The flanges are 5/16 thick 2 ½ dia and were purchased from Cone engineering.
www.coneeng.com
The thick flanges will not warp or bend. It is important to use thick flanges
Because of the angle my exhaust pipes will be exiting I rotated my flanges slightly.
I mark the flanges at straight up and also find center and mark the collectors.
I will be using fel-pro steel core collector gaskets. I had to file the holes slightly to match the bolt circle of the flanges.
I use 3/16 key stock as a spacer and clamp the flange to the table. I then insert the collector lining up the centerline marks and tack them.
Using the same procedure as the tubes, I weld up to the tack then grind it off and weld the flange solid.
Here is the amount of tube that sticks out from the flange. The gasket is 1/16 thick so there will be 1/8 of tube inside the flange for the muffler pipes. This keeps the exhaust gas pressure from having direct contact with the gasket and significantly extends the life of the gasket.
I also don’t like to hold exhaust pipes to insert bolts so I use a method that makes exhaust hook up very fast and easy.
I weld nuts to the flange and insert a set screw. I use a socket set screw instead of a stud because it has a hex drive on one end and is slightly pointed on the other. The set screw is removable so if the threads get damaged then I insert a new one. I will use nuts and lock washers on this connection.
