Welder needed

[redfalken]

Does anyone have recommendations for a welder in the area that would be able to do cast iron properly? I understand it's a little tricky to do right. I want to have a port divider welded in to the cylinder head (`82 200 six) I'm rebuilding.

I want to get this done before I pay for any machining in case something happens.

Thanks...

[Cougsteve]

Hello Kenny,

Have you heard of this stuff? It's supposed to make it a WHOLE lot easier to do welding on cast iron. When you do find a welder over on your side of the mountains, inquire of them if they know of/use this product. A little bit spendy but from what I gather...no hassle of super preheating and also wondering if it'll hold.

http://www.muggyweld.com/castiron.html

Later,

Wazzusteve

[pbrown]

Have you asked Elliot if he could do it?

[redfalken]

I haven't asked Eliot yet. Are you subscribed yet Eliot??

Steve...I did come across that Muggy Weld when I was searching for info on welding cast iron. I don't know enough about welding to know if it sounds good but I will ask around. I will call the shop that's doing the machine work (Hill Machine Headworks) and see if they know of someone. He only has a little buzz box so didn't want to attempt it.

I've also heard you need to heat the head to over 500 degrees, use a nickle rod and then cool it down very slowly. I've also read peening the weld will help. It sounds like I'll need to find someone who has some experience and special equipment.

[MacDee]

I once got through to a not-too-helpful tech support person at Clifford when I was considering headers. He told me the port divider should be BRAZED in, not welded.

[redfalken]

I've also heard that brazing is an option. There's a lot of discussing about installing it (or NOT) on www.fordsix.com. The manifold that was originally on mine was brazed and it held up well. I'll let everyone know how it turns out. I haven't had time to call around yet but will try to next week.

[bmotojoe]

Hello first post,
Yes you will want to use a good nickel rod if you decide on stick welding. Brazing works also and may be the way you might want to go. After the part has been repaired I would also send it off to have it resurfaced to make sure it didn’t warp causing problems down the road.
I have repaired cast parts by welding with good results stick and brazing. If there is a crack that one is trying to fill you must first drill a small hole at each end of the crack or it will continue to crack as you weld.
Brian
Renton, Wa.

[redfalken]

Hi Brian,

First off welcome to the forum. I had a few other projects come up so I haven't called around about finding a welder yet. I'm looking to weld in a port divider into the middle exhaust ports and it's before I've had any machine work done, other than hot tank and magnaflux.

I'll add to this post with some photos when I finally get it done. Anyone know of a shop that does cast iron??

[Luva65wagon]

Kenny,

I've welded cast iron before, but it is tricky. I didn't want to push the fact when the issue came up with regard to the wheel studs. Cast is typically brazed, not welded, per se. Perhaps just semantics, but it's real important to pre-heat the cast iron. I've seen Muggy Weld in action, but have never purchased any. Never find myself needing to weld cast that often.

FWIW, I didn't weld my port divider in. I have headers (from Clifford) and was able to design everything so that the headers held it in place without welding. It's been running it this way now for about 5 years -- albeit it doesn't see the daily use yours gets. But I've removed the headers about 3 times now (for various and sundry reasons) and it's looking fine as well. And my head was still attached to my shoulders, I mean to my engine, so it wasn't easy to get to anyway.

If you've got the head out, it would be worth welding in. Have you asked the machine shop doing the valve grind if they can do it? The fix cracks in heads, they may be able to implement the same type of procedure. You're only trying to keep it from falling out and rattling around in there.

[redfalken]

Just a follow-up:

After a lot of asking around, I finally found a place in Marysville called "Cast Iron Repair Specialists" that heats the piece up, welds, and cools it down slowly. Luckily a guy I work with lives in Marysville so he's volunteered to drop it off and then I'll get a price from the guy. They were recommended by Jim Green's Performance Center.

I also found a place in Portland called "Diesel Cast West" but that's a little far away and shipping would be a pain. I called Elliot but he doesn't have the equipment to do it. He did recommend a place on Leary called Walrus Machine but I haven't spoke with them.