M5 revitalized

[Teeson1111]

in for fab porn

[sylvass]

Amazing work put into the parts making man. I wish i had all those machines. Luckily for me my dad have most of em on his work and some smaller drillers and machines in his garage. Buying a aftermarket header is $$$ as hell...

[Freddye]

Love this

[Fruttolo]

Love the fab work

[EasySpeed*Inc]

The thing about making headers is you need at least two points, A being the exhaust ports and B being the location of the collectors. Here i will be making a simple jig to position the second point B (where the collectors are positioned) i will be using a set of super sprint headers as a guide

Bolted the SS's onto the engine,will be then bolting the entire sub frame/engine back into the car to start the making the jig
DSC08230 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Before collectors are in place
DSC08236 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Collectors back on, as you can see these do not hang down like other SS's, these were actually modified to fit a slammed 7 series with an M5 drive train swap and were tucked way up as to not hit everything
DSC08252 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Here lies the A,B sections of the headers, collectors are a kit
DSC08396 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Its a simple jig that will be bolted to the trans
DSC08277 by tom maloy, on Flickr


DSC08295 by tom maloy, on Flickr

DSC08430 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Tacked collectors to jig
DSC08467 by tom maloy, on Flickr

DSC08474 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Now that A,B are in place i can start the tube making
DSC08233 by tom maloy, on Flickr

DSC08547 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Pie cuts are for fine tuning, I will be using pre-made bends where possible
DSC08647 by tom maloy, on Flickr

DSC08665 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Driver side is going to be the first side I do, Its more complicated than the passenger, figured its best to knock out the hard one first
DSC08686 by tom maloy, on Flickr

The first few pieces
DSC08725 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Till next update

[EasySpeed*Inc]

New tools! cheap ones at that


It bores holes, I am sorry I wish it was more interesting than that


I need to open these about 1/8" to reach the 1 3/4" I.D.


Boring was a surprisingly fast process, drilling the flange thru bolt holes now


Mini production mode


Cut a small relief to help with centering the tubing when fabricating the runners


The final product


Octuplets




Now to the not so fun part, tearing these super sprints apart and then we can start the header building process!


This took many hours of fighting to get these things all back apart


Now that they are apart the really fun stuff can start


Next update will involve many tubes being cut and tacked

[Dr. Satan]

I was a little skeptical about buying one of these due to all the needed replacements and potential nightmares, but after browsing this thread, I'm confident that none of it is difficult to overcome. I'll be checking out some other threads of yours for sure!

[EasySpeed*Inc]

Amazing how we all start with "I'll just replace this little sucker to prevent future headaches" and then we end up with an overhaul.
Looking good, watching this one for sure!

Story of my life haha! Its a sickness I think but I don't mind going over board, Thanks!

Thanks for the excellent pictures!!

My pleasure, I enjoy the photography as much as the fab work, Thanks!

Very cool! Please keep us posted of all the details as you build the headers.

Will do my friend!

Love the E39 M5....... Always wanted one, but regrettably they are essentially impossible to get where I live currently; so if you don't mind, I shall live vicariously through you.
BTW, are these headers gong to be as crazy as everything else that you build?

Dude I am sorry to hear that, hopefully this build helps as much as possible.

M5's are such a cool car, id love to own one

Get one! They are fairly cheap all things considered, except for the parts and maintenance....

This is spurring me on to get stuck into my own M5. Love it! Please keep us updated with your progress.

Its one of those things where you kinda just have to jump and bite the bullet, totally worth it if you plan to keep it long term. I always tell myself where else can you get 400hp, 6 speed, 4 doors, rear wheel drive for well under $20K. New Chevy SS is the only true alternative I feel..

[EasySpeed*Inc]

3D printed the flange for some mock up



Blue flanges would be interesting though
DSC07560 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Also turned out to be a great pattern as well
DSC07844 by tom maloy, on Flickr

I decided to make the flanges by manual machining, something I have always wanted to do with the old Bridgey
DSC07867 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Blues stainless brother, these flanges are 316 SS and the tubing 304L SS
DSC07870 by tom maloy, on Flickr

This is where auto feeding bandsaws shine, long cuts are a breeze with this beast
DSC07960 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Box O tubes
DSC07980 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Cutting continues
DSC07990 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Hang em high
DSC07996 by tom maloy, on Flickr


I also have a set of super sprints for helping with the mock up process, will make this way easier
DSC08012 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Serious plug
DSC08020 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Stainless is no joke machining, but once you get the feed speed down it cuts quite nicely, also the high quality hole saw is key
DSC08043 by tom maloy, on Flickr

The holesaw is just the first step, I will be boring the I.D. to the correct diameter
DSC08022 by tom maloy, on Flickr

Till next time.

[thirtynine]

This is spurring me on to get stuck into my own M5. Love it! Please keep us updated with your progress.

[issa_m3]

M5's are such a cool car, id love to own one

[Tate]

Love the E39 M5....... Always wanted one, but regrettably they are essentially impossible to get where I live currently; so if you don't mind, I shall live vicariously through you.
BTW, are these headers gong to be as crazy as everything else that you build?

[Tate]

Love the E39 M5....... Always wanted one, but regrettably they are essentially impossible to get where I live currently; so if you don't mind, I shall live vicariously through you.
BTW, are these headers gong to be as crazy as everything else that you build?

[nsogiba]

Very cool! Please keep us posted of all the details as you build the headers.

[gnmzl]

Amazing how we all start with "I'll just replace this little sucker to prevent future headaches" and then we end up with an overhaul.
Looking good, watching this one for sure!