here are some more pics after the thing was put together. as you can see, it's not the prettiest, but i just wanted to see if the principle functions better than my old one. if this one performs better, then i'll try to make a 3rd one with the 3x3" copper that i have and make it look all shiny and stuff.
i also thought about those holes i made in the inlet: if they cause any trouble, i can always take a dremel to them and cut them out through the barb w/o even taking anything apart. that would be impossible at this point anyway, cuz i JB welded everything to prevent leaks, just in case
