| "It looks pretty easy to do..." Yeah, RIGHT. I think there is about 20 hours into all of the piping; planning the routes, cutting mandrel bends, tack welding, test fitting, more cutting/trimming, tack welding, moving to the next bend, repeat process over and over and over again. Then once you are done, you get to do it a second time, but in a mirror image to the first set. Once that is done, the joints are final-welded and then ground smooth, usually requiring additional welding here and there and more grinding to eliminate any sign of a welded joint, not to mention, cleaning up the joints on the inside (at least the ones that can be reached with a cartridge roll and mandrel). But alas, perseverence pays off: 
The piping may look a little bit rough due to the fact it is aluminized and the welded areas have been ground smooth and the steel is exposed, but the metal's surface is nice and smooth. All of these pipes, including the intercooler end-tanks, will be powdercoated gloss black along with these babies: 
The intake piping will be completely 2.5" in diameter from the filters to the 60mm throttlebodies, with the small exception of the compressor inlets (2.25") and the compressor outlets (2.0"). I think in all, there is less than 8" of anything less than 2.5" in the entire system. I will have the compressor inlet and outlet pipes coated with ceramic to help protect them from radiant heat coming off the
exhaust manifolds as well - the the TiAl BOVs will be mounted somewhere close to where the pictures show them to be located (they are just sitting there at the moment). I am hoping to have the car running by the end of next week and drive it up to Gainesville (folks live there) for Christmas. :) Stay tuned: I'm putting together pics and a writeup on the dual fuel pump install and setup in a few days. :)
[ ashspecz.com ]
[ agpowers@bellsouth.net ] Enthusiasts soon understand each other. --W. Irving.
Are you an enthusiast? If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.
Albert Einstein
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AshsZ-II Ultimate Street Z Progress: 2.5" Induction/SMIC - 
22:34:52 12/14/05
