Thread: welding question

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Has anybody ever tried to mig weld stainless exhaust pipe to steel exhaust pipe ? I'm guessing it doesn't work or its weak but I thought I ask.

Haven't done it, but from what I've read on the welding forums it's more an issue of the appearance than the strength. I'm thinking that they recommended a 309 filler wire to stick to the stainless, but that may not be right, and that it tended to clump up on the mild steel? The muffler shops do it, but they're not into appearance.

The X pipe is used in my El Camino was stainless and the rest of the pipes were steel, it welded easily with the mig and it's been on for over 3 years now with no problems.


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Stainless welds easily. Even a cheapie flux core mig can make it stick to old exhaust. The stainless will tend to sink the heat. Get equal penetration and it will be plenty strong.

Works good if you use the correct wire for welding stainless...

Ok guys thanks for the answers, I'll be trying it with regular and stainless mig wire . I'll post results.

Do it all the time at the shop. Most cars 96 up use stainless systems and the replacement mufflers etc. are galvanized steel,unless the customer wants to pay for O.E.M. which most don't/won't. We use the harbor freight wire in the exhaust mig welder and have no issues.

Biggest issue is just the nasty looking splatter all over------works better with 100 % argon but most migs only use 25/75 co2 mix

Thanks for the replys guys.. I will be using 100% argon with my spool gun, going to try some stainless wire also.

they make a spray you can use to help eliminate spatter from welds

i use to fix the turbo buick v6 Gm headers with mild steel mig used 75/25 mix turned up the heat abit more the type 4series magnetic stain less steel can be mild steel welded did it many times with a mig but in time steel can rot out . strait argon will make more heat in weld . an can under cut in weld fillet in a mig machine using mild steel filler wire . it never made a cleaner weld out of the one machine snap on industrial i had at the time. you can ask about a tri mix at the welding shop for the mig i think its called stargon trade name . now i weld every thing with the tig were i use 347 filler rod for welding stain less steel for EX and that would be for 4 series or 3s like 308 or any of the 3 series stain less steel .using 347 filler will cut down intergranular corrosion creep on a EX can be a problem. with Tig i use only Argon for this welding of this type base metal and mild steel as the tig machine is a different animal then a mig .i do use a gas mix with the tig of helium and argon for aluminum work . i use solar flux if needed on SS steel . i used anti spatter jell or spray with mig. happy welding

Pat: Thanks for your time posting. Some day I hope to a tig and be more versatile.

Ok guys here what I did. I welded my exhaust pipe to the stainless collector with my mig using steel wire with 25/75 gas mix. I welded just fine.