Has anyone had any luck welding their own exhaust manifold or had it done and can recommend someone in wellington please?
supernova2,
Jul 24, 6:25pm
Find someone with a Henrob welding torch.
paul861,
Jul 24, 6:29pm
I've brazed them with some success , but its tricky. need it bolted to the head to minimize distortion and pre/post heated . I could weld one as well , but its tricky, using similar technique, also doing short welds and penning. i've also tryed spraying with a powder and oxy acetylene, i forget the correct term .don't expect a successful result to be cheap
snoopy221,
Jul 24, 6:32pm
Good engineer /welder and cast rods. Can actually be migged as well
framtech,
Jul 24, 6:36pm
Not really a weldable product, usually drilled and plugged, then peened. There used to be a powder feed brazing torch, expensive and there were some firms that did that. Most easy fix is to replace the whole manifold with a new free flow exhaust which give you a better exhaust anyway. If the car is common, then you can most likely buy one ready made, people like Colby.
intrade,
Jul 24, 7:16pm
can be welded but needs a oven and some skill. The place in swizerland where we got diecast injection moulding welded also done cast iron old engine blocks the problem is if the oven is to small to preheat it.
intrade,
Jul 24, 7:20pm
manifold usually not worth it as its quite EXPENSIVE to preheat a piece and weld it in sand i think they used he said. Normally you switch to stainless headers on cars or a knowen good manifold.
gamefisher,
Jul 24, 7:21pm
Metal-spray is the best and then brazing. There are arc welding rod available, but I have never seen long term success using them for exhaust manifolds as the manifolds are expanding and contracting with the heat all the time.
snoopy221,
Jul 24, 7:24pm
Ya just KNOW no-one posting in here has actually welded cast iron with a decent welder and good cast rods without preheating and slow after cooling Personally using current recent technology. over 20 years ago yes preheating and cooling due to the type of cast rods available then.
tony9,
Jul 24, 7:30pm
Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.
intrade,
Jul 24, 7:33pm
yes that was about 20 years ago.
oversize,
Jul 24, 7:44pm
wouldn't cold stitching be better?
ladatrouble,
Jul 24, 8:00pm
Have one and have done the manifold repair with no prep, no preheat and a piston ring as filler rod - it works, although I didn't put that manifold into service, just a practice run. Previously have used cast rods with success, and also brazing. But in these days of bite your arse for trying help someone, I wouldn't go there. I'd buy a brand new manifold and charge them max for it. But the OP was your own. so yes, that is what I'd do for myself.
budgel,
Jul 24, 9:46pm
Do a search of youtube, look at several videos. Pay attention to which rods are used. For example:
I have Snoops, actually 40 years back, but with heating and slow cooling. TEA Fergy blocks just behind the carb at about the bottom of the sleeves, where they all crack. Block pre-heated in the forge. Cast iron rods, young welder with the slide out for maximum grunt. Weld, peen, grind, weld, peen, grind several times. Cool in the forge overnight. 4 or 5 done successfully.
tshop,
Jul 24, 10:31pm
You dont need to pin it down and cast its easy to cut, easy to do and Ive done it a heap of times Ford cast iron manifolds seems best no cracks, even if it does just follow it with more weld where it'll eventually stop. Hanging light weight stainless tubing off a cast iron header plate is the go.
gettinggrey,
Jul 25, 2:17pm
Arc welder and cast rods to repair a crook Holden 202 head. One of the cooling water holes back down at the sixth cylinder had chewed away and reached the gasket edge (maybe previous owner didn't use anti-freeze/anti-corrosion fluid?). Water leaked into the cylinder. Ground away the wee bit of rotten stuff with the Dremel, and pre-heated by propane torch. When it felt 'about' right for heat I arc welded the head to reduce the size of the hole back to where it should be. Some very careful flat file work after it cooled down and the job was done. Still OK years later when I sold it. After the welding/filing job you couldn't see the repair. so I figured I did it right.
gsimpson,
Jul 25, 6:35pm
If it worked 20 years ago why would it not work now?
yz490,
Jul 25, 9:03pm
Was 20 years ago but got some good arc welding rods from a welding specialist to do my Toyota Grande 2 liter straight 6 think was an "82 model. Welded ok & lasted. Think that model had a reputation for manifold cracking [& rust lol]. Had two of them & both did it. Sorry can't remember the name of the rod now but think it came up a sort of golden colour & super nice to weld with, sort of a soft note instead of a loud arc sound.
jrlaw,
Jul 26, 8:40am
Welder in the Rongotea area , great cast iron welder, Thomas Rowe I think his name is.
marte,
Jul 27, 12:02am
#19 I think they were RSP rods, lotsa nickel in them, like $3 a rod 20 yrs ago. I got some a while ago to weld some chain but forgot the price. Their flux is very hard & its easy to get slag inclusion & after the weld, don't look so close at it because the slag cools & suddenly pops off and sticks to your face.
56s is a cheaper rod that's 'supposed' to be able to weld cast iron. Never used it for that though. & with brazing, you can grind the Vee out, but you have to file the faces off or the braze won't stick.
friendly_prawn,
Jul 27, 7:10am
i watched that SOS program on tv where they fixed a cracked engine block. It just doesn't make sense to me how it could possibly work, but it did. According to them it was the only way to do it.
poppajn,
Jul 27, 9:00am
Yes, seen them do 2 lately
yz490,
Jul 29, 10:18pm
Thanks 'marte' re my post #19 yep that'd be the rod.
gsimpson,
Jul 29, 11:27pm
We used RSPs to join dis-similar metals but there were different rods for cast iron. Used them successfully on many occasions. Not hard to use but required a special technique. "Puddling" rather than vee out join.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.