Blower top

kenewagner

kenewagner

Registered User
I modified the blower top today. I raised it 1.5" since I have a raised hood. My question is this, I have read many threads about modifying tops but none mentioned if the flange, that mates to the blower warps with all the heat from welding. My father is going to mill it back to orignal straightness so there is no problem. But do all the other top builders out there run in to that problem? Took me about five hours to modify th top and I was pleased at the results. Monday I will start removing the crown from the welds since it will be a polished top when finished. I would have posted a few more pictures but I cant seem to get more than one picture downloaded
 

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You should put the nut on and test fit the upper tube and IC. When you raise the top straight up the IC tube has to be raised as well. Then since they are at an angle they might end up not aligning. You might have to miter the edge to make it line up. That way the tube is rotated and fits into position.

Jeff
 
Yes welding Aluminum warps it, infact ALL metals warp when welded its just that some warp worse than others.
Welding Aluminum is very tramatic for the parent metal and several steps need to be taken to insure the weld does'nt fail depending on what type of weld it is.

EDIT: By the way thats a nice looking job you done there on that top.;)
 
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The top will have no nut on it since my FMIC is piped with hose connections. I had to have a finished top so I can complete the piping. I had to level the top instead of the tilt up at the back. When I added the 1.5" spacer it made the top just touch the back and inside of my hood so the top is now level. Mike is there a stress releiving process you recommend to insure the welds dont crack? I know that the welding crystalizes the alum around the weld and makes it prone to cracking. I would hate to polish this thing up and than have it crack. I used 5356 alum tig rod and a relative soft alum material because I wanted to avoid cracking
 
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You should'nt have any problems with cracking on a butt weld like that as long as you were running hot enough to break down the parent metal. The welds look just fine from what I can see.
Cracking of welds in Aluminum generaly happen when welding heavy castings such as heads,blocks or intake manifolds. That casting is'nt heavy enough to cause you problems, I would'nt worry about it.
That dullness that you noticed around the weld bead is not crystalization of the metal its actualy decrystalization.
When TIG welding Aluminum you are using AC voltage and it is being run at high frequincy(not 60Hz and not a true sinewave)
This high frequincy is jumping all around cleaning the oxidation crystals out the the Aluminum parent metal so that you have oxide free metal to mix with the filler metal. Given time that dull metal will shine again once an oxide layer is formed over time. But that area also polish's right up with a little work.
 
Thanks mike, you seem to know you stuff. Here is a picture of the throat of the top. I havent figured out how to post more than one picture at a time
 

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That is a very nice job you've done on that top, it looks really good. When you weld a top it can warp the flange a lot. Probably as much as 0.1" if you noticed it. You should make sure it is flat within 0.015" and using any kind of sealant/gaskets etc to correct for more then that could cause unwanted stress when you bolt it down tight to the blower. Only thing I'd do to that top is make the air straightening fins longer as they are critical to airflow.
 
I'd make me a blockoff plate that will seals up the flange and then an adapter with some rubber hose and some plumbing fittings to adapt to an air hose so I could pressure check the welds. Aluminum has a bad habit of getting small pinholes in the weld that you cannot see and you wont find them unless you pressure check them or use a dye test kit such as the one made by Magnaflux. With that part being in the intake tract I'd wanna make sure I did'nt have any vac leaks in it.
 
Thats a good idea mike. I made a 10GA steel plate to cover the blower so nothing gets in it. I could bolt it to the bottom of the top and pressure through the neck. I will wait untill just prior to polishing it for that, since I might uncover pin holes when I sand down the welds. I just tested my IC for leaks after sealing around all the tubes of the core with alum epoxy. It sealed perfectly and look good. Is there a coating I could use on the inside of the top to not only provide a slick finish but have heat resisting properties as well? Thanks to all of you guys for the input
 
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There are thermal dispersent coatings that can be applied to help pull out the heat. But I dont see any advantage to doing just the top and would be a waste of money IMO.
Now if you did the IC tubes the IC the blower housing the intake manifold and intake plenum you would see a difference, but you would spend a big pile of $$$$$$$ to do it.
Just smooth everything up in the top with your die grinder.
 
Ken,

There is a place in Waverly that does ceramic coatings. They do an awesome job and have a nice product avialble. They have done a lot of work for me over the past year. Check out thier website:

Moore Power Coatings

Thomas
 
Wow that would be a good price. Most of the places I've talked to want way more than that! I'm gonna have to talk to those people.
Thanks for the link.
 
Yeah, send Pat an e-mail. He runs the place out there. Just tell him Tom from Dean Bros. sent you out and he'll take care of you.

Thomas
 
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