MIG Welding for NISMO Exhaust Tips?!!?

K

kruelhouse

Member
Location
Columbus, OH
Car
2006 FX35
All,
So my Christmas gift (To: KruelHouse From: KruelHouse) arrived late last week, and I'm getting geared up for proper installation. I've called a few local shops in Columbus, OH (some I've yet to receive a response from due to the Holiday), and the ones that I've heard from indicated that they are not equipped to do TIG welding, but do have a MIG welder. We get a decent amount of snow each winter, and I'd like to know if this would be a sufficient method for extending the exhaust tips.

Also, most of these shops only have aluminized steel, so I would have to supply my own stainless tubing. Since the piping attached to the tips is smaller than the 3" piping connected to the exhaust, I'd surmise that the tubing would have to be around 2.5", but I'm not certain. Would any of you guys who've had your tips extended weigh in on the following:
1. Is MIG welding sufficiently durable?
2. What diameter of stainless tubing would be required?
3. I've read that the tips need to be extended 6". Is this correct?

Also, if anyone's extended the tips with anything other than stainless steel, please post how well it's held up for you and your climatic conditions. I've searched here and on the org, and of the pics that I've seen, some of the extensions appear to be aluminized, but I assume that it's a mild or natural stainless tube.

Thanks!
 
To which rear section are you attaching your tips? Is it SS?

I don't have any experience with this first hand just yet, but I just asked my exhaust guy about MIG+aluminized vs TIG+stainless durability in foul weather conditions two days ago. His reply was, and I quote: "It's the difference between lasting 3-5 years and lasting 7-10 years." I then asked him about the cost difference and he said "Stainless will run you about three times as much." After a brief mental math session I decided on MIG+aluminized and standard grade steel. If I have any issues in 3-5 years I'd much rather be able to go to any exhaust shop for a $50 repair than have to find a stainless TIG welder and pay him $150. Especially considering how often I change my exhaust around... If I was to ever find a setup that I just absolutely loved then I might consider remaking it in SS, but not right now.
 
I've had alumnized filler on a MB ML350 stainless custom exhaust -- it fell apart after 1 Chicago winter....
 
tchuck said:
To which rear section are you attaching your tips? Is it SS?

I don't have any experience with this first hand just yet, but I just asked my exhaust guy about MIG+aluminized vs TIG+stainless durability in foul weather conditions two days ago. His reply was, and I quote: "It's the difference between lasting 3-5 years and lasting 7-10 years." I then asked him about the cost difference and he said "Stainless will run you about three times as much." After a brief mental math session I decided on MIG+aluminized and standard grade steel. If I have any issues in 3-5 years I'd much rather be able to go to any exhaust shop for a $50 repair than have to find a stainless TIG welder and pay him $150. Especially considering how often I change my exhaust around... If I was to ever find a setup that I just absolutely loved then I might consider remaking it in SS, but not right now.
Click to expand...

NISMO S-Tune, and I plan to keep it and the car as long as possible.

Chedman13 said:
I've had alumnized filler on a MB ML350 stainless custom exhaust -- it fell apart after 1 Chicago winter....
Click to expand...

Looks like that pretty much settled it. The only other thing that made me consider aluminized steel and MIG welding (aside from the fact that it's all that I could find as of yet) is the fact that if I'm just doing the tips, I could easily and frequently clean the extensions and welds in a matter of seconds... Although that could prove to be a headache.
 
Trust me, Handy_Andy got alumnized filler/mig welding on just the tips and they looked bad, he went to my local shop for tig welding to get fixed.
 
Chedman13 said:
Trust me, Handy_Andy got alumnized filler/mig welding on just the tips and they looked bad, he went to my local shop for tig welding to get fixed.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I just reached out to a guy on a local motorcycle forum that I belong to, as I think that I've read that he has a TIG setup that he's been using for a few years. Hopefully everything pans out, and I can get this installed pretty soon.
 
it's not just a matter of mig or tig. stainless can be done well with mig too, BUT this requires a special tri mix shielding gas and also requires the correct SS wire in the mig welder. only place your going to find set up for this is places that do a whole lot of production stainless work which is why most will say you need tig, stainless mig is not so common

and yes, DEF use stainless for these extensions... the nismo is a very high quality piece, bad enough it needs to be chopped & butchered to fix an fx, at least make sure it is chopped & butchered the right way. average migging in of aluminized steel pipe to a nismo exhaust is kinda like finally getting a date with megan fox & then taking her to McDonalds :tongue (2):
 
Stainless steel filler wire is the way to go. I made the mistake of going to a neighborhood muffler shop that use aluminized filler wire. It looks pretty bad when you have two polished pieces welded together.
 
One last question: Does anyone know the diameter of the stainless tubing that's needed to extend the tips? I think that I read on G35driver that it's 2.25", but I'm not positive.
 
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