I was wondering if anyone has tried to make a homemade exhaust header for 40 to 90 size glow engines. I can make the flange and probably bend the pipe but how are the commercial ones welded up. I have used alumiweld which is like aluminum solder but harder than the parent aluminum material when done. Melts at 700+ degrees so I don't think the exhaust gasses would melt it.

Macs Products TIG welds theirs I'm sure. Much cleaner and a far better bond (depth of bond is much better and stronger). If I had the tools to do the work myself, I'd do it so I could say I did... But since I don't, I'll pay the $30 or so for a header. .

I tried the alumiweld on a muffler once, and it melted the thinner part, maybe I need more practise. I will stay tuned so I am subscribed.

Well, I just went through my box of engine parts and found the mufflers I need for my application so I won't pursue this idea at this time. I have been wanting to make a mousse can muffler for a .36 with one of those tin bottle looking coke cans but haven't gotten around to figuring out how I was going to do the header without having to buy it. (I'll end up spending more money making it myself)


Flying season is almost here and I am only 1/4 of the way done with the plane I was supposed to have done this spring. No need to start another project until that is done I guess.


Thanks for information.

http://www.spadtothebone.net/SPAD/Mufflers/ I have this site on favourites. Cheaper-sorry, less expensive than a Jett muffler. I have been thinking of making some headers though, mostly for some old Supertigers that have the old heavy muffler with the straight out header that is always broken when i get a used one. I think the mufflers stick forward too far , and they break when crashed, normally taking the back lug off at the same time.

That is a very nice tutorial. I think I came across that a while back when I was dabbled in combat a little. I might just do that for the 36. I do have a tig welder available from a friend. He said I could use it if I stored it for him. He could teach me how to weld with it in about 10 minutes. I do currently weld but only stick, mig, and oxy/acet. I would really like to learn to tig. It can't be too hard, clean metal, melt metal, add metal, simple as that, right?

can you send pics when you are done? some people have tried this and other parts and some look really, really good.

Mac's mufflers uses an aluminum brazing rod and flux (I watched Wally make a custom header for a racing engine for my team). The closest thing I have seen on the net is the muggyweld aluminum brazing alloy. I haven't tried it but their videos show a process that was exactly what I observed at Mac's.

I tried TIG welding at work. Spent maybe a half hour at it, and they looked pretty good. If you can do nice caulking, then the welds may be OK too. The welder there said they were good too. I dipped the filler rod a bit on the tungsten, and the one welder guy grumbled, but the girl welder was more tolerant. I think the gas motors put out more heat than glow, so maybe brazing is good-if MACs is using it!. We had some furnace brazing at work too. We just TIGed it together for position, and I think there were strips of solder in between where it was needed for the fins and such. It was sent out for that. We pretty much only worked on aluminum. I have been collecting stuff to do some brazing again. I think I just need flux. The guy at work later was a teacher at a nearby college, and he gave me the test to fill out, and I passed the course. Not perfect score, but good enough. I could have just paid the fee, and not even gone to a class?

Well I just found some aluminum tubing in the scrap pile. Don't know if it's the right size or what grade it is but it looks close and I need to try to bend it now. My friend has a tubing bender so maybe get that done this next week. It will be nice if I can just alumiweld it. If this works out, I want to try to make a mousse can pipe for one of these asp 46 to see what it will do.