D.I.Y Product Spotlight - 90 Degree Cast Aluminum Elbows

What is a Cast Elbow?

A Cast Aluminum Elbow is a tight radius section of alloy, this is made by pouring liquid molten aluminum into a mold, the molten material sets and hardens creating a Cast Elbow. With conventional ways of forming tube i.e mandrel bending you are limited to how tight the radius of the bend can be. In most cases a standard radius bend is not an issue but when dealing with tight spaces in engine bays of vehicles a cast elbow really shows it advantages.

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What does a Cast Elbow do?

The main advantage of using a Cast Elbow is to weld them to turbo compressor covers to eliminate the heat from turbos or manifold runners melting silicon joiners. This will ensure your inter-cooler piping remains leak free and reliable in this area.

This is a good example on how hot manifolds get when under load, you can see from the photo the cast elbow has moved the silicon joiner away from the heat.

Cast elbow welded to turbo compressor cover.

Without heat shielding this silicon joiner can melt if the manifold runners get to hot or over time the silicon will become brittle and crack from the expansion from boost pressure

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Cast Elbow vs Standard Radius Elbow

Both of these options eliminate the chances of melting silicon joiners that are close to turbo housings & manifold runners. The main reason a cast elbow has a advantage over a standard radius elbow is the CLR. (what is a CLR) This is a lot tighter on the cast elbow meaning for tight spaces they are an ideal option.

The cast elbow also has the same surface finish as a turbo compressor cover so cosmetically the cast elbow matches the comp. cover

Cast Elbow welded to compressor cover

Alloy donut welded to compressor cover

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A few tips to prevent your silicon joiner from being effected by heat

In the photo below shows some heat reflective cloth that has been applied to the silicon joiner, it is held in place by placing the cloth under the hose clamp that holds the joiner in place.

Another way that you can prevent heat from effecting the joiner is to manufacture a solid heat shielding and bolt it in place using the bolts of the compressor cover. There are range of different heat shields available that can be shaped or you can manufacture shields from sheet metal and rivet the reflective cloth to the shield.