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2024 and all 7xxx are expensive, and 2024 is not very corrosion resistant due to copper content. However on Onlinemetals (among other places) you can get 6063-t52 round tube which is cheaper, weaker, but less brittle than 6061-T6. I suspect that at 500F it's probably around the same strength as 6061. Apparently 6063-t52 is easier to bend than 6061-t6, although since this is already pretty ghetto I might just reuse stock bends or get stainless steel ones.
My idea is that using a strong exhaust tube isn't the most mass-efficient way...the tube only needs to hold in the gas and sorta not deform. Using a larger number of aluminum fasteners that spread the load across a greater area of the tube should be able to cut cost and weight. Hopefully. Thin walled tube is pretty cheap so I'm definitely trying this someday, keyword being someday.
EDIT: sorry 6063 only comes in 1/8" wall on onlinemetals...I probably was looking at 6061. But still on the quest to find cheaper aluminum! 5xxx would be nice since it's particularly corrosion resistant.
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