Bending alloy boost pipes?

Seatman

Top Post Dawg
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Apr 23, 2010
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Scotland
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2014 Skoda rapid elegance 1.6 cr tdi
I have a few different bends but most of them are past the 90 degrees I would like, not a lot but I would like to bring them back into more of a 90 degree angle. They're 51mm alloy pipes.

It's for fitting a FMIC, I've got a length of silicone stuff for making joiners and also a length of straight alloy pipe for doing things like going along the right hand side to the front but want to use the other stuff I already have for the bends.

Could I just heat it with a blow torch and carefully bend it back a little or would I melt it or crack it or anything?

Who knows these things?

Cheers
 

TdiTaff

Veteran Member
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Apr 19, 2010
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UK / France
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2007 Golf TDi 5Speed
You'll need to anneal the pipes before bending.
Hopefully you know the alloy's type or composition so it can be done specifically for that metal. Google will help with this!
 

Seatman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 23, 2010
Location
Scotland
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2014 Skoda rapid elegance 1.6 cr tdi
Ha! If only I had a tig welder! :D

It's regular alloy boost pipes, thin walled stuff, I don't know any more than that or how to find out. Will it take a fairly substantial heat to anneal them to get them to bend at all?

I don't mind if they flatten a little, it's not that important as it's not really a for show thing, just practicality.

I'll take a couple of pics to show exactly what it is I'm dealing with and trying to do. Cheers
 

Seatman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 23, 2010
Location
Scotland
TDI
2014 Skoda rapid elegance 1.6 cr tdi
Yeh so here's the sort of thing I have



But I want to bend that back so it's more like this



It's like about 1mm thick alloy, very light weight, I just need four right angle bends to have everything to fit the front mount and I'm trying to stick to my usual doing it on a very tight budget thing. It's kinda been my goal all the way through and so far it's going really well.
 

1854sailor

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Aug 10, 2004
Location
Westerly, RI
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2015 Golf SE SportWagen, 2015 Golf SE Hatch Back.
So, you want to make the ~120 deg. bend on the lower right in the first photo go back to 90? That looks like mandrel bent tubing. During the bending process, the metal at the outer surface of the bend was stretched, making it thinner, and the inner area was compressed, making it thicker. Trying to straighten it that much will cause the outer area to wrinkle or the inner surface to tear, or both. You might be able to move it a couple of degrees, but not 25-30. Cut and weld. My $0.02
 
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