I am planning on doing some welding (TIG) on an OEM Honda intake manifold (B18a1). The reason why isn't that important, but what I need to know is if the bond or strength of the weld will be naturally weak since the aluminum being welded is casted?

A while back, I stumbled upon http://www.theoldone.com, and I saw their d-series supercharger manifold. I noticed, and from what the article specified, that the manifold was a cut and welded Edelbrock manifold. Endyn used the Edelbrock runners/flange and welded it to the supercharger plenum. This is why I think that I just might be able to accomplish my goal. However, I don't know if there is a key difference in the grade of aluminum that Edelbrock uses for their manifolds versus the Honda OEM version, which i'm sure they probably do, that allowed Endyn to easily weld aluminum plating to it. I also don't know the grade of aluminum that Endyn used for their plenum.

Any thoughs on this?

 

There are probably some of the best welders in the country that are members of this site. Come on, I need to know this.

Thanks ahead of time.

 

bump this up cause i sure need to know too

 

Bump for you man. Very interesting. Would like to see some info.

 

Best thing to do is start welding and see what happens. More than likely it will go together good, if you have problems with the old aluminum cracking next to the weld as it cools heat the part up good with a torch or in the oven. Then weld and then let it cool slowly.

 

It will weld fine. Pre-heat to between 175-300 degrees to make welding easier.
It also helps to cook out some of the grease that comes with intake manifolds.
Clean it with brakleen, then acetone or alum cleaner, then pre-heat.

 

Yes - preheat them in the oven, especially the cast part. I usually go to 400 degrees and let it cook for a while to bake out as much of the crap as I can.