welding on the log....

[XFlow_Fairlane]

so I am working on a E0 head for a direct mount. I milled it flat and looking at it if I could add a little material over the EGR port area (about 1/4"-3/8") and fill in a little divit next to one of the intake ports I would be able to drill and tap for a weber carb pattern and just use a weber-holley adaptor on the head. I am wanting to do this. I have welded cast iron before with no problems but nothing this big (just broken tabs and such) I am told that if I preheat the head to about 400-500 where I am welding and to post head it along with hammer welding it that I should be ok? in th epast I simply just did short tacks on cold metal (3/8"-1/2" long beads with 20 mins between each one) I was going to pick up some nickle rod this weekend and give this a shot. so do I have a chance of this working or is it going to crack like mad?

 

[PutPut6]

I've welded on my old head with mig(flux core) and have never had a problem, never heated it or anything. But I've never ran the head on anything, so I don't know if it would last through all the heat cycles.

 

[XFlow_Fairlane]

on my old 2.3 motor I broke off one of the ears ont eh block for the trans to bolt up to (got a pilot bearing stuck in the crank and snapped it off when tightening th ebolts up) all I did was grind out the break a little and bolt it all up to a spare bell I had and welded it up and it held fine (even through a wreck) I guess I will be firing firing up the buzz box in a week or two to have a go at this.

 

[Anonymous]

This is exactly what the shop did on the 80 250 head I have. they built up these areas by stick welding with a torch then milled flat. Next, they drilled a second hole slightly overlapping the stock carb hole so that the two butterflies of the Holley 2v carb would fully open. Next they drilled a couple holes then tapped them. I used a 1-inch Holley 2v carb spacer as an adapter and mounted the spacer on the milled section of the log, drilling and countersinking three holes in the spacer. Used bolts at the 4 corners and installed the carb. Care has to be taken to locate the spacer on the log far enough away from the valve cover that the carb will clear the valve cover.

 

[XFlow_Fairlane]

is it that close to the valvecover? are you mounting with the fuel bowl facing the fender or valve cover?

 

[Inline6Merc]

Always when welding on cast iron, tap the weld with a hammer. Just lightly not hard. just my 2 cents.


LAter,

Curtis

 

[XFlow_Fairlane]

I always buzz box weld and after finishing a short bead I always peen the heck out of it (basicly tap away with the chip hammer) for a couple mins while it first cools.

 

[Anonymous]

is it that close to the valvecover? are you mounting with the fuel bowl facing the fender or valve cover?

The fuel bowl faces away from the valve cover and hangs over the exhaust manifold. Its also a good idea to fab up a heat shield to redirect the heat away from the bowl.

Later,


Doug

 

[XFlow_Fairlane]

now I know the nickle rod is used since it has more give to it over a steel rod to dealw ith the heat stresses. but if I preheat can I get away with a steel rod?

 

[64.5 TX Stang]

Actually one of the big advantages of the nickle rod is that the coefficient of expanstinon of high nickle steel is very low. I believe that is what helps keep the cast iron from cracking is that as the weld cools the fill material does not shrink very much leading to lower residual stresses, and a low chance of cracking the base material.

if you want to know more on hihg nickle steel do a google search on "invar" it was one of the first high nickle steelsdiscovered, and is still used extensively today in things like cryogenic pipelines becasue of its properties.