welding the intake manifold

[frosti108]

hey guys the other day i whipped out my arc welder and tried to weld a small steel plate over the EGR hole on the back of the intake manifold... as most of you probly already figured, it didnt stick.

my question is.

what is the intake manifold made out of and how should i go about welding the hole closed back there?? what should i use to put over it ya know???

THANKS!

[frosti108]

oh. i tried a little steel circle i got from an electrical box i just put in, and i tried a quarter LOL both of them melted on good, but just chipped right off after the fact.



also has anyone heard of throwing water on a weld while its cherry to make it stronger???


yes. im very new to welding

[LongGrain]

intake manifolds are aluminum, you cant just weld on aluminum, theres a special way to do it (including needing aluminum rods for an arc welder) but i'm not sure exactly how to do it, ive never done it before.

[CursedGTR]

oh. i tried a little steel circle i got from an electrical box i just put in, and i tried a quarter LOL both of them melted on good, but just chipped right off after the fact.



also has anyone heard of throwing water on a weld while its cherry to make it stronger???


yes. im very new to welding

The intake Mani should be cast aluminum. You need to use a TIG welder to weld aluminum if you want it done right.

[welddrft]

yea, intake manifolds are usually cast aluminum, so its impossible to weld a steel plate to aluminum, especially stick welding it. You need to use the GTAW process(tig) to weld aluminum, the work has to be super clean as well with aluminum, and if you are new to this, I would suggest taking it to a fab shop or some experienced welder to save you the hassle and money in the long run and I also doubt your welder has AC(alternating current) as a feature, i may be wrong. Best thing to probably do is to make a block off plate. Hope this helps any.

[frosti108]

thanks for the responses. i figured it was cast aluminum but i didnt wanna guess wrong. well on my last one i used jb weld and its held up fine. but now that i have this welder i thought i would try and put it to use.

im pretty sure my welder has AC... its a big old 50 amp lincoln arc stick welder. puts out 40 to 225 amps.

so if i get the electrode made for aluminum, i could probly knock it out even if it looks ugly? i clean everything up almost to a shine with a wire wheel bit on my drill before i weld.

so does anyone know where i could find a little circle peice of aluminum to weld over the hole?? or would i have to find a peice of cast aluminum???

idk lol

thanks!

[wrapmeup2005]

Go to a welding store and buy a small tube of aluminum welding rods for arc welding and just fill the hole. Aluminum rods for arc are white in color

[tdub377]

Watter on fresh hot welds causes them to crack. Being that they are not as strong best to just let sit and cool down by its self.

[tknbkthrsdy4anfg]

just make a block off plate so it isnt permanent, jeez thor!

[los_inc]

block off plates is like 10 bucks on ebay easy now

[frosti108]

thanks. yea i found a ghetto homemade block off plate on the original blown up motor that came in the car with a bunch of rtv on it LOL

i dont like the plates because i gotta use that big heavy chunk of metal that holds it on... id rather just sorta cover it and smooth it over like it was never there

[CursedGTR]

Why wouldn't you just thread in a large plug, that way it is quick, simple and easily fixed in the event it gets screwed up?

[pr240sx]

Why not weld a block off plate to the EGR base?
Its eaiser, doable with your current welder and looks nicer