J4m13 Posted July 27, 2022 Share Posted July 27, 2022 I have a wee predicament. I have an old stationary motor that I recently broke the intake runner on. The motor itself is circa 60's, built in Germany and appears to be old cast alloy. My welding skills are poor at best and I am in need of having it repaired. Is this possible?? and what type of tradesman/specialist welder would be best to approach? My initial thoughts are those who specialise in repairing motorcycle casings and the likes. That being said, my experience in this sort of stuff are pretty limited so i'm hoping to have some ideas from folk far more knowledgable than myself. Any help or suggestions would be greatly accepted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4m13 Posted July 28, 2022 Author Share Posted July 28, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjrstar Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 I would get the bits as clean as you can, including a good scrub with some solvent. Then find a fabricator / someone that have a crack at it with aluminum tig. It is at least pretty thick so there is a decent chance of a successful repair. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizzl Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 Sandblast, clean clean clean, pre heat then fizz it up. I have successfully had stuff like that done before, so not too much of a drama _ think I used a shop opposite possum bourne motorsport, but back in 2002 for a manifold repair. Just find someone locally who doesnt mind welding it up 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjrstar Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 I'm probably going to suggest not to sand blast, especially if the material is porous as it can lead to contamination, maybe give it a good heat up with a heat gun to see if you can bleed out any nasties.. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizzl Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 13 minutes ago, mjrstar said: I'm probably going to suggest not to sand blast, especially if the material is porous as it can lead to contamination, maybe give it a good heat up with a heat gun to see if you can bleed out any nasties.. better yet, chuck it in the oven to draw out any oils. But it should always be cleaned before welding regardless 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregT Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 You want someone who advertises as a repair welder. Best in SI died abt 8 months ago - and I still haven't found a good rep-lacement. They're rare. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 I have done this a few times myself on aluminium sumps (modifications to change bowl location, shorten sumo etc). So, old dirty oily aluminium. As others have said.... Clean the crap out of it Grind the top layer off so that it's not covered in a layer of dirty pores. Weld it up as best as possible. It will probably throw a tantrum and the weld will be full of shit. Grind the weld off (including the shit that's floated to the surface) Weld it again. I think I have only had to do the clean up grind once, but wouldn't be surprised if you had to do it more than once. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 Forgot to mention. Defeat any shitty areas with tons of filler rod. Don't worry about how ugly it looks since you'll be grinding it flush before the final pass anyway 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 I may know a guy in invercargill. Met him at a Burt. Think he drives a supercharged small block Bedford? likes a challenge. Look up EXELL engineering invercargill. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sr2 Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Have a chat to Brugar Engineering in Barrys Point Rd Takapuna, helped me out of a few tough spots over the years. I can't recommend them highly enough. http://www.magwheelrepairs.co.nz/index.php/services/alloy-welding 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustHarry Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 @J4m13 We can do stuff like that at work Auto restorations ltd Depends how much you want to spend to repair it. Could be as much as half a day by the time theres cleaning welding. Rewelding where it goes shitty. And dressing back. It's quite doable 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizzl Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Pro Street in Pukekohe is who I used 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post a.craw4d Posted August 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted August 6, 2022 I can weld that no problems. Done heaps of shitty oil filled cast alloy stuff and it's fairly easy too. Probably be couple hours max in it. Good surface clean. Grind a big vee weld prep, go nuts here. You need a bit of room to get the tig torch to the bottom of the vee. Leave only 1-2 mm wall thickness at the bottom of the vee with the original break so it lines up perfectly. File the ground surfaces so it's clean, a grinder tends to rub and fold alloy over itself trapping crap in there. Good preheat to draw the shit out and final clean. With the tig tack it together. Here's where you need to take your time. Set the tig to a bit more cleaning than penetration. Strike the arc and puddle the torch around a big area. (Don't add filler yet. Castings are full of air bubbles and you don't want to try add filler wire on top of a bubble). Keep moving the torch around until the bubbles come to the top and the surface becomes smooth and shiny. Now you can add filler. Once all tacked in place, clean up any more oil that's come out. Then use the above technique to clean and weld the rest of the join. If crap keeps getting drawn through when trying to get a clean smooth surface then dial in a bit more cleaning on the balance control. Don't be tempted to chuck filler in there to cover it up, it goes pear shaped. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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