entropy
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/16/09 11:36 PM
Quote:you just gave me a reason. thanks.
Absolutely no good reason that I can think of to use steel.
Posted By: mr_340
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/17/09 01:23 AM
Quote:
AMC intake prototype by herman lewis for his new heads..
That looks just the thing for flowing an intake using water instead of air. I suppose you could use a smoke generator to visualize the air flow. It would be interesting to see the flow in the plenum area.
Hemi Fred needs to make a cast gold intake for his Duster. Or just plate it and tell everyone it's solid.
Posted By: Anonymous
Post deleted by Defbob - 09/17/09 03:33 AM
Posted By: mr_340
Re: sheet metal intakes.. - 09/17/09 05:38 PM
I found that picture of Hoover's intake on his Plymouth. This was his street car but still set a record on the strip.
