I have to weld a mild steel stud to a cast iron exhaust manifold. I'm no professional welder, but I can weld most mild steel with no problems. I know that cast iron needs a special rod, which I was told is a nickle rod. My question is how to weld this since it's both cast iron AND mild steel. Will this special nickle rod weld both? This is an AC stick welder. The weld itself is pretty small, just to make the stud stay in the stripped manifold hole.
Are there any special things I need to know about welding with these nickle rods? I have never use one?
You say it is a simple thing just to hold a stud in a stripped hole. You may get lucky, and have enough fusion to hold it, or it might not fuse correctly and pop out the first time you torque it or it heats up. It's a crapshoot. If you want to just try it, zap it with a 7018 rod with stinger positive at a high amperage, making sure to get a puddle and fuse base and adjoining metal. If you want to be more sure, take it to a shop. Doing it right according to the book entails preheating, welding with a special rod, and postheating.
I'm not the OP, but I have a tendency to think anything I've never bought before will be very expensive. I needed two small pieces of lucite 25 years ago. Turned out to cost only a dollar a piece.
Needed foam rubber. I forget but it seemed cheap when I bought it. (3rd replacement last year seemed expensive. :) )
And welding when I needed some, was cheap too. although my needs were less demaning than the OP describes.
I wonder if I'll ever get over the feeling that all new things are expensive.
When you first brought this problem up a couple weeks ago, you were told to use a Helicoil. Why didn't you? That's *exactly* the problem Helicoils are made to solve.
The hole only goes in about 5/8" deep and will require a special tap, which is also not available, and probably very costly.
A one dollar welding rod sounds much easier and cheaper, but if it's this risky, it looks like I am back to square one.
A elderly guy who used to be a mechanic said he had one like mine, and he could not tap it either because the hole is so shallow and does not exit on the top of the manifold. He's a Ford guy, and he went on for
15 minutes how GM really f**ked up on these manifolds. I am not "sold" on either Ford or Gm because they both have their faults, but I will agree with him about this manifold being a poor design. He told me he once had the exact same problem, and he tried everything. He even tried some furnace cement but found it would not stick, He finally went and just drilled at an angle right thru the side of the manifold and put a bolt right thru the side of it at an angle. He said he pushed the bolt in the hole and bent it somewhat straight at the tip. This might be my only option aside from replacing the manifold, which I wont even consider as an option with all the AC pieces and other junk that would have to be removed to get it out, if not pulling the engine entirely. I'd take it to a welding shop in a second, but once again, I'd have to remove the damn thing. I'm beginning to think it's Maybe time for a different car because this is getting real tiring.....
If only someone made an extremely hi-temp epoxy. Don't NASA have such a thing?
You haven't been looking very hard. Got an Ace Hardware anywhere near you, or a NAPA Auto Parts store? If not... try other hardware or auto parts stores -- there must be some nearby -- or search on-line.
The taps are available anywhere the inserts are. Any decent hardware store (and that does *not* include Lowe's, Home Depot, etc) will stock Helicoil inserts and taps, or surely be able to order one for you.
A tap and insert together won't cost you as much as having the stud professionally welded... and you may even be able to rent the tap.
Spend some time with the Yellow Pages in one hand, and a phone in the other.
Thats what I originally wanted to use, but it appears the manifold is too hot. JB Weld says up to 600 deg. I dont know how hot a manifold gets and no one has given me an figures. JB Weld would be real easy to do too.
No Ace hardware stores, the local small hardware store did not even know what I was talking about. There is a NAPA, I will ask them. I generally use Car Quest, but I'll ask NAPA. If not, I'll check online sources. However, will this tap work on a shallow hole? I dont mind buying the stuff, but it's got to work for my situation.
I wouldn't be caught dead living in a city, but the disadvantage of rural life is the lack of hardware and construction supplies. We have one mom&pop hardware. Napa and Car Quest, 2 mom&pop lumber yards that charge twice the price of a place like Menards or Home Depot. The nearest larger city is 55 miles away and at todays gas prices I dont get there very often, and of course when I need car parts, I got no way to get there since my farm truck is not valid to drive in the city. Our small local town just got a big improvement. Another grocery store. Like we really needed that !!!
The manifold on my rebuilt 4 liter Ford engine burned off the 1200 degree engine paint in less than fifteen minutes. That good enough to put the kibosh on the JB weld?
Yes, they do seem to have everything. Question: Is a "bottoming tap" what I need for a hole that only goes in about 5/8 inch? and stops? It needs to thread most of this, without leaving the useless tapered threads.
Do you get mail delivery once in awhile? You can buy damn near anything you'll ever need on the internet, and it's obvious that you have a computer and an internet connection. Order what you need online and have it mailed to you. How hard is that? Gimme a break.
Ace hardware has a web site, with a search that turns up,
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Take the part numbers to the help desk, and tell them you have a special order. They have two kits, plus inserts, and will ship them to your local store.
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