You
have a choice.
compression bent 409L stainless or Mandrel
bent 308L stainless
do
you know what the difference is between £200 and £300
(see below for the answer)
MANDREL BENDING
Consider
a straight plastic straw that you might use to drink beer out
of a bottle. If the straw is completely straight, it's very
easy to draw the liquid out of the bottle, as there are no restrictions
to the flow of beer. However, lets say you decide to bend the
straw 90 degrees into an "L" shape. Now, drinking
from the straw will be very difficult, as the opening at the
straw's elbow will have changed from a circle to a very narrow
slit. This is exactly how the pipes in your car's intake and
exhaust system work. Air is drawn through pipes, which, when
"compression bent," become very restrictive to the
flow of air.Mandrel bending is the solution to this problem.
Mandrel bending works much like the flexible straws that you
can buy in a grocery store. When the straw is bent, a flexible
section of the straw expands to maintain the round opening no
matter how much of an angle the straw is bent at. When an exhaust
or downpipe is manufactured with mandrel bends, the steel is
allowed to stretch on the outside of the bend and compress on
the inside of the bend, maintaining the nominal pipe diameter.
PERFORMANCE
EXHAUST
Zorstec is one of the few exhaust manufacturers in The UK with
a mandrel bender. Ever wonder why every exhaust manufacturer
doesn’t offer mandrel bending? Simple, the equipment &
tooling required to mandrel bend tubing is very expensive. We
at Zorstec have a commitment to offer the absolute best in exhaust
systems at the most affordable cost possible. Our custom made
tooling allows us to produce a product that will give you the
most power possible.
PIPES
& POWER
Pipes are critical to high performance. Zorstec offers mandrel
bends for better flow versus stock headers. stainless steel
gives them a longer lasting sharper appearance.
MANDREL
BENDING
The improved flow that comes from a mandrel bent pipe makes
Zorst exhaust systems superior. The mandrel bending process
maintains a constant inside diameter, even through pipe bends.
Flow area remains consistent, increasing flow more than 35%
compared to stock, serrated bent pipe
Other than something like a rubber hose, it can't be done with
bare hands. It will kink, crimp, collapse, or break. Small,
malleable metal tubing, such as brake or fuel lines, or electrical
conduit, can be hand-bent with special tools that cradle the
tubing in a trough the same size as half the outer diameter
(o.d.) of the tube.
compression bending
In the early '60s, a man named Huth invented a machine to bend
exhaust tubing in the same manner. Using a pair of half-round
concave steel dies, and hydraulic power, it could quickly and
easily bend pipe up to 90 degrees, possibly more. Before this,
anyone building headers or exhaust systems had to cut pieces
of pre-bent tubing and weld them together to get the shapes
and angles needed to snake the exhaust system through the chassis.
This, as you can imagine, could be quite time-consuming. The
Huth-type hydraulic tube benders have become the staple of tube
bending shops everywhere. They're fantastic for what they do.
They revolutionized the exhaust industry.
compression
bending or mandrel bending
The only problem is that with this larger-diameter, thin-wall
steel tubing, even the half-round dies cannot bend it without
collapsing or crimping it to some extent. It's fine for regular
automotive exhaust systems. But for high performance, any reduction
of pipe size creates a restriction which, in turn, reduces power
and economy. The whole approach to Zorstec is increasing airflow
into, and out of, the engine. A major means to this end is increasing
the size (diameter) of the tubing in the intake and exhaust
systems—primarily the exhaust. Any exhaust system, especially
on long vehicles like big pickups or motorhomes, will require
several bends. The larger the tubing, the more severe the crimping
will be with regular tube benders. Shrinking the diameter of
the tubing at each bend negates the benefit of going to larger-diameter
tubing.So the solution. It's called mandrel bending. It's a
bit more costly and time-consuming, but it's very effective.
A mandrel tube bender is very similar to the Huth-type in that
it uses a pair of half-round steel dies to hydraulically bend
the outside of the tubing. The difference is that the mandrel
bender inserts an articulated steel "stiffener" (the
mandrel) inside the tube to keep it from collapsing. It's sort
of like a series of three or four metal donuts (held together
by a ball-and-socket and spring arrangement) just a hair smaller
in diameter than the inner diameter (i.d.) of the tube. It's
really a pretty simple system that has been around for quite
a while.
What is the difference between mandrel bent and pressure
bent? What does CNC mean?
Most factory exhaust systems built through the 70’s were
pressure bent. Pressure bending is when a tube is placed into
a die and a hydraulic ram, which has the other half of the die,
or the shoe, is then pressed together to push the tube around
the radius. Nothing is inside the tube to prevent the tube from
collapsing or buckling, and the machine is completely manual-the
operator indexes the pipe by hand according to an angle gauge
in the end of the pipe. Not a very precise method of bending,
but quick and inexpensive.
Mandrel
bending is when a set of balls, called a mandrel, is inserted
into the pipe during bending. These balls are positioned and
pulled through the pipe so that the bends are not deformed and
maintain a close to perfect shape throughout the length of the
bend. The pro’s are that the tube can be bent on a much
tighter radius and still flow well due to the pipe being round
and not collapsed. The machinery is expensive for a good quality
CNC mandrel bender with the appropriate tooling.
CNC bending is when a computer controlled set of motors indexes
the head of the machine and controls the position of the tube
and the rotation of one bend in relation to another. Essentially,
the machine does all the work. The tube is cut to the appropriate
length, inserted in the collet, and the button is pressed to
start the cycle. The operator does not touch the part until
all the bends are complete. CNC mandrel bending is the best
method for producing exhaust systems that flow and fit well.
With a CNC mandrel bender, you can also bend thin wall tubing
so that it weighs less. Being stainless, it will not corrode
so thin wall tubing is not a concern for durability.
Why
is Stainless better than other materials for exhaust systems?
Stainless is an excellent choice for exhaust systems due to
its corrosion resistance. Starting in the early 90’s all
OEM manufacturers went to 409 stainless for the increased durability
and corrosion resistance-the EPA mandated that exhaust/emissions
systems be warranted for 5 years minimum.Zorstes 304L grade
stainless will not rust or corrode over time. Unlike aluminized
steel, it will not rust from the inside out due to the corrosive
fluids produced during combustion. All of Zorstecs Stainless
304 systems have a lifetime guarantee against defects in materials
and workmanship.
Different
grades of stainless?
What is the difference between grades of stainless (304, 321,
409…..?)
Without getting into the specifics of metallurgical properties,
409 is what is typically used on OEM applications. It has fair
corrosion resistance, is magnetic due to the high metallic content,
but is a less expensive material than 304. 409 is not an ideal
material for a performance/restoration exhaust system because
it will turn color (brownish/rust) from being exposed to the
atmosphere without ever being run. For OEM’s who never
care what the exhaust system looks like, it is a decent material
that will last long enough to get past the warranty period.
304 stainless has much better corrosion resistance and a lower
metallic content than 409. 304 will not turn color from sitting
exposed to the atmosphere, and will only discolor slightly from
getting extremely hot. The best thing about 304 is that you
can maintain it with a scotch bright pad if you ever spill oil
on it or have it discolour. Zorstec only uses 304 stainless,
which is a premium mil spec grade of stainless that is more
expensive than standard stainless inwhich is processed much
more closely and is more consistent.
so
£200 every 3 years or £300 once