Welding a port divider? Arc or TiG?

[CobraSix]

Which way should I go about welding up the port divider...Arc (stick) or TiG (wire)? I have access to each kind of welder. Thanks.

Slade

 

[63comet]

Depends on your ability, tig is a much neater looking weld, but if you can stick weld, some people are pretty good at this also. You can also use wire feed or mig.

 

[CobraSix]

So it really doesn't matter...I think I'll TiG...I suck at stick welding.

Slade

 

[Anonymous]

I think I read a thread a wile back that, (by Jack, when he was trying to adapt a cross flow head to a 200 block) because the heads are cast you need to pre-heat them and that brazing rod is a good choice because it melts at lower temperatures, there would be less chance of cracking. Also you need to let the head cool gradually. I'm not sure if this is correct, I couldn't find the original thread, must have been BTC (before the crash). Please give an opinion as I too need to weld in a port devider.

 

[Thad]

Have you ever brazed using a TIG set-up for the heat.
There are several good brazing alloys out there that would work great.

 

[63comet]

I had mine tig welded using cast iron filler, you could also use bronze filler rod. The advantage of tig is that you don't heat the piece up all that much, if you were going to be doing a lot of welding on the head, then I would suggest as Jack said, preheat the head and cover it with a welding blanket after to let it cool slowly. It's the rapid cooling that causes cracks 9 out of 10 times.You should mill the head after anyway, to ensure that it is flat. You could use a long file and draw file it if aren't real particular. The main reason I milled it was to add a couple of degrees more pitch to push the headers out a little.

 

[MustangSix]

I can tell you that they often crack when MIG'd and glue is out of the question. Brazing may be a good choice because of its ductility, but given the option I welding it with a nickel stick or TIG with a nicle rod might be the most durable. You could also bolt it in from the carb side.