Bending Metal

[MANWHOR3]

Hey guys, please leave this thread in the forced induction section, because it relates to fabricating for a turbo install, so I'm after advice from other guys who have done something similar.

Basically, I need to bend this piece of metal. What is the best way to do it without snapping it?

It's about 2 cm thick. If I just hammered it with a sledge hammer, i think it would snap.

[FATAZZ]

use an oxy to heat it up in a vice then hit it or put a breaker bar on it to bend it to shape,also depends on the Grade of the metal.

[mad082]

as rstme said, get the oxy out and heat it up. then as you are heating have someone hitting it with a hammer. and you have to also hit it a bit where it is (right on the bend) to make sure it isn't brittle.

or, depending on how strong it has to be, you could just cut it and weld it. if it is welded with a mig it should be pretty strong.

[Syphon]

When you say 2cm think, do you actually mean thickness or width?

I have no idea what you would need 20mm thick steel for on a turbo setup, unless it's for flanges, spacer plates, or your making some brackets to hold a turbine off a 747?

If it is infact 20mm thick, as said previously, cut and weld. If it's only a few millimetres thick, either put it in a vice and hit with hammer, or take it down to a fabrication shop and get them to press bend it to required angle. Would cost you next to nothing to have it bent. Infact if they charged you, imo their tightasses

[MANWHOR3]

Ok, sorry for the confusion guys. Basically, iv'e mixed up 2 questions.

1. I'm installing a turbo and some of the brackets have problems clearing. The steel is about 5mm thick? I can't bend it with my hands. Never really thought about heating it, but I don't have an oxy torch.

2. I'm also wondering whether it's possible to bend a strut brace. Comes form an r32 and fouls slightly on the heatpad. I want to straigihten out the bends so it sits lower.

[R33S2]

5mm will bend with a helper, like a shifter, or if you want a fold line use 2 bits of flat each side with 2 shifters, if you want a deeper bend than that, a hammer and dolly (slightly curved block) or a vice.

Strutt braces by nature should be hard to bend, mines hollow and would be difficult to bend without a crease, a pipe bender may do it if the profile is right.

[bigdamoc]

5mm thick steel will be hard to bend by hand, i used to work with aluminium and i know from off the top of my head that steel is about 3 times as strong. Probably better off taking it somwhere and giving them a 6 pack of beers to bend it up for ya, at least that way the bend will be straight and be able to get the perfect angle you wish to achieve

[T04GTR]

bend it/ shape it abit at a time or it will fracture.

just use the stove to heat it after each atempt to re-aneal it or it will break.

strut brace.. jump on it