The best material to build turbo headers is High Pressure Steam cast fittings and appropriate tubing.
It is thicker than exhaust products and the fittings are tapered at the weld point to ensure a better weld.
If you are trying to save weight, save time, and money, stay home.
It is a little more expensive but what is more expensive than a failure ?
Or the other side of the note is not stay home, work within the means of what you have on hand and use mild steel and go racing.... Sure you may have a failure, but its the racers choice, and if it does fail make it better... My failure with header wasn't due to mild steel or the welds, it was due to improper turbo support.
So are you telling Ack Attack that they should have stayed home because they used mild steel exhaust... Weight, money and time were not a factor, they built what they thought would work...
jon
P.S. Ill be sure to send an email out to all the turbo people, that if you aren't using steam cast fittings, just stay home and not attend speedweek.... That should shorten the lines right... But I want to buy a T-Shirt... A hell ill just go racing anyway..
Jon,
I'm pretty new to LSR,but have raced a Turbo on every vehicle I have ever owned"excepted my Time Trial Road Bikes" so I feel I know a little about the subject.
Every Turbo system I have raced at BONNEVILLE "I'M ON MY 4th different systems" has had a crack of some sort
! They have been made of everything from Mild steal to Unobtainium
!
Really high Heat "super lean'',and stress from Vibration or just lack of enough support has seem to be the main causes.I have now discovered a new parts failure problem just this week
! My Plastic nipples on my fuel tanks have become so brittle that I have broken 2 different V-rod gas tank caps. 1 was the fuel vent nipple the other was the fuel return nipple on 2 separate V-rod fuel tanks
! These were from 2 seperate Race Bikes ,but they were 2002's and I ran Race Fuel in Both. Getting back to the Turbo Header failures. Each one was a little different,but Bracing or Lack of seems to be the common problem with each failure
! I ran without rear suspension till now.So dampening or Lack of,and Vibration + High Heat seem to have caused the major Failures
Now bent wheels are something I have had to deal with during my Road Racing,Drag Racing, and Street riding days on my Ducati's,and V-rods.
I ruined 3 different Marchesini front wheels "1 Forged Aluminium ,1 cast Aluminium and 1 Magnesium'' Never crashing any of them but I did do some Drag racing as well as Road racing with them aswell as street riding. I would Do some Pretty Big Wheelies,and that was the only reason we could come up with other then having the tires Mounted by some not so Good Professionals? I'm not sure if this was the cause of your problems,but I have been through the same strange Phenomenons
!
Hope this can shed a little lite on your Problems,and you get it resolved safely.
Good Luck,
Kaz..........