I'm needing to make a brace and wondering is I should build it with rodends or rubber bushings. Is that even needed ?

 

Look like you are trying to run a turbo on your transmision!

 

that gave me a good chuckle !

 

Well, if you really want to be sure, you can do a little math. First, convert the temperatures the brace is going to see from degrees Fahrenheit to Celsius. Just for the sake of simplicity, lets say the brace will see temps from -40 degrees F (winter) to 200 degrees F (summer), that will give us a delta T of 240 degrees F. Convert that to Celsius or Kelvin (its all good) and get 121 degrees.

Next, convert the length of your brace to meters (http://onlineconversion.com works nicely). Then, plug your length into the equation:

Delta L = 17.3*L*Delta T

Delta L is change in length of your brace in meters
17.3 is the coefficient of thermal expansion for stainless steel
L is the original length of your brace
Delta T is the change in temperature in Celsius (plugging in 121 for it will work)

 

Wow, I'm aweful at math. I honestly tried but your * kept throwing me off. Reminded me of my old algebra classes 10+ years ago.

My exhaust temps will be around 1600f or 880c and the brace would be around 1 foot long I imagine. Not sure if it's needed but the header primaries are 25 inches.

 

do it with rod ends.......
car is looking good...

 

Sorry, * just means multiply.

If your brace is a foot long and the underhood temps get to be 300 degrees Fahrenheit, your brace will lengthen about 0.0025 inches, or about the width of six hairs lined up side to side. I think you'll be fine with solid rod ends.

Just to give you a little perspective of underhood temps (because I really don't know what the average underhood temps of turboed cars are) paper will start burning once temperatures reach 451 and most plastics melt between 200 and 450.

 

Thanks a ton, you are very helpful !

 

don't do this again!!! my head hurts

BigAl...

 

That's actually about the width of one single hair. If it were six, I'd opt for the bushings instead.

 

So, are you trying to see I do or don't need rodends ? Rubber bushings work ?

 

I was being a wiseguy.

A hair is only .002-.003" thick. You could move the tubes more by setting a 12oz soda on the turbo. The rod ends will be fine.