The turbo I recently bought came with a weld-on v-band adapter. I took it to my brother, who usually does most of my welding. His caution flag went up when he saw that it was a cast housing. (It fits.. just needs to be welded)

Anyone in the know have a suggestion on how to weld this?

I'm assuming the housing is made of cast steel.. it doesn't seem as porous as cast iron. What I've been able to dig up regarding welding of cast iron involves heating the parts, welding them, and a slow cooling off period burried in sand. Would this be the same as cast steel?

I'd also seen reference to using pure nickel rod to weld with.. and to weld slowly, in stiches on opposite sides of the circumference, and maybe the slow heating/cooling process isn't necessary.

Thanks in advance..

Dave

 

just crazy glue it yo! I really have no clue but am also very interested.

 

just crazy glue it yo! I really have no clue but am also very interested.

 

Cast iron is very difficult to weld, and basically if you are asking how to weld it you don't have the skill to do it. You can weld the cast iron, but the resulting weld will be very brittle and will crack unless the appropriate filler rod is used along with preheating and postheating the weld. It may even look perfect when you're done, but if it is indeed cast iron it will almost certainly crack along the weld. If the item to be welded is indeed cast iron, and is not a weight bearing piece, and it's not subjected to really high heats (like 1000ºF), then it could possibly be braze weldeed with a BZnCu rod.

If it's designed as a weld-on piece, then there's almost no way it's made out of cast iron. It's more likely that it is just mild steel, which is really easy to weld. Just grab your torch and go.

Easiest way to tell if a metal is cast iron or not is to hold it against a grinding wheel for a brief time and observe the spark pattern and color. That's not something that can be explained though, it's more of a learn by doing type thing.

Anyhow, your best bet will be to find someone who has the same turbo setup and find out what they did.


Sorry I couldn't be of much help.

 

Thanks, Wings.

Common sense forces me to believe that the exhaust housing isn't iron, but steel, since it's meant to have a bung/flange welded on to it. I'm certain that the flange is mild steel and my gut tells me that since these things were engineered to be welded together, it probably doesn't take an over-complicated process. Just looking for guidance to give to my welder. It'd be a shame to end up with a warped housing or something.

Anyone else have any input other than "Mad crazy glue, Yo!"

 

Most (if not all) V band flanges are mild steel.
I have welded them to my downpipe which is also mild steel.

Take your exhaust housing to a welder or metalurgist to confirm if it's steel or iron.

Cast iron is a PITA to weld. It requires not only technique, but the right rod material to use.

I thought that most turbine housings were cast iron with some sort of mix of nickel for durability.

J