DIY Intercooler bead roller experience

[festyfreak39]

Hey all,

So one of the drawbacks with the ebay FMIC kits is by the time you size up and attatch all the intercooler piping to your universal application, the minute you hit boost, all of the pipes blow off because there are no ridges.

(this totally didnt happen to me )

Anyways, my first solution was to weld a ridge on, but they are aluminum and aluminum welders charge lots of cash for that sort of thing, i came across this DIY beadroller on another website a short time ago. It may be old news however i still think it should be stickied im sure this will help someone somewhere on here

Anyways... you take a set of vice grips, weld on a huge washer (or two smaller washers in my case), and an exhaust clamp bracket on the top i had all of this stuff laying around at my place the average car guy should too

Weld them up and you have yourself a bead roller

It takes alot of time to make a nice bead but nonetheless it works!

Also it doesnt look uber pretty bit its covered by silcone piping anyways so all you JDM fanboys can still use this. Here are the pics:










The ridges above took about 5-10 minutes to do.

[Damkid]

I've seen this method before, i think it's pretty slick, although i think if you use a bigger washer, it'll give a cleaner finish without scratching it up

[festyfreak39]

I've seen this method before, i think it's pretty slick, although i think if you use a bigger washer, it'll give a cleaner finish without scratching it up

I might weld on another washer to the setup lol, i couldnt find a big one.

i cant believe how well it works.

[91mcnasty]

Dude hell yes!!!! Chalk her up as another awesome cheap DIY tool!!!

[lessersivad]

Thanks for posting this.

I was wondering about this the other day for a different project and I think this may be a good solution.

[gauge_half_inch]

Definately going to harbor freight tomarrow to make one for myself. Thanks!

[mckabe]

Good idea.

[zoom zoom]

haha, that's pretty slick... If I ever need to I'll probably try this, do you think it would help clean it up if you put a rag between the tool and the pipe? or would it just eat thru the rag?

[festyfreak39]

haha, that's pretty slick... If I ever need to I'll probably try this, do you think it would help clean it up if you put a rag between the tool and the pipe? or would it just eat thru the rag?

Most likely, i also did a hack job rolling the bead..

I made the tool, and made the ridge in a matter of 30 mins before my mom came into the garage screaming "DINNER!" for the last time. lol.

If you got the proper washer size, and took your time patiently beading the piping it would look much more pretty.

[sasquatch]

ya, it looks like it needs a bigger washer...

[rollertoaster]

That's not too bad of a result for such a simple tool. My friends built a crank operated roller that allows you to crank and continually add pressure until you get the shape you want. Of course it cost a heck of a lot more than what you built.

Here is an intake I built with and used our roller on the ends.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[festyfreak39]

That's not too bad of a result for such a simple tool. My friends built a crank operated roller that allows you to crank and continually add pressure until you get the shape you want. Of course it cost a heck of a lot more than what you built.

Here is an intake I built with and used our roller on the ends.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is ideal and super baller, i need somethign that can weld aluminum BADLY

I was thinking a scratch to start DC.

[gorgonheimer]

I think really thick leather on inside and outside would stop the scoring.

[NovaSS]

pretty cool idea

[Advancedynamix]

They sell a bead roller at harbor freight similar to what rollertoaster used. I've had one in the past that I reinforced and it would even roll beads in 16g stainless tubing. It takes up a lot more room than the vice grip beading tool though, that's pretty slick!