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I used to use the flat v-bands, made my own male/female versions by sticking the tubing through one side roughly a 1/16th and on the opposite side I'd keep it off the edge a 1/16th +. That was before they started making the male/female designs.
I love the m/f versions now, makes assembly that much easier.
Nice write up Choda
Thanks! I overspent on it but likely won't outgrow it. It will always be smarter and better than me. And I'll resent that but still keep practicing.
That makes total sense. Wish the kit mfg would have thought of that! I read tales of V-bands like they cure cancer but after my first experience with them, I'm honestly not that impressed with flat mating. Almost impossible to get it lined up right in a tight spot. Looking forward to better results with these.
Also got myself a little toy to give the middle finger to those lock nuts on the clamps:
If you want to switch anything up try looking into marman flanges, very nice alternative to the V band. I cut all mine off and went to make/famale and don’t have leaks. When I decide to change up my exhaust I’m welding in marman flanges
Get V band clamps from Race Parts Solutions and ALWAYS use anti-seize on them! Especially the cheap ones cuz they use a ss nut on a ss bolt and similar metals like that will gul really easy. You'll notice a good quality v band clamp will have a ss bolt and a zinc coated steel crimp style self locking nut. There is a reason for that.
If there is room in side the v band ring, cut a short piece of tube to fit inside the ring and go in both halves. This will keep it aligned.
If you want to switch anything up try looking into marman flanges, very nice alternative to the V band. I cut all mine off and went to make/famale and don’t have leaks. When I decide to change up my exhaust I’m welding in marman flanges
Those look nice. At this point, I've got a stack of M/F I'm going to try to roll with. My welding is still pretty embarrassing so marman flanges down the road sounds like a good excuse for more practice later.
Originally Posted by kbracing96
Get V band clamps from Race Parts Solutions and ALWAYS use anti-seize on them! Especially the cheap ones cuz they use a ss nut on a ss bolt and similar metals like that will gul really easy. You'll notice a good quality v band clamp will have a ss bolt and a zinc coated steel crimp style self locking nut. There is a reason for that.
If there is room in side the v band ring, cut a short piece of tube to fit inside the ring and go in both halves. This will keep it aligned.
Going to look them up today. I should have known a nylock nut had no place on anything that gets hot. Guess I'll be pulling all those off today before I ruin the clamps I do have. Duh.
I like the idea of the short piece of tube. I think I might even weld the flanges on a bit "short" to allow for a short piece in the middle.
Classic case of me being too busy to just stop and think for 30 seconds to save myself hours of futzing with these things. Thanks for the "aha" moment.
Classic case of me being too busy to just stop and think for 30 seconds to save myself hours of futzing with these things. Thanks for the "aha" moment.
If you can look at the lock but used, the nylon ones melt and loosen up over time, I go to the local hardware store and swap them out for the metal style lock nuts. I too used anti seize during assembly
If you can look at the lock but used, the nylon ones melt and loosen up over time, I go to the local hardware store and swap them out for the metal style lock nuts. I too used anti seize during assembly
OK so these plug wires have really kicked my butt. Once I put the studs in, the ceramic boot wires interfered with the studs enough that I couldn't get nuts on. Also the Taylors come with the wire set almost at the end of the ceramic boot and that left me scratching my head for a bit as clearance on a couple was terrible whereas the dang Accels(same boot as shown before!) fit before all the wire ends came off.. Once I figured those two bits out, I saw a path forward.
Studs on the first and last manifold holes and bolts in the middle. No interference with the ceramic boots and still something to keep that a$$hole gasket aligned. Basically a semi-permanent rendition of the classic headless(longer) bolt in the ends to hold the gasket up. But this will hold the gasket and the manifold with turbo attached if/when needed(like when futzing with plug wires). Next round I'll probably go with much shorter studs in the middle holes but probably keep the longer studs in the ends.
I had to make sure I got the end of the wire in just the right place where I maximized space yet had enough wire in there to still allow the connector to pop over the end of the plug. These wires are short but I think perhaps just right. They give a good, positive click on the plug and into the coil and don't seem to want to creep off so I'm rolling with it. I would probably be zip-tying longer wires out of the way anyway.
Now to put it back together, test fire for proper ignition, then get back to the exhaust.
12-27-2017, 08:16 PM
