Yes I understand, I still wanted to get an argon bottle for my TIG since I had it sitting around doing nothing and hopefully I can start to learn some since I would eventually like to be able to TIG.

There was a video somewhere I was trying to find of someone who fixed a broken Briggs connecting rod with the JB Weld quick steel putty stuff and it actually held up. I think its hard to get the prep right whenever you are trying to fix stuff with it though especially fragile things that its hard to sand down to perp and stuff.

Also in this Covid pending apocalypse world we are living in now, there is almost no pipe available. I have been looking for 4 in to connect to my turbo outlet and I could only find one little J bend. Not to mention the insane prices of it. I have a good bit of 3in stainless tubing from my car exhaust that I am going to do my best to try to use, but I still need 4 in to come out of the turbo.

Also I need to figure out how I am going to connect to the stock exhaust manifold flanges, it looks like Trick Turbo sells some flanges with the groove cut in them for the steel ring gasket, but they are out of them along with every other vendor around it seems. I can't really remember but it seems like prices for this stuff are way higher than they used to be, I mean I guess we are seeing higher prices with everything.

And yes by now I have probably spent more money on pipe and other stuff that didn't work than I would have spent if I wouldn't have been weird and just bought a kit or a supercharger haha.

 

Summit sells piping I believe but do not quote me on that

 

Yeah, that's where I have been buying the aluminized from is there under their "Summit" brand. It says its made in the USA. But I actually also just checked there for some stock manifold flanges and to my surprise they have some! and they are a very reasonable price.

Now thinking about the flange pattern a little more, I think its possible I may have grabbed both passenger side exhausts from the ground at the junkyard. I think I remember when I took off my stock exhaust this weekend that oddly enough the pattern on both flanges I got from the junkyard fit the passenger side flange on my stock exhaust. So maybe that is the case and for whatever reason GM is switching the driver and passenger side seemly randomly although that doesn't sound likely.

 

As y'all probably expected I may have to give up. I took off my stock y pipe and cut it right where it crosses above the transmission crossmember. I then welded a 3in vband flange to each side, but I had to "booger" weld it since the stock exhaust is so bent and mangled there is no circular and straight sections to cut where I need to and get a good and flush joint for a weld that will fit the vband flanges. I eventually got beat and shaped the stock exhaust ends and also expanded them with a expander enough to wear I could fit in the vband flanges and "booger" weld them up. So this allows me to separate the stock exhaust and take the y-pipe out without having to drop the transmission crossmember. This will allow me to take it off easier so I can work on building my turbo crossover and downpipe and put it back in when I need the truck. This wouldn't have really been worth it to do but I figured I would do it anyway since I would have to cut the stock exhaust somewhere anyway, and I would also have a vband to connect to already to hook to turbo downpipe to the stock exhaust. Since I cut it above the crossmember I will be keeping the stock secondary cat. It seems pretty big and hopefully won't be a serious restriction, but I doubt it is going to help with unburnt hydrocarbon smell, but maybe help wtih Nox emissions but I don't have to test where I am so I'm not concerned about that.

Anyway, I got a little more progress on my downpipe:


Only problem is the "booger" welded flanges on my stock exhaust pipe made a detrimental hit in my morale. The welds around the vband flange definitely leak as I can see water dripping out of them and feel puffs of air around them. I feel like with my welding skills I won't be able to get a good seal on anything I make, even though its kind of expected the stock exhaust to vband flange joint leaks just becuase its not a perfect 3 in pipe fitting into a 3 in vband.

So yeah I may give up and just buy a crossover and probably buy a downpipe too. I will still have to cut the downpipe and fab it up to my vband flange on my stock exhaust but at least that will be after the turbo and first cat and it won't be mission critical that it be completely leak free. I will also still need to cut it to put in my cat but hopefully if I can find a straight portion to put it in and the pipes are concentric and the same diameter I think I can do it.

 

the oil leak came from the oil cooler gasket on my truck

 

I've got to swap my transmission now, so good opportunity to look at the back of the motor and finally find this stupid leak.