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Forum Member
 
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| Is it possible to weld a bell housing? Are these things cast iron? If so, tig, mig, rod type. It appears my OG bell was smashed. It was brazed back together. Over 20 pieces, no kidding!!
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Junior Member
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| I really can't see why anyone would weld 20 pieces back together, unless they couldn't find another housing. That would be funny to see. But yes the bells are made of cast and cast can be brazed. You have to heat the whole thing like in a bon fire and weld it when it is still very hot. Sometimes poor people have poor ways. But where there is a will there is a way.
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Supreme Being
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CodyConley (1/23/2010)
Is it possible to weld a bell housing?Are these things cast iron? If so, tig, mig, rod type. It appears my OG bell was smashed. It was brazed back together. Over 20 pieces, no kidding!!
When I tore my truck down in '97, I found out my bellhousing had been welded. I think it was at one of the mounts. I had owned the truck 21 years at that point and never knew it. I bought another bellhousing at carlisle and scrapped the other one.
 Dennis in Lititz PA
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Supreme Being
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It is possible to weld or braze cast iron.
They all involve preheating the item on a well insulated surface - I have always found clay house or paving bricks to be the best.
You need to heat the part to be welded slowly and evenly and allow it to cool slowly - don't douse it with water when you finish or the metal will crack.
Brazing with an oxy/acetylene torch works well and is what most people use, but for items subjected to vibration (such as bell housings) arc welding with special rods for cast iron will give a result as strong as the original.
The way I was taught to gauge the heat to achieve was to spit on the part as you are heating it.
The correct temperature is when the spit boils immediately and will stay on the surface. It almost jumps off the surface when it is the right temperature. You can heat it more than this but you are just wasting gas. It's a bit hard to explain but when you see it happen you know it is right.
The limiting factor is how big your heating torch is - it is much better to use the multi-burner types.
You need to heat cast iron to this correct temperature and allow to cool slowly to avoid the metal cracking around the weld. It will always crack if it is not hot enough or it is cooled too quickly.
I have never had a problem welding in this manner.
Hope this answers your question.
Rick - West Australia
Do Y Blocks Downunder run upside down? Gravity Sucks!!
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Supreme Being
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I probably should have mentioned in my earlier reply that you need to heat the whole part you are welding evenly. This then means that a bell housing will take a bit of gas and heat before you can start to weld it. It is for this reason that the multi-burner nozzles are better.
They were designed with this use in mind.
A large oxy welding tip will heat cast iron but its heat is more intense and centered around the tip.
It will take a lot longer to heat up a large project such as a bellhousing with the smaller tips.
Sorry my posts were a bit longwinded.
Regards
Rick - West Australia
Do Y Blocks Downunder run upside down? Gravity Sucks!!
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Forum Newbie
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Probably going to ruffle some feathers with this one, but you can stick weld cast iron with a nickel rod without preheating in short beads allowing the weld to throughly cool
and peening while cooling. Slow but always works for me
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Supreme Being
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Pre-heat and wire feed, that's what I do when modifying for the T-5, but if it is a matter of a shattered bell get another they aren't that hard to come by.
 
God Bless.  Tim http://yblockguy.com/ '58 F-100, '58 Alaskan Pop-Top, '66 F-350, Supercharged '73 Triumph TR6, '69 MGB-GT, '63 Triumph Herald (60 HP Spitfire engine)
tim@yblockguy.com Visalia, California Just west of the Sequoias http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/mctim64
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Supreme Being
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mctim64 (1/30/2010)
Pre-heat and wire feed, that's what I do when modifying for the T-5, but if it is a matter of a shattered bell get another they aren't that hard to come by.Tim, my thoughts exactly! couldnt see how there would be a shortage of these in the US. Why would anyone want to use something that is a definite liability!!. regards bill.
 AussieBill YYYY Forever Y Block YYYY Down Under, Australia
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badnewsdan (1/30/2010)
Probably going to ruffle some feathers with this one, but you can stick weld cast iron with a nickel rod without preheating in short beads allowing the weld to throughly cool and peening while cooling.Dan. No ruffled feathers on my end for using a stick welder to weld cast iron. That’s my own preferred method for cast iron welding although I’m also considered pretty fair at both MIG and TIG welding. While the Y was at the EMC challenge, several students commented on the welding on the mounts and the accelerator linkage as they thought it was an unusual weld pattern for a wire feed. They were surprised when I told them it was stick welded as that particular style of welding was not being tought as part of their curriculum at UNOH.
  Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)
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Supreme Being
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No ruffled feathers here either.I've been stick welding cast iron for 50 years.It's only been the last few years that people started saying you can't do that.
 
Paul, Boonville,MO
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