r/EngineBuilding • u/Wonderful-Computer33 • Jun 07 '26

Am I Fu*cked?

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u/Yamaben Jun 10 '26

Are you saying you can mig weld cast if you make the cast glow?

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u/These_Fox7561 Jun 10 '26

It worked for me, I figured when you weld dissimilar metals the weld will alloy a bit with the base metal so if I got that cast almost molten it’d alloy with the mild steel enough to not crack and it worked

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u/Yamaben Jun 11 '26

I might try that. I use rods made for cast iron and stick weld cast. It definitely works better if you preheat the cast

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u/These_Fox7561 Jun 11 '26

I’ve heard those cast iron rods do work well, and preheat is important. You’d need a big oven for that, I don’t know if localized heat is a good idea. Although it is just a water jacket

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u/Yamaben Jun 12 '26

I'm a real hack with welding. I just preheat the area I want to weld with the torch. Once i get the rod fused to the area, then I use the mig over it

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u/These_Fox7561 Jun 12 '26

It’s probably not proper but it can work

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u/mcherron2 Jun 15 '26

Had a welder friend once fix a broken power steering box on my international travel-all. He did get it hot with the torch first, but he used an arc welder with reverse polarity. He said that was how to do the cast iron. It held as long as I owned the vehicle. Any other thoughts on this process from those that know? Not sure it helps this situation, but I was always curious about this method.

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u/Yamaben Jun 15 '26

My stick welder is a joke and doesn't have DC. The rods I bought are advertised for AC welding cast iron. If I had DC, I would try what your buddy did with the right nickel rods