charlzrocks Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 I want to construct some headers for the Lindberg Little Red Wagon and was wondering the best way to do it. I have aluminum tubing but it creases too easily when bent. I would like these to look as realistic as possible without costing me! HELLLLppppppfffftttbbbb (unintelligible babbling out of frustration) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismaelg Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Hello, Aluminum tubing is not the best choice for headers. I would recommend plumber's solder. It comes in different diameters and bends easily. But on the downside, it is heavy so you need to make sure it is properly attached. Of course plastic cement will make it laugh. You need epoxy or superglue. Been a soft material makes it easy to bend but also makes it easy to dent and scratch, so you need to be careful. I did the headers on my Gurney Eagle with that: Here is the finished model: http://puertoriconet.com/images/gurney/ Make sure you wait for the download to finish, and crank your speakers...... Hope this helps, Thanks, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
showrodfreak Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 http://www.micromark.com/SearchResult.aspx...se=tube+bending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMc Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 (edited) Gotta agree with Izz Solder or plastic rod...no kink bending. Use rosin core or solid solder..no acid core CA will fog!! use elmers or epoxy I use solder with a few tricks.... 1) roll it flat on a piece of glass 2) polish it when flat...get some gloves to work in 3) drill out the head then put the tube thru a flange (if wanted ) and mount to block(I work fire wall to front) 4) bend slowly for shape...rebending looks awfull I also admit quickly it took 5 or 6 tries for my first set!! Both of these are SBC motors w\o flanges Edited September 8, 2009 by MikeMc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlzrocks Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 Thanks for the responses! I had been thinking about the solder route, however for drag engine headers it might be a bit too flexible. I like the Micromark tube bender spring idea....will probably order the set. I am however looking into using some plastic coated copper wire! I will cut the wire to approximate length, slide the plastic coating off just enough that it looks like a pipe, bend the header to shape, glue support brackets underneath, insert the wire into holes in head, glue in place and paint. I will let you know what it ends up looking like. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ddms Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Well, you can bend the aluminum tubing with no kinks if you put brass or aluminum wire in it. But don't expect to recover the wire. Ddms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Your timing on this is perfect... I'm building the Little Red Wagon for the Loins Drag Strip build off and came to the same conclusion as you...dem pipes ain't long enough thought about bending aluminum tubing and or using solder, but decided to retain the upper part of the kits exhaust (lot of cleaning up to do on it) and add aluminum tubing past the cross braces on both headers. if didn't work, i would go with the tubing and/or solder. here is how i did it step by step: used 5 minute epoxy to hold brass pins attached aluminum tubing with 5 minute epoxy (stronger joint than super glue) painted with Spaz chrome... but still need a little cleanup on the seams between the kit parts and tubing presto - bingo all cleaned up and ready to do some wheel standin' just another option... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlzrocks Posted September 12, 2009 Author Share Posted September 12, 2009 (edited) Wow, Nice idea with the current header/pins/tubing Thanks! I did much the same thing with my velocity stacks as well, although yours turned out really nice and mine are a bit uneven. All heck...my first try, will post when finished. I will first try the copper wire route, if that don't work out I'm gonna do what you did! and....yes Timing is everything!!! Thanks to you all as I will be trying most of these ideas on upcoming builds!!! Oh, WHAT is SPAZ chrome?? Where to get it how to use it?? Edited September 12, 2009 by charlzrocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Oh, WHAT is SPAZ chrome?? Where to get it how to use it?? here it is... can be found at: http://www.spazstix.com similar to the alclad chrome...i prefer it cuz i've never had much luck with alclad chrome i use Tamiya TS-14 (gloss black) as a basecoat and apply numerous "light coats" of the chrome spray and i repeat "numerous light coats" good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58 Impala Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 If you use solder for headers or pipes, use solid or rosin core. Try to avoid acid core, unless you seal the ends the acid will corrode your pipes and make a mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuel Coupe Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 To me nothing replicates aluminum better than... well Aluminum. I use a tubing bender to get my bends the way I want them... Heres what I use for a bender . Its a bit tough to use so Ive been looking into this model Take your time and buy a few extra sticks of tubing and give it a try. Most hardware stores carry K&S tubing and its been my experience that its cheaper there than at hobby shops... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlzrocks Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share Posted September 14, 2009 I went with Curt's idea on this one, just epoxied the tubes to existing headers, they came out identical to his. I am gonna paint the plastic parts silver and use a jewelers cloth to polish the chrome portion. The plastic portion is mostly hidden anyway and I can get a real good polish on the tubing. I would love to know where TxRat is getting that 2nd tube bender from....looks like it does wonders for bending, let me know! Thanks all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midlineqb Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 On 9/13/2009 at 10:47 PM, charlzrocks said: I went with Curt's idea on this one, just epoxied the tubes to existing headers, they came out identical to his. I am gonna paint the plastic parts silver and use a jewelers cloth to polish the chrome portion. The plastic portion is mostly hidden anyway and I can get a real good polish on the tubing. I would love to know where TxRat is getting that 2nd tube bender from....looks like it does wonders for bending, let me know! Thanks all! Did you ever find out where TxRat go the second tube bender http://www.hobbylinc.com/gr/dub/dub785.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOBLNG Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 1 hour ago, midlineqb said: Did you ever find out where TxRat go the second tube bender http://www.hobbylinc.com/gr/dub/dub785.jpg You should click on the user’s name to see if they are still active. Charlzrocks last post was 10 years ago and so was Fuel Coupes. The tubing bender pictured in FC’s post is listed here: https://www.hobbylinc.com/cgi-bin/s8.cgi?search_cat_s=&str_s=tube+bender Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOBLNG Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 (edited) And here’s my thread on building headers from copper wire for anyone interested or searching this later. Edited November 24, 2022 by NOBLNG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straightliner59 Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 On 9/7/2009 at 8:37 PM, ismaelg said: Hello, Aluminum tubing is not the best choice for headers. I would recommend plumber's solder. It comes in different diameters and bends easily. But on the downside, it is heavy so you need to make sure it is properly attached. Of course plastic cement will make it laugh. You need epoxy or superglue. Been a soft material makes it easy to bend but also makes it easy to dent and scratch, so you need to be careful. I did the headers on my Gurney Eagle with that: Here is the finished model: http://puertoriconet.com/images/gurney/ Make sure you wait for the download to finish, and crank your speakers...... Hope this helps, Thanks, Ismael, you might want to look at aluminum armature wire. It's dead-soft, and comes in a variety of sizes. I haven't, yet, because I only recently ran across the stuff, but, my next set of headers will be built with it. It bends like solder, but, it's much lighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashman1957 Posted December 6, 2022 Share Posted December 6, 2022 In case it's useful, a nice tutorial on using solder to make headers is found here: https://kitbashkorner.forumotion.com/t20-solder-headers-kitbash Cameron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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