Welding cast iron

[8ob]

Thats a fairly rigid piece, there would be a lot of stress on that weld if what its bolted/mated to is not perfectly square/flat against. Might pay to bed that down on some putty steel.

Bob

 

[Brad93]

Gents,

A good friend of mine asked me if I could repair his old tractor (Steyr 80 made in 1956).
The cylinder housing cracked due to frozen water. As best I know, the material is 'grey' cast iron. Wall thicknes is unknown, I believe it is somewhere around 10mm or more.
I got some 3,25mm OK 92.58 welding electrode made by Esab, but I've never used one.

My plan is to warm up the engine, then drain all the water. Then I try to preheat the weld area as best i can.. Badly, I have no oxy-acetilen setup, so I can only use a big propane torch.
I can measure the preheat temperature with infrared thermometer, but thats all.
I also have an AC/DC TIG welder, but a welder friend told me to use the electrode as it is.

By the way, the crack is around 60 mm long.

Has anyone experience with such a repair? Do you have any suggestion for the preheat temperature what I should aim for?

Thanks

Cold stitching is far more reliable for engine repairs.

Or Cast iron oxy-acetylene welding - but that's really specialist. Look at CIWS in Coalville.

Brazing but you'd struggle to get the block hot enough i reckon.

 

[paradipiro]

Cold stitching is far more reliable for engine repairs.

Or Cast iron oxy-acetylene welding - but that's really specialist. Look at CIWS in Coalville.

Brazing but you'd struggle to get the block hot enough i reckon.

Cold stitching is new to me, I need to look it up.
My location is in Hungary, so Coalville is more than 3 clicks away sadly.

TIG brazing could work, but I don't trust its watertight permanently.

 

[Brad93]

Cold stitching is new to me, I need to look it up.
My location is in Hungary, so Coalville is more than 3 clicks away sadly.

TIG brazing could work, but I don't trust its watertight permanently.

I wouldn't trust tig brazing on an engine block but that's just me.

Cold stitching, you've got two companies that make the bits: Lock N Stitch and Metalock

 

[Matchless]

Cold stitching is new to me, I need to look it up.
My location is in Hungary, so Coalville is more than 3 clicks away sadly.

TIG brazing could work, but I don't trust its watertight permanently.

I know a man in Ogre Latvia who would repair it, Ramoto Ltd, Juris Ramba.

 

[dave h 2]

I once bought a 67 Chevy Impala SS 327 with a dead engine, the lifter valley under the inlet was a road map of welded cracks and the oil in the sump had set solid like jelly is before you add the hot water. There's always one crack you miss.

 

[minimutly]

I've welded my share of cast iron heads with suitable rods (Hi Nickel if I recall), they all leaked some water, so it would need one of the magic compounds that exist to ensure success. Preheat and peen as it cools too, otherwise the shrinkage cracks it.

 

[Agroshield]

...you've got two companies that make the bits: Lock N Stitch and Metalock

Lock n' Stitch have a European site:

https://www.lnseurope.com/index.php

Bulgaria is only 2 1/2 clicks distant.

ReTech SD Ltd. - LOCK-N-STITCH

www.retech.bg

If you were really keen, you could make your own stitching kit based on copying one of the above.

 

[BarrieJ]

I'd be very surprised if there's no one in Bulgaria doing lock stitch repairs to cast iron, it's been in use since the 1930's when it was being used on cast iron components in the Texas oil fields. Frequently done in situ as well.

 

[Quietcountrylad]

Lock n' Stitch have a European site:

https://www.lnseurope.com/index.php

Bulgaria is only 2 1/2 clicks distant.

ReTech SD Ltd. - LOCK-N-STITCH

www.retech.bg

If you were really keen, you could make your own stitching kit based on copying one of the above.

A cold thread... Having difficulty getting a stitch repair kit for reasonable money, but I want to repair a cast iron engine block on an old tractor. I'm thinking of using a bunch of M6 hex grub screws—drill, tap, apply red Loctite, then gently touch the inserted grub screw with a carbide burr. Drill tightly so it locks into the previously installed grub screw... then rinse and repeat. Does this seem like a reasonable approach?

 

[dave h 2]

Nope.
The stitches look like dog bones and so hold the crack together. Grubscrews are only as good as the Loctite. Suggest a bearing fit product like 603 will be a much stronger adhesive although it may not last.

 

[fizzy]

A cold thread... Having difficulty getting a stitch repair kit for reasonable money, but I want to repair a cast iron engine block on an old tractor. I'm thinking of using a bunch of M6 hex grub screws—drill, tap, apply red Loctite, then gently touch the inserted grub screw with a carbide burr. Drill tightly so it locks into the previously installed grub screw... then rinse and repeat. Does this seem like a reasonable approach?

I would use a slow set epoxy. Something like jb weld.

 

[Brad93]

A cold thread... Having difficulty getting a stitch repair kit for reasonable money, but I want to repair a cast iron engine block on an old tractor. I'm thinking of using a bunch of M6 hex grub screws—drill, tap, apply red Loctite, then gently touch the inserted grub screw with a carbide burr. Drill tightly so it locks into the previously installed grub screw... then rinse and repeat. Does this seem like a reasonable approach?

You need some locks though. It's alright screwing into the block as you say but the problem is stopping the block from cracking again.