Question on welding cast iron.

**rick130** · 2nd March 2011, 03:27 PM

Bill, which Nissan t/case was iron ?

Is it as far back as the old G60 or newer such as the MQ ?
SWMBO had an MQ shorty when we first met but I can't recall what the t/case was like, just that the g/box was a sweet shifter behind the 2.8 six and it rode like a tip dray, even with only half a leaf pack front and rear.

The only experience I've had with successful cast iron welding was when dear old Dad welded a Terry refrigeration compressor flywheel up when the compressor hydrauliced on liquid refrigerant.

Usually they smashed valves and bent rods, in this scenario it just smashed the nose clean off the flywheel.
Lots of pre and post heat in our big oven we had in the workshop and it lasted for about another six years until I changed it for a new one.

It was an all nighter at the time, it had close to $25,000 of Italian salami in the room to save. (it was on their curing room)
IIRC it had something like a 10-12HP electric motor driving it, probably nothing like the thrust loads your t/case conversion would experience.

**steveG** · 2nd March 2011, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by Hall

No problems welding cast iron. Has to be clean though. As in not soaked in oil. Has to be warmed up before welding to avoid heat shock and cracking. Need to buy cast iron welding rods, not sure you can get them in small quantity`s though. I`m guessing you won`t be needing a lot. You can also braze cast iron with good results.
Cheers Hall

Was down at my local engineering supplies place today and saw small blister packs of cast iron rods - about 10 of them. Not cheap though at about $50 for the pack. Think the brand was Magoweld or something similar.

Steve

**one_iota** · 2nd March 2011, 04:10 PM

Handbook-Welding Cast Iron

**wagoo** · 2nd March 2011, 04:38 PM

Thanks for both the technical and amusing replies Gentlemen.

It's an old G60 transfercase I want to do. The case has been lying around empty in the weather for over 20 years, so it is totally oil free. If the bearing bore diameters haven't rusted oversize I'll try to use that. Alternatively I could cut the front and rear faces off, mill them flat and bolt them to a perimeter frame that I could weld up.
Wagoo.

**isuzutoo-eh** · 2nd March 2011, 04:44 PM

Wanna swap for my County?

**ozscott** · 2nd March 2011, 05:22 PM

I welded up a cast iron section on a tractor chassis (very old) and used some special cast iron rods and an Esseti 150amp inverter stick. I didnt have the option of heating it up. One side held, and the other side didnt. Next time I will just have to heat it up slowly with a small oxy.

There is a great (and old) book on welding all sorts of metals with a great chapter on cast. I will see if I can find it.

Cheers

**bee utey** · 2nd March 2011, 05:45 PM

An old friend of mine made a 1:1 vee drive out of two VW Kombi drop boxes. He had to weld it twice as the first time he didn't allow enough for the shrinkage after welding. Using pre-heating and cast rods it worked well and took a P76 V8's punishment in an off -road buggy.

Other people who I have seen repair cast iron have used ordinary brazing. It requires a lot of oxy/acetylene though.

**85 county** · 2nd March 2011, 05:54 PM

Firstly I don’t think it would be cast iron. cast steel yes, cast iron is for the wood burning stove and not gear bags, one hit and it would go bang.

Any way if it is cast iron and you wish to trust it afterwards i strongly advise you to braze it. braze each side first ( after prep Veeing out) the a bit of a grind to get them matched then braze them together.
Cast steel, you can get cast steel gas rods but nothing beats AC arc ( forget DC), now because it is a casting prep is all important. there could be all sorts of crap on//in there, so a good look when Veeing out.

pre heat is just to take the chill out, your spit should boil but no color.

**rick130** · 2nd March 2011, 06:33 PM

Here's some more shots of Bill's old 6x6

**rick130** · 2nd March 2011, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by 85 county

Firstly I don’t think it would be cast iron. cast steel yes, cast iron is for the wood burning stove and not gear bags, one hit and it would go bang.

[snip]

Isn't there a colour difference in the sparks given off when grinding ?
IIRC that's the easy way to tell the difference.

Thread: Question on welding cast iron.

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