Re: Real world weight loss program and it` cost..........
[Re: Pale_Roader]
#1353867
04/12/13 09:04 AM
04/12/13 09:04 AM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,849
fullmetaljacket
master
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master
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,849
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Stainless doesn't have to be heavy gauge thus heavy in weight. My recent stainless tubing made out of wafer thin 314 military grade that I acquired from Burns stainless in California only weighed about 7 Lbs or so over my new aluminum pipes. The Mufflers are another story since the heaviest part of the system is usually the Muffs, that is why I went with aluminum. Keep in mind that the gauge thickness also has a play on the sound decibels of a system. Too thin and you might as have open exhaust. I personally would love to be a little more quite anyway with aluminum to hide the intent of the package. My car already sounded kind of F1 with its X-tube, so no classic Mopar notes on the street.
Last edited by fullmetaljacket; 04/12/13 09:47 AM.
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Re: Real world weight loss program and it` cost..........
[Re: fullmetaljacket]
#1353869
04/12/13 09:06 PM
04/12/13 09:06 PM
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862 the frozen wastes...
Pale_Roader
Swears too much
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Swears too much
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
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Quote:
Stainless doesn't have to be heavy gauge thus heavy in weight. My recent stainless tubing made out of wafer thin 314 military grade that I acquired from Burns stainless in California only weighed about 7 Lbs or so over my new aluminum pipes. The Mufflers are another story since the heaviest part of the system is usually the Muffs, that is why I went with aluminum. Keep in mind that the gauge thickness also has a play on the sound decibels of a system. Too thin and you might as have open exhaust. I personally would love to be a little more quite anyway with aluminum to hide the intent of the package. My car already sounded kind of F1 with its X-tube, so no classic Mopar notes on the street.
Yeah, like chromoly you can make stainless a bit thinner, but like you said, then you start hearing more ov the exhaust... and not in a good way. In a thinwall old Hooker headers sort ov way. The systems i've heard that really turn me on are all very stout, and the ONLY place you hear the exhaust is out the tips... so i'll be looking at a penalty for that. Dammit.
If pure speed and stealth were my only criteria, then an aluminum system dumping under the seats or T/A-style would be the ticket. Man you could save a LOT ov weight doing that...
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Re: Real world weight loss program and it` cost..........
[Re: fullmetaljacket]
#1353871
04/13/13 05:19 AM
04/13/13 05:19 AM
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862 the frozen wastes...
Pale_Roader
Swears too much
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Swears too much
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
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Quote:
Sure can. I stand to drop at least 48 Lbs from my original mild steel tube exhaust of years back and about 25 Lbs from my previous stainless lightweight tube exhaust. Lets see if it lives though.
If it does not live, I'll go back to my stainless system while using the new lightweight Mufflers. I'll post some pictures of the system along with the Aluminum muffler hangers before it goes under the belly of the car.
I cant see why it woudn't live... Whats the melting point ov aluminum anyways? If you're starting from headers it'd be even cooler on the pipes. Alum from the manifolds might be pushing it...
You gonna save 25lbs from the stainless to aluminum and still keep the same size/routing? or are you cutting more weight to get that like say, deleting tailpipes/running smaller pipe?
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Re: Real world weight loss program and it` cost..........
[Re: Pale_Roader]
#1353872
04/13/13 08:27 AM
04/13/13 08:27 AM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,849
fullmetaljacket
master
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master
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,849
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Just cautiously kidding. Aluminum starts to soften and melt at around 1250 degrees. The gentleman making the mufflers has already made quite a few aluminum exhaust systems that have lived for years on project cars. It's all in making them start at the collectors and going back from there. The trick is to have them be as large diameter as possible so that the heat expands and actually cools better. They won't survive if they are 2" or 2-1/2" because they will hold more heat. 3" is the starting minimum. My exhaust is 3-1/2 anyway to the X-pipe and then it narrows down to 3" all the way back where it ends and dumps just before the rear end differential. No tail pipes needed. The only reason that manufacturers do not have them be standard equipment is probably the same reason that P-body mentioned. The exhaust gasses being as they are, carry a lot of toxic corrosive properties, so systems may not last as long in theory. My car is a week end thug, so it does not see many miles in a given year anyway. Aluminum does not rust, but it can oxidize and grow spores in a way.
Last edited by fullmetaljacket; 04/13/13 08:39 AM.
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Re: Real world weight loss program and it` cost..........
[Re: fullmetaljacket]
#1353880
05/04/13 02:03 PM
05/04/13 02:03 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,849
fullmetaljacket
master
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master
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,849
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Here's the Aluminum Hub installed with out the castle lock cap on the nut of course. Each side weighs in at 4 Lbs even. This saved 3 Lbs total off the very front end along with a little amount of rotating weight removed because it's such a small moving part.
Last edited by fullmetaljacket; 05/04/13 05:56 PM.
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Re: Real world weight loss program and it` cost..........
[Re: fullmetaljacket]
#1353883
05/04/13 04:19 PM
05/04/13 04:19 PM
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 462 Stockholm, Sweden
fed
mopar
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mopar
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 462
Stockholm, Sweden
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Whats the spring for? Cooling?
Cuda, -70 Valiant-65 AWB, Valiant Signet200 -65 Topchopped dragcar. Topolino Fuel Altered. NostalgiaFED Sold, SuperComp Bantam Altered, Sold Ex Harlan Thompsons Nitro funny car American Graffiti Sold,
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Re: Real world weight loss program and it` cost..........
[Re: fullmetaljacket]
#1353885
05/04/13 07:12 PM
05/04/13 07:12 PM
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,131 Thigh-Gap Junction
@#$%&*!
New user name, Same old jerk!
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New user name, Same old jerk!
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,131
Thigh-Gap Junction
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Quote:
...The only glitch being the only offshore made item in the whole kit, the grease cap. This grease cap was stubborn to find its new home and I didn't want to pound on it even with the soft rubber mallet. I'll figure it out on how to seat it properly on the Hub later...
At one time AndyF had an aluminum grease cap installation tool that could also be used to reshape dented caps. I don't know that it ever received an AR*** part number though. Perhaps you could spin caps out of aluminum? I don't see how a low-buck, malformed import part has any place on a car like yours.
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