Technical People that can weld cast iron

I am looking for someone in the southern California area (Orange County preferred) that can weld cast iron. I have an exhaust manifold for an inline six that I want to make into dual exhaust.
Thanks for any help.

 

Check the diesel repair shops. They can usually send you to the right place.
Pete

 

What your really saying is that you want someone to engineer, cut and fabricate a single exhaust manifold into a dual manifold and then weld it up. Unless you do the fore mentioned first, you will be into it for hundreds of dollars before the welding starts. Assuming the fit is good, it will be several more hours to preheat, weld and then properly cool the manifold. Unless you do the majority of the work yourself, it will be an expensive dual exhaust manifold.
I would look to after market first.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Exhau...359659?hash=item41e2d3196b:g:aV4AAOSwz7NaUEGD

 

I concur with 46 Caddie's posting above. However, if you want a slightly less expensive way to do a split, braze it instead of welding it. I did several back in the late 50s, and they worked out very well. Back then, brazing was the universally accepted way to repair cast blocks and manifolds.
Assuming that it is an OHV, the job goes better if you have a blank head to use, but you can use a piece of 3/8 inch to use to secure the pieces properly.
I have arc welded some cast manifolds, and it can be a very different deal than welding ordinary cast. It can be a total PITA, because of the carbon from the exhaust that gets into the manifolds.
Cast can be a real challenge, where pre-heating to the proper temp, welding while hot, and careful cooling, very slowly, are critical parts of the process to prevent cracking.
Considering the fact that you are not doing the job yourself, headers would be an easier option
Bob

 

I have cooled in sand--lots of it

 

I can do most of the modification myself. It's the brazing or welding that I need help with.
I wish I could buy a dual exhaust for my car, but the engine I have is not heavily supported in the aftermarket department. It's the Ford H-Series Flathead.
But I do have a line on the manifolds needed to do the dual exhaust.

 

As I live in country Australia we have a few blacksmiths around and I was able to get a pair of Plymouth exhaust manifolds welded up locally......I cut the front & rear off the 2 different ones I had and the blacksmith did the welding, also repaired one of the flanges that had broken off.......cost was about $150 Oz about 10 yrs ago, as the car was RHD the Fenton headers would not have cleared the steering box so this was to only option..............andyd

 

I have welded cast exhaust manifolds using a MIG welder. In fact I just modified the right hand manifold for my convertible this spring. With a MIG it works great.

 

I cut a couple of Model A manifolds and brazed steel caps over the ends. Oxy Acetylene with a rosebud tip, heated up as large an area on the cast manifold as I could, tried real hard not to overheat it, let it air cool. Maybe I got lucky, but neither of them warped or cracked, and they have held up so far. Those manifolds are real thin, though. You can see that in the picture. The rear one isn't brazed yet.

 

check this thread out.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/i-want-to-split-my-gmc-manifold-possible.1081250/

 

Not always. Bought a million mile 88 Chevy 1/2 ton with a broken manifold. Didn't have 50 bucks for a junk yard replacement. Nothing to loose. V'ed out the break, bolted the pieces to a spare head. Tacked the top side. All good. Tacked the opposite side, first tack broke right in the middle. Tried again, same result. Cranked the MIG up to fry and rolled all the way around the break in one fat pass. After it cooled I had to open up some of the bolt holes to get the bolts in, but it was still on the truck and its replacement engine 100K later when I sold it.

Tried it on a buddy's Ford and all the MIG would do is spit and pop. Even tried pre-heating that one.
Must be something different in the material.

 

It could have been crappy cast iron, but it sounds like it was the carbon infused into the metal.
I have also welded cast manifolds using a MIG with mixed results.
Two of the worst, were manifolds off UK cars, one a Cortina, and the other a Land Rover. I finally got them welded by cooking the crap out of them, welding them hot, and using proper cast rod. I used our barbecue to heat and cool them, which did not make the "she who must be obeyed" very happy.
Bob

 

People build turbo manifolds to engines that never had turbos by cutting flanges that fit the engine and weld straight and bent pieces of tubing to it. Might be less work than modifying a cast iron manifold, and less likely to fail later on.

 

I have done this twice the first time was on my 39 deluxe Ford coupe with a 400 Pontiac engine. I had to move an outlet on one side for chassis clearance problems. I drove it 10 years and untold miles and still had no problems with it when I sold the car. The latest one on my convertible was just done, I removed the original outlet leg on the right manifold, so I don't know how long it will work but I don't foresee problems with it.

 

Brazing used to be the fix for cast iron,,,and it works great too.
I guess it is a lost art,,,,,,it can be welded,,,,,but brazing will fix it permanently.

Tommy

 

Brazing is great for many things. Unfortunately it looses strength at a relatively low temperature, long before melting, so for exhaust manifold modifications it's not an ideal choice.

 

I would think that furnace brazing would work well here.

 

I tig weld it all the time! Pre heat and post heat.

 

Delta muffler in Wilmington. Not too far from ya.

 

I brazed an extra outlet onto my old 235 exhaust manifold, It was from a 345 IHC manifold and the braze held for over a year when it popped off. I tried to use a stick welder and ni-rod to reattach it but I couldn't get the bead started! My buddy, Johnny grabbed it and promptly welded it up. It held up just fine. I had to use 2 gaskets on the manifolds-to-head attachment because I warped it up a bit, brazing. No problem.

 

Do NOT! put brass on cast iron!!!! A basic rule of welding is using a filler made of the work, in other words use a cast iron welding rod. Just use a Henrob. I have been welding cast iron for about 15 years with no problems and no failures.With a Henrob, you can drill and tap cast iron repairs

 

Well... Brazing isn't welding, so the welding rules kind of go out the window.

 

Both work very well

https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/welding-vs-brazing/

 

Welding cast iron isn't hard. Getting it to stay together is,, for some.

 

There are numerous alloys for brazing/silver solder wire and rod. Depending on the alloy they have different melting points, strength properties, flow characteristics, etc. it’s a matter of picking the right alloy for the task and there are numerous charts and guides on the internet. Silver solder and braze is used extensively in aircraft and aerospace applications for engine components and accessories and is a tried and true method for joining dissimilar metals when welding is not an option.

 

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't and all depends on the quality of the part/parent metal and I get paid either way. Understand that You the customer takes that chance

 

I have brazed heaps of cast iron manifolds works well and does not melt.
I have also tig welded it with stainless steel rod.

 

Its not brass its bronze. TOTALLY different. Aluminum Bronze has a 58K psi yield strength. Gray cast iron is 20K. IT IS STRONGER that the base metal. It just cost lots more than iron. A brazed part is stronger than the casting it "fixed".

 

Henrob??! Is that an acronym? Not familiar. Heard of Ni-rod but not Henrob!