TIG welding Cast Aluminum motorcycle case?

[CGCINC]

Had a guy call me today and said he broke part of the lower threaded bolt mount off his engine case.
He doesn't have the part that broke off so it will need built up and re-threaded I'm guessing.

I've never welded on Cast Aluminum before so how tricky of a job is this and what's the best way to go about it?

He will be pulling the motor out and dropping it off to me.

[Rodsmachineshop]

try to find some old motorcycle cases to practice on also might get lucky some of the practice cases mite have ears on it to replace the broken one . mian thing on motorcycles cases getting them clean before welding

[Rivets]

Had a guy call me today and said he broke part of the lower threaded bolt mount off his engine case.
He doesn't have the part that broke off so it will need built up and re-threaded I'm guessing.

I've never welded on Cast Aluminum before so how tricky of a job is this and what's the best way to go about it?

He will be pulling the motor out and dropping it off to me.

CG,

Have a look at this thread.

rivets

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...-to-repair-it?

[Geco]

Advice from the master : http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/...m-welding.html

[5440]

I welded my intake on my Toyota truck so I could build it up to accept a larger carb without the use of adapters. I also filled in some exhaust EGR valve pockets on the inside of the exhaust ports to aid in the port job that was to follow. Six years and counting without issues to either mod. I'm a hobby welder so I just treated it as any other aluminum weld, but I recommend following proper repair practices. I just wanted to share my experince with cast Al, and that it can be done without and issue, just make sure everything is super clean.

[CGCINC]

CG,

Have a look at this thread.

rivets

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...-to-repair-it?

That's a good link, thanks!

Geco

Nice video from Jody. Thanks for that link as well!

[CGCINC]

try to find some old motorcycle cases to practice on also might get lucky some of the practice cases mite have ears on it to replace the broken one . mian thing on motorcycles cases getting them clean before welding

I talked to the one friend that I knew would have an old engine case laying around.... He threw two of them away a couple weeks ago because he cleaned his garage :/
I'm going to a the local Yamaha shop and see if they have some broken cast parts they don't need. I've been a customer of their's forever so hopefully they can help me out.

[CGCINC]

I welded my intake on my Toyota truck so I could build it up to accept a larger carb without the use of adapters. I also filled in some exhaust EGR valve pockets on the inside of the exhaust ports to aid in the port job that was to follow. Six years and counting without issues to either mod. I'm a hobby welder so I just treated it as any other aluminum weld, but I recommend following proper repair practices. I just wanted to share my experince with cast Al, and that it can be done without and issue, just make sure everything is super clean.

So you didn't do anything special? Did you use a 4043 filler rod?
Thanks for telling your experience....

[Rodsmachineshop]

I use 4043 for almost everything seams to work best when welding case,s intake manifolds and cylinder heads think its the best for dirty aluminum the pulse controls on tig help a lot when welding dirty aluminum since gets hot get imperaties to surface then give aluminum to cool and not melt away . Another little trick i do is when welding boat props back together take a piece stainless steel sheet metal and clamp to broken prop blade opposite side of welding first works as a heat sink and stops the aluminum from fall through when welding till all filled in, another good thing to have if welding aluminum a lot is a oven . I have a head and block oven at my machine shop it go to 800 degrees on thick stuff i heat to 250 or hotter before welding like heads . the oven cleans the aluminum also while cooking . before i got the machine shop oven i used my big propane bbq lol

[Rodsmachineshop]

hey just bought a Power I-MIG 205 how do you like your 200 i mig

[CGCINC]

hey just bought a Power I-MIG 205 how do you like your 200 i mig

I like it alot! Works really good but I need to get my helmet situation fixed so I can see to weld with the Mig. I'm still learning how to adjust it but I'm glad I bought it.

[Rodsmachineshop]

i just bought the i-mig 205

[Rodsmachineshop]

i almost have my face in the weld to see it lol good thing i bought lots of lens shields lol

[Ram48]

i almost have my face in the weld to see it lol good thing i bought lots of lens shields lol

I had the 200 and sold it for the 205 I liked both machines abut like the 205 a bit better for what I do.
Im a novice welder that mostly works with 16 ga to 1/4 inch. for auto and tool fab. I had a tough time seeing the weld puddle with both welders, I bought a used Speed-glas 9002x to replace the HF (blue) helmet I used, that made some difference but still not seeing what I saw on welding videos. Having 63 year old eyes just dont work well for welding I guess. I then bought a cheater lens for the speedglas and it made all the difference in the world. I was in the LWS and they had generic cheater lens on special, I bought one and even though the HF helmet is not really designed to accept the lens it was easy to lift the retainer spring and fit the cheater lens in it, I now use the HF for mig and the speedglas for tig.
I could not believe what a difference the lenses made for me.

[sportbike]

The cheater lenses are great. I don't need them (yet) but the shop manager at work recently purchases a BOSS helmet (his first auto darkening helmet ever) and he got a fancy one that I believe is different for each eye. Even though he is not really a welder anymore, I see him out in the shop under the new hood at least 2-3 times a week now. I think the lenses made all the difference for him, literally from being unable to weld to now back at it. Glasses just didn't work properly for him, he said it gave sort of a double reflection or something. I think the cheater lenses being right against the tinted lens prevent this and work better.

[Jules The Great]

Related to the original question about the aluminium, cleaning it will help. I did some powdercoating on some aluminium parts a while back and on the first few it bubbled horribly due to oil coming out thru the poors. We just pre baked it in the oven first at a couple hundred degrees and that worked well, you could boil it but then you still have to dry it out.

Another thing that may help some with seeing what is going on is more light. I read it on another forum and people were using the 500 watt work lights over there shoulders to see better. Everyone was laughing at them but it makes sense if you think about it. As the arc is only radiating light so any additional lighting you have in the area can greatly increase your visibility. If you want to do a quick test just put a 100 watt light bulb over your work but not behind the helmet and see if it helps. Another thing that can be of great help is blocking all light from coming in behind your head as it reflects off the inner lens and can be quite distracting/annoying.

[CGCINC]

I had the 200 and sold it for the 205 I liked both machines abut like the 205 a bit better for what I do.
Im a novice welder that mostly works with 16 ga to 1/4 inch. for auto and tool fab. I had a tough time seeing the weld puddle with both welders, I bought a used Speed-glas 9002x to replace the HF (blue) helmet I used, that made some difference but still not seeing what I saw on welding videos. Having 63 year old eyes just dont work well for welding I guess. I then bought a cheater lens for the speedglas and it made all the difference in the world. I was in the LWS and they had generic cheater lens on special, I bought one and even though the HF helmet is not really designed to accept the lens it was easy to lift the retainer spring and fit the cheater lens in it, I now use the HF for mig and the speedglas for tig.
I could not believe what a difference the lenses made for me.

I'm gonna have to stick my cheater lens in my HF helmet and see if that helps I guess because I have the hardest time seeing with the MIG. Plus, my last set of glasses I got, the Dr. wanted me to try Tri-focals, for close up, computer viewing and far away. I HATE THEM!!! I've got all kinds of things going on to screw my vision up..lol

SO, baking cast metal bakes the oils and impurities out of it? Which helps keep them from coming into your puddle as your welding I guess...

[Rodsmachineshop]

tri focals suck i tried them , gave me a headache . try going to the drug store and getting a cheap pair of reading glass,s thats what i use

[Rodsmachineshop]

http://www.shars.com/products/view/1..._Magnetic_Lamp i have 2 of these lamps use them all the time there cheep light dose help a lot i use this lite when welding small stuff

[Rodsmachineshop]

thats what i weld a lot of 1/4 and under mostly 1/8 and 3/16 . my Lincoln mig 175 just dont put enough out and is getting a little tired starts out welding good then sorta loose power after about a couple of minutes of welding have to run it maxed out all the time