I seen those X pipes offered in various catalogs; usually north of $90.00. I thought I could make one myself. Thought I'd share a few pics.

It's 2.5 inch stainless steel that was scrap at my factory. Cut the pieces and had my wife the welder stick them together (She works ats the same place I do:D.

8290

8289

Thats purty. A welder wife!? Thats hot, better than Rosie the Riveter.

I think yours look better than this $90 Magnaflow pipe.
http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/600/642/642-10781.jpg
You need to start making them, and sell them here.

Nice! You and the wife looking for a new sideline? :D

Pretty darned neet, hope you get along with her real well. No telling what she could make if she got mad.

Looks good I did the same thing, no majic to those x pipes and yours looks better than the ones I have seen made by other companies. you should make a bunch and sell them on ebay.

i tried to make my own once......didn't look very good (never tried it out on a car). your's on the other hand, if it doesn't work i would be very suprised.

TOD, that looks great! Im sure it will work just fine

that's what an X-pipe should look like. that deal with the flanges all over it is fugly. No kidding, you guys could sell a bunch of these, just show pics of yours next to the others. offer options, sizes, material, coated, etc.

Just make a 2.5 inch one up for me easily worth $25:)

You could definitely get yourself a nice little side buisiness going w/ a product like that! If you have time to make a bunch of em...get to it! :thumbsup:

Can I get an order in for a 3 inch pipe? It is a quality peice. Wow your wife can weld if you tell me she cooks a mean Lasagna I am going to smack my wife! LOL.

Wow! I sure didn't expect this response, and I never even thought about making them on the side. I ordered some pre-formed stainless clamps from Jegs (pg. 17 pt. # 555-30732) which clamp the pipes to this X member. There are two bolts on the clamp which will allow for easy removal of the X member if I want to drop my tranny. I didn't want to weld it together just in case I want to remove it.

I'll tell my wife you enjoyed viewing her work!:thumbsup:

Tod

How much for a 3 incher and give the wife our best.:yes: Be good to that woman, she's a keeper.

Put me down for a 2 1/2 ! Nice work.

There is some mathematics to the oval cutout, but I dont know how critical it is. I can assure you most folks making them dont calculate it.

I think you and the Mrs. should add some coin to the vacation kitty.

Cut and weld!

Very nice piece.....I have some 3" stainless elbows like that I was thinking of doing the same thing. I wish I had some 3.5" though. :)

You should be very proud of your wife, and yourself. Looks great!!

Looks good I did the same thing, no majic to those x pipes and yours looks better than the ones I have seen made by other companies. you should make a bunch and sell them on ebay.

Oh but there is some magic to them. A properly sized X-pipe with the correct area opening between the two pipes will make more power in the application it was designed for. Ask any NASCAR engine guru or the folks at DR. Gas. That being said, for the average street guy it probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

Nice looking "X" and be sure to relay all the accolades here to your wife. She deserves it!

I got the info on teh area calculatation from Dr. Gas, as David refers to.

Of course, they didnt share the equation with me!

I don't think its going to work, look at that weld job it will probably break and leak, you might want to give it to me, nice jobe to the both of you.

What does "the inside" of the x-pipe look like?

Here's a link to an x-pipe I built. It's the one under 1nicenova. There are a couple of others there to. I used walker 4" 90's and cut the holes exactly half the size of the pipe with a 2" hole saw. Just found the center and cut 2 holes side by side in ea. a cleaned it up with a carbide bit. Would post the pictures here but i'm not sure how to do it. http://www.dragstuff.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1187

Yes, very nice. FWIW I made my own 3" and yours IS MUCH prettier! Mine follows the same design basic though and works quite well. One extra thing that I did is I cut the X in half after I put it together so I could get my Dremel in there to clean up the inside with an 80 grit roll. Not suire if that makes a bit of difference, but I wanted a smooth transition into and out of the X "chamber."

Here is a pic of the entire exhaust system (less turn downs) if you want a reference. The second "access" cut I made run right along the crack in the cement under the pipes. Also -- I'm too cheap for stainless LOL

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c274/Eric68/IMG_0997.jpg?t=1184877803

wow those look great!!!!i bet you could make some manual cutouts too, just for an example my pipes are also 2.5 and i could be the guine pig for the manual cutous:D

ryan

wow those look great!!!!i bet you could make some manual cutouts too, just for an example my pipes are also 2.5 and i could be the guine pig for the manual cutous:D

ryan

:D Actually the inside is not too bad. After I cut the tubing, I deburred all the surfaces and then cleaned them for a better weld. I'll try and get a pic. of the inside posted.

I see from the other postings we have some talented members out there! Thanks for sharing.

Tod

Can I get an order in for a 3 inch pipe? It is a quality peice. Wow your wife can weld if you tell me she cooks a mean Lasagna I am going to smack my wife! LOL.

LOL.. damn you a mean bastard... hehehhe That was damn funny though.

It's too small.
Real engines need a 3.5" X

2.5" is for girls....oh wait, your wife built it.

She probably wants to hit me with her purse now.....

Does it work? The dyno would tell, one would need to compare it to the Dr. Gas X, he invented it.

Rolo Tomassi

Fwiw, my 3.5" in/ 3" out Dr gas had oval cutouts inside. Again, they didnt share the area calculations with me. Not being a metal worker anymore ( havent been since 1977!) , can you cut an oval out of a pipe with a plasma cutter w/o damaging the far side of the tube?

IF so, thats how the Dr gas looked inside. Maybe someone with a new one ( mine is 8 yrs old) can verify this.

Ford ovals. :D

I don't think its going to work, look at that weld job it will probably break and leak, you might want to give it to me, nice jobe to the both of you.

LOL, nice try!!! funny tho

Tod,

Nice work. Your formula is right on for those cutouts. Primary flow should be straight thru the X with pulse diversion to left or right dictated by flow. The pics of the system at the DragStuff link are a nice effort but basically just creates some unnecessary turbulence and won't accomplish what is intended with an X pipe design. You nailed it and the wife has mean skills. Keep her around as long as she'll have ya' :D

I got the info on teh area calculatation from Dr. Gas, as David refers to.

Of course, they didnt share the equation with me!

That's why I went to the Lane Automotive showroom with a tape measure before I built mine LOL

How much for a 3 incher and give the wife our best.:yes: Be good to that woman, she's a keeper.

Maybe it's just me, but talking about a 3 incher and giving his wife your best sounds like a pretty rude thing to say, especially in a public forum! ;) (Not saying much about yourself either!)

Seriously, I don't understand why the cuts would be all that difficult. If you were to take your 90 degree pipe and lay it in a chop saw so you are cutting off the outside of the elbow bend, couldn't you get the opening you need with precision and repeatability? You might want to make a jig to hold the pipe securely so cut after cut will be the same for a given size pipe. Cutting this way with a chop saw would also provide a nice flat edges to be welded together.

Also, if the chop saw can also be set to angles, skip the jig and set the pipe with one leg against the fence and set the saw at 45 degrees and chop off the outer elbow for the same effect. A quick stop block on the fence should insure each pipe is cut at the same spot assuming all the pipes are the same size and length.

What Tod and his wife have built looks absolutely great, but I'd think that cutting a little deeper into the elbows of each bend would create a less restrictive flow pattern. Wouldn't it be best if the opening in each was at least as tall at the widest point as the pipe is in diameter? But as said above, I doubt much difference would be noticed in almost any street or street/strip application.

Tod,

Nice work. Your formula is right on for those cutouts. Primary flow should be straight thru the X with pulse diversion to left or right dictated by flow. The pics of the system at the DragStuff link are a nice effort but basically just creates some unnecessary turbulence and won't accomplish what is intended with an X pipe design. You nailed it and the wife has mean skills. Keep her around as long as she'll have ya'




Do you have any proof that mine wont work? Give some facts as to why mine wont work. When you say wont work, what do you mean "wont work". Wont work worse than what? No X at all or an H-pipe or a prpperly built x as you see it. Can we see the inside of his? To see if it is straight through at the X. Does anyone have a picture of the inside of a Dr. Gas X or do you have a picture of the inside of yours Tod? Is the floor and ceiling flush with the inlet and outlet pipes? I know of some that are built Identical to mine with positive results.