Need a little help. I have one piece of my 2.5” Stainless exhaust that I’m not sure if it needs to be fabbed or can just easily be mandrel bent by someone that knows what they are doing? I can send an accurate drawing with all dimensions. It may be really easy, I just don’t know what is possible by someone that really knows how to bend exhaust. Please let me know if you think you can help. Thanks.
Why struggle? Mandel bends are available off the shelf, sometimes in other angles than 45/90/180, even bent to order, so it's a simple cut and weld deal. If you cant weld you can take the cut and marked pieces to a welder. Better if tacked first though. But you may well have already thought through that and dismissed it, I dunno! There was a place that made custom exhausts mail order. The pattern was convoluted pipe, bent to suit and filled with expanding foam. Was probably just muffler shop stuff through the mail though. The donuts pictured aren't, I believe, strictly mandrel bends. They're formed from flat sheet and in section are far from round! They're not welded either. But they do have a very tight radius, so have their uses. I'd never use them as my sole source of bends however even though they are way the cheapest was of getting say 4 90 degree bends! Chris
Thanks for the comments. Here is the drawing. I did order some 90* bends to cut and weld, but once I really looked at it I decided to ask if it can just be bent on a mandrel tubing bender. It looks pretty simple to me.
That double bend in that short of distance won't get done in most dies. Then it looks like you will be welding a lip onto at least one end for the V band clamp. I would make that a separate piece and cut down some 45 degree bends and tig it and be done with it.
Happy Daze, that was Ron Fuller at Stainless Works. They did tubing for me for a set of headers and we just used the same idea and had a set of front pipes bent for a mid 60s Dart from a company in Tennesee.. It was a brilliant way to do it.
some one here a while back gave a really slick way to get your cuts right on the money with a home made wooden jig in the band saw. i'll see if i can find it
One for using a band saw and one for using a saws all here: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...g-and-routing-exhaust-mandrel-u-bends.993838/ Ed
ridgerunner got it, thanks. i used this method last time, came out much nicer than guessing with the marker pen like i did all my life!
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