Need advice on a 1949 Olds 2x2 Aluminum Intake Manifold, for Repair. One thing I was told is that the Intake should be baked to drive any oil or impurities out of the casting prior to welding it? What about Pinning the casting prior to welding? Heat Treating before or after repair? You can see there is an expansion split between runners, What Alloy Rod should I use? Hopefully the photos will tell the story. Thanks for any help, I just don’t want to screw this old Edmunds up. Thanks again, Ric
The only thing I can share was thru observation and asking why? I watched the guy that did all the metal work on my 56 one day take a saws-all to an aluminum wheel and cut a piece out where the was only a crack. The reason he told me was to remove impurities that get into the aluminum. To just bevel the edges wasn't enough. But don't let this get you down. There are excellent welders out there that can bail you out and save that manifold.
I would grind the broken surface to achieve a clean surface and build in the missing area with a mig welder with aluminum wire. Grind to shape and finish with a hand file. Should not be necessary to pre heat. No special alloy should be needed. If the mig is not going to take to the casting, you will know in the first few seconds. Used this method to. create a boss for the pivot ball on an old aluminum offy bell housing
Aluminum IS very porous. I’ve gotten ready to weld some old aluminum and as soon as I hit it with a torch found contaminants come right to the surface. Usually black sooty shit. Use a good acid to soak it in. Heating it won’t remove it. If your piece isn’t clean it will surely fail.
Problem you will have is that during welding, the area will expand, but when it cools it will shrink more than it expanded, so all the surfaces have to be machined to get it flat
go to whoever is going to weld it and talk to them, no baking, me Id whittle a hunk of alloy to the shape and have it tigged on, then get at it to return it to the original shape,Id say 98% sure it will need machining but check with a straight edge before and after just so you know where your at,
I wonder if you were to machine it flat, made another piece to machine it, if you could lock-n-stitch it. I've seem them do some fantastic stuff with cast iron repairs. Should contact them and see if it's possible.
Make a chunk of aluminum to weld into the spot and bring it to somebody who is very versed in welding old cast aluminum stuff. As you appear to be a newbie to this, don't experiment on THIS piece - experiment on something you don't care about. Also, you'd want to cool it slowly - under a welding blanket and probably pre-heat it as well . . . just to try to get some good welds into it and to minimize distortions. Also, Edmunds was not usually known for having the best quality castings - he moved his foundry work around a lot, though he was a prolific pattern maker.
I agree with the people that recommend taking it to a pro. It doesn't look like it will be that hard of a repair with the proper tools, TIG welder, grinders, ETC. As for the degreasing, I had a repair on a '32 Ford aluminum oil pan that drove me crazy. I blasted the pan and scrubbed the area to be welded with a brass wire brush. Every time I got a puddle formed with my TIG, I could literally see oil bubbling to the surface. I wound up taking the pan to a place that did "hot vapor degreasing" on aircraft parts. Even with that done I still had oil contamination. I don't think your contamination would be that extreme, as the oil pan literally sucked up oil since 1932.
I have a friend that is very good at welding aluminum. Anything I need welded that is aluminum goes to him. Even though he is a friend, I pay him. Anything he has done for me has been great. One time he looked at a piece that had been welded on before. Handed it back, said "find another" that one is junk. so I did. LOL
I've welded a bunch of old aluminum parts including wheels, intakes, water necks, etc. and as mentioned above the quality of the casting always determines how much it will fight you welding. I would make a new piece to match the missing chunk and grind away the broken surface until it is flat/even and is down to clean aluminum. I like to use a torch to burn contaminates out of the area I'm going to be welding. I'll dance it over the weld seam/surface, making sure I don't get it too hot. This could be unnecessary, but I like to try and do everything I can to get an impurities to bake out of the pores. Then clean, clean, clean with acetone and a dedicated stainless wire brush. With today's technology in welders you can play with the AC balance and frequency to adapt to the quality of the casting. I wouldn't attempt this if you're new to TIG welding. I'd check with a straight edge after welding, but more than likely that flange will need to be machined afterwards. So in short, find a local race car shop and ask them if they can do it or if they have someone that specializes in old castings/aluminum and most can handle it. It's not super hard to do if you're proficient at TIG welding aluminum. Hope that helps! -Matt
I had a BBC winters 69 date code intake with two broken ears from some nit wit prying the intake off with a crowbar while he still had it bolted down likely. I had a buddy weld it up ( I did not have the broken bits) then I re-drilled the mounting holes, machined the bottom to ensure a good seal against the heads and then took it over to Russ Meeks and had him throw it in the tumbler for a bit. Looked great, worked great, ran it for a few years, took it off and sold it for $800.
If you do not have “real welding/ fabrication “ skills, take it someone that does. This is NOT a big deal for a pro, a couple of things, trying to MIG, would not be the proper way, the pieces need to be fabricated first to fit properly, fit , refit, until they are right, AND needs to be set on block....AFTER.... they fit properly, then with it bolted to block, they will then be tacked(GTAW....TIG), then when satisfied, and tacked properly, it can be pulled back off and welded...... is this going to be kinda pricy? Yes!! If done by a real pro.... where are you located? Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I have many years welding aluminum use a tig welder and 4043 welding rod get super clean a cool down slowly Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I have done many Muncie cases over the years with good success. Acid dip and then grind in down a bit and re-acid again. Tig weld with the appropriate rod and build up slowly. Porosity is the issue you will have to deal with as you weld. Keep building layers and re-cleaning as you go if necessary. Over weld the area until you have enough to shape what you need. The gasket surface needs to be in plain with the rest of the mating surface so pay extra attention then as you finish up. Vacuum test and torque properly. That is a nice piece and can be saved.
Its not the quality of the person, its the quality of the part you have to work on and anything can be repaired, just trying to fine the person willing to spend what it takes to repair is the hard part
I had an old manifold (not as cool as that one) and my go to guy for welding aluminum took one look at the crack in the heat crossover and told me NO, you can't get the carbon out to get a clean weld. So I took it to someone else who was recommended by another person and I guess the first guy was right. Got back a junk part that had holes in the weld everywhere, leaked like crazy. You need to find the right person and I don't know who that is.
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