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Looking For Metal Fabricator Houston/Spring Area

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Old 06-18-2019, 11:43 AM
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Default Looking For Metal Fabricator Houston/Spring Area

Like the title states.

Need some stainless steel exhaust piping welded up.
Got my truck running but wanted to do a custom dual corsa extreme exhaust, but cant seem to find anyone local willing to fabricate exactly what i want, and on top of it charging two arms and a leg.

Ive got headers, and X pipe already installed, i would just need two straights, then welded to both mufflers, and the pipes to exit in front of the rear wheel.

Id be willing to cut everything and provide material if need be, just dont know how to weld, much less SS.

Thank you!
Old 06-18-2019, 12:04 PM
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If you don't mind me asking, how much are they charging you? I weld for a living and quality work does cost more than a regular Joe shmo exhaust shop. For a 3" purged weld on exhaust a minimum of $30 a weld isn't too bad. Just some food for thought.
Old 06-18-2019, 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Resolute_welding
If you don't mind me asking, how much are they charging you? I weld for a living and quality work does cost more than a regular Joe shmo exhaust shop. For a 3" purged weld on exhaust a minimum of $30 a weld isn't too bad. Just some food for thought.
At that rate its more than fair, but the last shop i took it to quoted me 1400 bucks, including material, so around 1k in labor

The amount of welds are maybe 10 tops, and thats me including 2-4 extra welds.
Old 06-18-2019, 01:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Resolute_welding
If you don't mind me asking, how much are they charging you? I weld for a living and quality work does cost more than a regular Joe shmo exhaust shop. For a 3" purged weld on exhaust a minimum of $30 a weld isn't too bad. Just some food for thought.
I too weld for a living, and I dont fire up my personal machines for less than 30/weld. Aluminum bungs are $40 a piece, for example

Gotta say tho, doing exhaust sucks, and if you prep your own material you're likely to pay more. Us welders are picky folk, and I would MUCH rather cut and fit my own bends/straights with good sharp tools (and years of experience) than I would like to try and make what was brought to me work. That usually leads to much frustration, big gaps to fill and generally less attractive work, which makes it harder to charge for the extra aggravation

TIG costs more than MIG because of time. Maybe you can find a shop who can SS MIG it to save some cost. I cant speak to the $1400 price, I dont know the market in Houston. It took me ~12hrs to build my exhaust from raw headers out to the rear quarter. I value my time at $60-80/hr, so lets say on the high side it was almost 1000 in labor, and I bought all my own V-bands, material, flexes, muffler and bullet and the tip. So all in, my exhaust probably "cost" me ~1.5-1.8k, but it didnt because I dont pay myself. But if I was charging to build one, that is about where we end up
Old 06-18-2019, 01:29 PM
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Fair enough, ill take note of it.
I know your 1.5-1.8k sounds right because its a lot more involved, i know from experience when i had an exhaust for my car made, which was in that same price range.

On this setup im not even going over the axle, its straight pipe that could essentially slip into the existing X pipe, and the mufflers welded, which i provided, and two short 45's to slip the tips on, which i provided as well. The only issue would be angling the mufflers to fit, which could be rotated per the slip on X pipe, and then a couple hangers welded.

Im gonna weigh out my options, maybe im just being cheap.. lol from the looks of it.
Old 06-18-2019, 01:45 PM
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Its ok to be frugal, your money has worth to you

If the major stuff is done, like the Y pipe to X pipe, then that is a significant time savings. Sounds like a couple hr job, still; but not a full build
Old 06-18-2019, 02:55 PM
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Victor Almazan @ VA Specialties.

I’d ask him and see if he can help you out.
Old 06-18-2019, 04:00 PM
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These guys all make valid points. A stainless U bend could save you some money and a couple of welds potentially if it's long enough. The stainless MIG would save a lot of money too. VA specialties makes some badass parts. You could also call spike performance in Pasadena. I've bought a few parts off of them when I'm working down there and they seem like good people.
Old 06-18-2019, 04:15 PM
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I went ahead and ordered a SS piping kit since im more than likely im gonna need it, regardless of where i take it.
I called VAS and he doesnt do that kit of work, im assuming he just focuses on suspension work
Old 06-18-2019, 06:39 PM
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What kit did you order?


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