I have a drag manifold that I wanted to seld a adapter to. Both ar cast. What do you guys think I should use?? Would a stick welder work?? I have access to one at work.

these are the 2 items:

 

Welding Cast iron is exceedingly difficult. You'll need to TIG it, and preheat both pieces, then cool them in sand to slow the cooling and try to prevent cracks. Why not just stud/nut them together?

 

heat it up with a torch, weld it up with a mig ,tig, arc whatever you got. then let it cool.
you dont need a tig to do it. i used a mig welder and put down a fat *** bead and never once had a problem. I only used a torch to heat it up because i was told cast does not like fast temp changes and it can crack.

 

Ive weld cast before using a torch to heat it then tigging it but Ive done the same using a mig, use whatever you got on hand

 

yep what everyone else said. Worst part is the cracking. Hella gay!

 

so does that mean I can use a regular rod to stick weld it. I cant stud it b/c the holes are predrilled to small. smaller than the ones in the pics. the hole needs to be bigger but there is no room for a nut on the other side. I want to weld it for the time being until I get something better.

what heat and rod does everyone recomend.

 

I arc welded a steel pipe to a cast iron downpipe off of a mazda turbo with a 6013 3/32 rod at ~100 amps. I preheated the iron and pipe first with a torch then welded the items up.
Then it is important to prolong the cooling of the iron for as long as possible to prevent cracking. It is recommended that you place the hot iron in a bucket of sand and bury it, allowing it to cool as slowly as possible. These steps do not necessarily guarantee that the iron won't crack, however they do give you the best fighting chance.
I should also mention that I used my arc over my mig simply because my mig wasn't powerful enough, however you probably have better control of your heat with mig/tig. I have read that the smaller the HAZ the more reliable the weld will be. Also, there are iron arc rods available, I used the 6013 because i was welding steel to iron. Hope this helps somewhat.

 

There are nickel rods designed specifically for welding cast iron. They are typically expensive.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k24em2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There are nickel rods designed specifically for welding cast iron. They are typically expensive.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yuppp.

Did you guys know its not worth trying to weld cast iron stuff pre-ww2 because of the shitty metal and the amount of sand in it? My welding teacher told me that the other day.


He also told us that if you want to weld a crack in cast iron you have to drill the egdes or else you will chase the crack the whole way around whatever you are welding.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Fenrir51 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Yuppp.

Did you guys know its not worth trying to weld cast iron stuff pre-ww2 because of the shitty metal and the amount of sand in it? My welding teacher told me that the other day.


He also told us that if you want to weld a crack in cast iron you have to drill the egdes or else you will chase the crack the whole way around whatever you are welding.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That makes sense, kinda like burning the brush before the forest fire gets there.

 

so why not bolt it together?

 

Ive decided to just get anouther manifold. Im set back anouther few months. expletive