Here's one about the final steps to getting that first side header completed.
Now Subscribe, you cheap bastards!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhuF25IIWxw

Chris, for the Enzo crowd at the Cars + Caffeine
'Reveal'...display a box of Velveeta + bottle of Night Train; you know for the hard core Wine & Cheese crowd

This is just amazing work. For those who have not met Chris, he is one of the most humble, considerate guys you will ever meet. He would literally give you the shirt off his back, I believe. I am always in awe when I stop in at the Red Barn.

Chris those are f1 style merges and the term is the reverse cone as to what you referred to as the pickle if I heard that correctly.

Looking great

Or Cheeze-Whiz and a bottle of Thunderbird, just so they know that we're flexible like that!

On to the other side. With it modeled, I got the the first tube fit and tacked. The overall model is slightly different, due to the cylinder bank offsets.

More progress. Just a few tubes left and this side will be set to final weld. Note that the tubes are all cut long at the collector so pay no attention to its fore/aft location. It's positioned to help ensure the tubes stay where I want them. It'll be slid forward to ~1" behind where the collector dummy sits now.

Just a fun pic that makes the point of just how long the "air goes in here, through there and out that" path is on this thing.

Recommended reading for all 914 owners who work on their own cars...

I’ve mastered the book, now I need to start on the car

Let me check the "How to put a Ferrari 360 Drive Train in Your 914" instruction manual.

"Next, just replace the plastic pieces with stainless." Right-O!


I ran out of 3" radius bends so it'll be a day or so before I can continue. I'm happy with how it's coming along.

That's the MONEY shot right there.
Fantastic work Chris

One more bend to trim and fit. Yes, I saved the tricky one for last. More practice ahead of tackling it? Sure, let's go with that!

One for the fabrication folks.

This is my first go at headers. I've really been working on a "slow down, be planful, think 2-3 moves ahead" mental state when I'm out in the Red Barn. But I was still pretty nervous about getting the cuts and angles to work out without being all gappy. It looks like a lot of the other metal fab I've been doing ends up translating over to this sort of work - I took my time: test fit, tune the piece A LITTLE, test again, repeat. Focus on sneaking up on the desired fit.

This pic highlights the "tricky" tube, mentioned above. It's the one in the middle. It worked out that it wasn't able to be modeled in plastic so it was all eye-balled and hand trimmed.

I have to say, I impressed myself on this project. No, not perfect. I learned a TON and could immediately do a better job were I to redo things but the errors are likely never going to be noticed without me pointing them out. I'm calling this a success.

All fit and tacked. Now it's pull things apart and final welding each primary on the bench.
As you saw in the last video, everything is being back-purged when welded.

Get that furick cup! You’ll love it! Weldmonger.com is run by Jody of welding tips and tricks on youtube. (I love his videos)

You'll use a bit more gas but so much better and versatile. Well worth it.

@van B @altitude411 - I have a gas lens set up. I went back to the regular set up to force me to improve my skills and be sure I wasn't just masking bad habits with the fancy stuff.
Yes, I watch Jody's stuff. And The Fabrication Series and Pacific Arc Tig Welding. Super helpful and between the three of them, and practice, I'm getting there...

I should've guessed you were a masochist based on your project choices. But, I'd offer that while I agree skills are important, the quality of the product is still the end goal. And if a better tool helps me achieve that end, I'm going with the good stuff. I welded with the old pinkies of every shape and variety the whole time I worked as a welder through my pre-USAF life. But if these furicks had existed then, I would've had one in a heart beat.

Frankly, for being such a tool hound, I'm surprised at your resistance to the suggestion!

Another vote for Furik cup- pricy as can be but they have their place when you need big shielded area and lots of electrode protrusion.
I love my BBW.

Having said that - your progress has been amazing on a very difficult part.

@Van B - Let me clarify. I'm not resistant. I will be using the gas lens when I final weld the header. Maybe better stated is: First I need to know that I have the correct settings, am correctly managing heat and penetration to ensure I get the quality you mention. THEN I can move forward with confidence. Clearly, you have a ton more welding experience than I do. I want to be sure I develop the proper base and build on solid skills. And I do appreciate your input.

For those who may care to understand why I'm approaching the welding the way I am, start at 10:35 and watch for about 8 mins. This is what motivated me to focus on basic skills ahead of upgrading the consumables.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfJG4cMhIOc

Here's the set up I'm using: air cooled #17 torch, gas lens with a #8 cup. And there's the first tube done - the upper weld filed and sanded, the lower weld wire brushed.

2nd tube fully welded, "main" weld still yet to be dressed. I'm happy with how all this is going.

So, first off, I’ve gathered from your videos that you’re excessively self critical… unfounded if you ask me.

Second, your welds are quality.

Third, that setup is not “basic”. That’s what I would use if I was cup walking an in-position large diameter stainless or inconel flange back in the day.

Fourth, either you buy the cup or I’m mailing you one… someone here will help me make that happen.

That is all.

Why didn't you dress and "disappear" the second weld joint?

@ClayPerrine Clay, I like some welds, just not all welds.
The main welds are all that can be seen when it's in the chassis and once I did the first one, I decided I was OK with the look. Less work, too.

I think it looks great. That tig is cool, my wire feed welds are train wreckish at best most of the time.

Sorry that is incorrect you will not use more gas. Lens allow lower flow rates and better distribution of the gas and that is the point of them.


Chris I use a #gas lens for everything I weld including, aluminum, steel, stainless. It is the most versatile setup you can have.

The best product Furick makes is the angled collet. For you that are welders by trade you will know how much that benefits the tightness of the tungsten in multiple heat cycles.

https://furickcup.com/furickshop/

Disappeared welds to your point Chris is for spots you don’t want to see. I caution people very often about do such a thing as when you are dealing with hi heat applications where there is quick bursts of heat and then cooling (think on throttle off throttle) they are more prone to cracking.

Oh man I love those angled collets! The best ideas are always the ones that as soon as you see it, you immediately wonder why it was ever done another way!

Regarding the gas usage, flow is definitely more correlated to stick out than cup size. But both are still interrelated.

. . . Now he’s going to start all over again.

Exactly

Oh lol not my intention Chris is doing a great job. This was meant as a data point

@mb911 Ben - I'm concerned about the possibility of cracking, too. The plan all along is to do the same thing as I did with my LS car: get it running, get some miles on it, be sure everything works, THEN do the finishes. This included the headers. I figure I'll get a couple thousand miles on them and see how they hold up. If any cracks appear, I'll weld them up and leave the welds.
As I've always said, I'm constantly learning. Let's see what this teaches me!
Thanks for your input, too.

You purged it so odds are with you.

2nd side header gets done! Well, almost. And yes, I'm battling a strong desire to start over, knowing I could do a much better job. But I'm not going to. At least not right now...

If you do nothing else, watch from 13:40 - 13:50.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWm45vB5HqM

(PS- Alien is still a movie that scares the bejesus out of me....)

@Van B @mb911 Your pressure was too much. I caved and ordered a set of Furik stuff. I'm such a conformist...

On another important front, I have appointments this coming week with two different tuners to talk ECU selection.
One that's in contention is the new ECU Master Pro series. The big add is they now support dual drive-by-wire throttle bodies - a requirement for the 360. I've been really happy with their PMU and ECU Master seem to be making inroads with the motorsport crowd as a budget-friendly option to the MoTec and Haltec product lines. We shall see.

Did you happen to see what Furicks main business is? The TIG products are a sideline

Conformist lol… that joke was so dry I need to go get a drink!

You’ll love it, I promise. The #12 has become my go to. I can do 25 cfh on the flow in just about every situation, up to 1.5x cup diameter stick out.

Watched your video before getting back on the sway bar configuration struggle bus this afternoon.

Your headers remind me of an X-29!

2nd side all welded, along with a rear view.
This was quite the learning experience. My TIG skills improved an order of magnitude - maybe more.
Once I get the Furik stuff, I'm sure to be the next Instagram porn welder/influencer, right @Van B ?

Now to get the drive train back in the chassis and work out the rest of the exhaust.

Plans include leveraging the Ferrari muffler by-pass and trigger it via the ECU as well as having a "Sport Mode" button, just for Cars & Coffee!

Haha! No, you have to practice ridiculously close up photos at a 30 degree angle using 1/3 framing and portrait mode. And you can’t take pictures of actual parts with a purpose. Only pointless practice objects with no use in the real world.

So, basically, you can’t work on the Porarri anymore.

Back to the project at hand, you nailed it on the header design. I understand the desire to improve execution, but I don’t think a better lay out is possible.

The symmetry and common design themes will take this to a whole new level!

Watched your latest video, very nice!

Fun!

Not sure who is out there, or the Ferrari presence, but I'd also recommend looking into if anyone locally will tune a Syvecs S8 or LR F88. They used to be slightly more cost effective than the MoTeC options, but I haven't bought one in a few years.

The ECU Master stuff is getting nicer, though it's still a bit out of the capability range of offerings from MoTeC/Syvecs/Haltec (the newer Nexus at least-brainchild of Andy Wyatt who is awesome). Perhaps not a big deal, but the big difference from the others to ECU Master is the lack of FPGA for engine speed tracking. Some people think that is really important for complex DBW, but who knows... I think it's mostly down to the tuner anyways.

Header looks awesome!! Really fantastic work! With the smoothed welds it looks like you had someone custom bend the start of the primaries.

Drive train back in with both headers. They are pretty well hidden so they look better in real life where you can move around to get a look at them. But everything fits. On to working out the rest of the exhaust.

That’s just right

Should have made the headers come up and out like an old drag boat so everyone could see them. haha