EXTERNAL CRACK ON BLOCK

AT A PULL THIS PAST SATURDAY FOUND WATER LEAKING FROM BOTTOM OF BLOCK IT HAD BEEN REPAIRED AT SOME POINTNOT BY ME, AND THE SILICONED PATCH RUSTED OUT, I PLAN ON CLEANING ALL THAT STUFF OFF AND USE DEFCON TO RESEAL IT AND PUT BOILER SEALER IN RADIATOR AM I HEADING IN THE CORRECT DIRECTION OR SHOULD I TRY SOMETHING ELSE?

THE TRACTOR IS A 51 MODEL A ,SORRY FORGOT TO PUT ON PREVIOUS POST THE CRACK IS APPROX. 1" LONG

I would find a GOOD WELDER that HAS a good Reputation. Not that hard but it needs or should be cleaned very well then heated with a torch then DC welded with nickel rod or you could braze it with oxy/act torch.

Clean area with grinder and V notch the crack then use JB WELD !!! It works wonders too !!!

Belzonia much better than glues. Stainless much better than nickel.

You do not want to weld a cast iron block with stainless rod!

Why not? I have some that have been welded with stainless.
They seem to be OK.

FWIW...

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/support/welding-how-to/pages/stick-electrodes-cast-iron-detail.aspx

When do I use Lincoln Softweld® 99Ni, 55Ni and Ferroweld® electrodes?

Choosing electrodes for welding cast iron typically comes down to three things: cost, machine-ability, and whether the weld is single or multiple pass.

Softweld 99Ni (AWS class ENi-CI) is a nominally 99% Nickel electrode. Nickel is expensive, and so, therefore, is this premium electrode. The electrode will deposit welds that are machine-able, an important consideration when the casting is to be machined after welding. Repairs made with Softweld 99Ni are often single pass welds with high admixture. Even with high admixture, the weld deposit will remain machine-able. It works best on castings with low or medium phosphorous contents.

Softweld 55Ni (AWS class ENiFe-CI)is a nominally 55% Nickel electrode. The lower Nickel content makes this electrode more economical than Softweld 99Ni. Weld deposits are usually machine-able, but under conditions of high admixture, the welds can become hard and difficult to machine. It is often used for repairing castings with heavy or thick sections. As compared to Softweld 99Ni, welds made with 55 Ni are stronger and more ductile, and more tolerant of phosphorous in the casting. It also has a lower coefficient of expansion than 99Ni, resulting in fewer fusion line cracks.

Ferroweld (AWS class ESt) is a lower cost, steel electrode. The weld deposits are hard, and are not machine-able, but can be finished by grinding. This is the lowest cost electrode for welding cast iron, and the electrode has a very user-friendly arc. It can tolerate welding on castings that cannot be completely cleaned before welding. Ferroweld deposits will rust, just like cast iron. This may be important when repairing cast iron parts such as exhaust manifolds on antique cars.

Are you positive the rod was Stainless Steel?

Yes. just curious what the negative is in using SS on cast or just cast blocks.

(quoted from post at 11:03:46 06/23/14) THE TRACTOR IS A 51 MODEL A ,SORRY FORGOT TO PUT ON PREVIOUS POST THE CRACK IS APPROX. 1" LONG

Click to expand...

Unless there is another cylinder block that can be used on this engine, it is not recommended to make an arc welding repair. If SMAW is used on one 1" crack, after welding there will be ten new 1" cracks. Oxy/fuel gas welding is the only sure fire method for 60 year old gray iron with dubious chemistry and much burnt-on and sand inclusion.

Asking how to repair a cracked block on here is never a good idea there are too many so called experts that will fill you full of misinformation on what you can and can't do and many have never attempted the repair in their lives. First never attempt to braze a block at all or use oxy/fuel unless you can bring the entire block up to temperature at once and allow it to post heat very slowly to do this the block will have to be off the tractor. I had a fellow call me up to look at a cracked block on an IH model A as he had a so called expert try and fix a small crack on the block, he tried to preheat the block with a torch and turned a small 3 inch long crack into 5 cracks that looked like a star. The so called expert absolutely destroyed the block it could still have been repaired if it was rare enough but it was cheaper to just replace it.

Second stainless steel will not work properly on cast iron I watched a welder brag about how you could use stainless on cast and he attempted to fix a broken vice after he got done welding the vice I broke it in half on his weld with the first swing of a hammer he was pretty quiet after that. I used bronze and the vise was still in use when the job was finished. It is sometime easier to let people show you they're wrong then argue with them about it.

The best method to repair a block by welding it in place is with nickel or any other cast electrode rod, I used to like the old Lincoln F rod because when you were done the repair it would rust like any cast iron so if you ground it properly it can hardly be seen. I have used both nickel and other forms of cast electrodes but I prefer the cast as like I said about the F rod it will rust up just like the rest of the block. The problem with the cast is it is not machineable but it works fine for water jacket cracks. The process is very time consuming you can only weld a short distance at a time a half inch or less and you need to peen the weld while it is cooling you don't want the block to get much hotter then being able to touch it with a glove on.

There are many different ways for welding cast iron the man who taught me liked electrode on blocks, oxy/acy cast rod on manifolds and brazing on vise's and castings. I have repairs done in all above forms by him some more then 60 years ago that are still going strong and in use in my shop and on my tractors today.

There are experts and there are experts.
A local head welding shop that has been in business since the early seventies uses what they call a cast rod and torch.
Though they weld all kinds, most of their business is Detroit and Cat heads.
They completely drill and grind out the cracks before welding.
I agree with you on the stick welding. I wish the heads and blocks I have that were stainless and/or nickel welded had been welded with some iron rod so when paint is scratched or scraped they would look the same instead ot shining thru.
I have heads that have been stick welded and brazed both with success. I was surprised to find so many heads stick welded when I used to think they could only be brazed.
I have tractors from TX to WI and MI that the heads were stick welded (was lied to on most). I guess if you can weld you can weld.