So for the past couple years, i've been trying to find a way to bead the ends of intercooler piping.
There are several available beaders that do an excellent job at it, but as little as I would use it, it wouldnt be worth buying one, (they are a couple hundred $$ minimum) so i've been looking around trying to find a good home method.
some guys like to weld a bead on the ends, which i dont like to do, its messy, and not very consistant.
so i kept looking around, and came across this site on the net that showed a guy who had made a beader out of a set of vice grips, an exahsut clamp, and a washer. it looked like it worked, but at the time, i didnt need it, so i didnt make one.
fast forward to now, and i wanted to bead the ends of jims intercooler piping.
i remembered that site, and went to look it up, but its no longer there.
so, i went ahead, and built one from what i remembered.
basicly, you get a set of 10" vice grips (i used a cheapo set from harbor frieght, they were under 4$), an ehxaust clamp for whatever size pipe your beading, (jims is 3", so i got a 3" clamp) and a nice heavy duty washer ( i used one that i had in my "bucket o bolts")
weld it up like this:
you insert it into the pipe, and squeeze it like this:
and you end up with this:
and there you go, bead your pipes for under 10$!!
There are several available beaders that do an excellent job at it, but as little as I would use it, it wouldnt be worth buying one, (they are a couple hundred $$ minimum) so i've been looking around trying to find a good home method.
some guys like to weld a bead on the ends, which i dont like to do, its messy, and not very consistant.
so i kept looking around, and came across this site on the net that showed a guy who had made a beader out of a set of vice grips, an exahsut clamp, and a washer. it looked like it worked, but at the time, i didnt need it, so i didnt make one.
fast forward to now, and i wanted to bead the ends of jims intercooler piping.
i remembered that site, and went to look it up, but its no longer there.
so, i went ahead, and built one from what i remembered.
basicly, you get a set of 10" vice grips (i used a cheapo set from harbor frieght, they were under 4$), an ehxaust clamp for whatever size pipe your beading, (jims is 3", so i got a 3" clamp) and a nice heavy duty washer ( i used one that i had in my "bucket o bolts")
weld it up like this:
you insert it into the pipe, and squeeze it like this:
and you end up with this:
and there you go, bead your pipes for under 10$!!
Former Team 5SFTE pro member ;)13.6@108MPH, 5SFTE Powered
)
