welding a block

Have any of you welded a engine block with success! I got ahood of a farmall 806 with a hole in the block righi on the bottom left cornor! I have the pieces to that came out! Really wouldnt have much into it except time gaskets! And new bearing which i have and maybe a new rod! But i have that to! The hile is about 3 inches round no water jacket or anything

Yep I,ve seen several tractors over the years with welded blocks.

Stitching is usually your best bet with a broken block, but really depends on where the break is. if it's a structural part so to speak, that's one thing, but if it's just a non critical, no-stress area, it's quite another.

I've seen jb weld work fine on the latter.

But if it's an important area, I'd say getting it stitched (or doing it yourself if you've got the patience and don't mind buying a kit) is the best solution.

I would say its not really structual! I hope it will work so its mobile on its own but i know me if it works i will put it to work! Till i get the time and money to do a complete restoration!

My MF 231 came to me with a hole in the block. I welded the pieces back in. It's been quite a few years since the repair, and so far so good. As someone else mentioned a little at a time. after the repair seal the inside with something, like gasket shellac. Stan

How much is alittle at a time inch bead????

Welding a cracked block is alot different than welding pieces back into one. If you weld across a gasket surface you will never be able to machine it in that spot [with a mill ] you will have to grind it flush again. If you get near any threaded holes you will never get a tap in them to cleanout any weld bead as the tap will snap off. In what you describe if I am reading it right it would be best to get a new block if you can.Pins are for cracks not chunks.

Use nickel rod. Weld a half or 3/4 inch & peen until cool. then repeat Vee the joints first.

Farmall Cubs are frequently damaged by pulling after becoming mired in mud etc. Frequently the front of the block is torn away. I assisted my father (a welder) repair such an engine block. First we cleaned it, the dad tack brazed a piece into place, then we ground a v in from the other side and brazed it, then grinding out the tack and brazing the other side. Dad said this tractor operated for many years after the repairs. I have repaired many cast iron items by using his method.

Thiers no gaskets near or bolts

If the point of EXIT was not in a water jacket or oil passage area i would weld it and never think twice about it . But then this depends on how good of a welder you are . Many years back and i do mean many years back i had a clutch come apart on a 390 Ford and this was suppose to be a BLOW PROOF clutch . Back then we did not have a scatter proof bellhousing like we have today . I did have however the NASCAR approved one . When that Schrieffer dual disc came apart it came thru that bell housing cut the steering shaft in half took the master cylinder off the fire wall put big dents in the hood and floor pan of the car made big holes in the road and lots of pieces and parts scattered down the road . It also broke the ears off the block and a few other pieces off the back of the block . I had a ton of money in this engine and lots of machine work done to it . I welded pieces of steel bar stock to that block to replace the lower mounting ears and built up with weld where the other bolt holes were broke out. Re drilled and tapped them and put it back together and changed brands of clutch . A buddy use to pull Modifieds and ran a 487 Donavan alum. block you do not want to know how many patches that i welded in that block . Even when he crashed it on a Friday evening pull and we found that he had a split crack what ever ya want to call it running up thru the center main web up to the cam bore i welded it up solid re drilled the oil hole and we lined bored the cam bore and the crank bore and it was back running for the pull Saturday evening . The big problem you will run into is contamination and porosity . Getting all the oil and dirt out is the main thing . Ya see a pin hole grind it out and try again heat - weld peen grind and repete . As for what rod that is up to you . When done you can repaint the inside of the block with Gilftic (sp) paint , you will not like the price of it but good things cost MONEY. This will seal any pin holes you may have missed .

You have nothing to lose but a little time and welding rod.

(quoted from post at 07:17:05 03/31/14) Have any of you welded a engine block with success! I got ahood of a farmall 806 with a hole in the block righi on the bottom left cornor! I have the pieces to that came out! Really wouldnt have much into it except time gaskets! And new bearing which i have and maybe a new rod! But i have that to! The hile is about 3 inches round no water jacket or anything

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Cast is very porous. I have welded several large pieces into blocks before. Use Ni rod, but that alone won't get the job done. What will happen is that as you weld, it will crack behind on what you have already done. I used a torch to preheat the cast to a red hot color. Next I welded several inches, stopped and cooled what I had done with water on a sponge. I next reheated the area and repeated that procedure until I had welded the whole thing. The pre heating takes the cast to near a flowing state and you then flow the Ni rod into the mix. The cooling enables the metal to stay consistent across the surface.

You can by ni-rod in machine able and non-machine able types.

I would definitely not recommend this method. I
hardly every disagree with someone on here, but I
do disagree with his advice.
Heating both pieces up is correct. The cooling
part is what is wrong. Cast iron needs to cool
slowly. You have different materials you are
trying to cool at the same time that contract at
different amounts.
One method many use when welding cast iron is to
heat both pieces. After welding, burying the
pieces in sand and keeping heat on them (usually
propane) for a while and letting it cool with the
insulation. This extends the cooling time and
helps it form together.

If you got that to work you have rewritten the book on this subject for sure !

I will have to investigate this . I have some I paid dearly for and alot from a garage sale.I just recall a tap disaster. What you don't know will hurt you . Thanks

(quoted from post at 07:17:05 03/31/14) Have any of you welded a engine block with success! I got ahood of a farmall 806 with a hole in the block righi on the bottom left cornor! I have the pieces to that came out! Really wouldnt have much into it except time gaskets! And new bearing which i have and maybe a new rod! But i have that to! The hile is about 3 inches round no water jacket or anything

Click to expand...

I won't critize anyone, but I have welded 3 differnet blocks over the years and the procedure worked ,so do what you will.

I once welded a hole in the side of an 9n that was under the starter. I had to use a piece of plate as the pieces were gone. I used a rod called Royal Purple? It welded good and looked not bad. It did hair crack. I covered the area with Belzonia. I was told to have some stand with you and have them peen the weld right behind you as you go to relieve cracking. I didn't do this. I know this is not the "expert" way to do it but it worked and I wasn't out much.

I don't know how to tell them apart for sure. I have some that I got at a good deal years ago at Farm & fleet going out of business sale in small plastic packs and the packs are labeled.
You can weld some with them and tell for sure. The machineable one you can get a file to work on it.
The non machineable type you have to use a grinder on it.

As the others said. Use Nickel 99 rod, weld about 3/4" and then peen the weld with a slag chipping hammer. Welded many cast items this way with success.

actually i would acetylene weld it with brass. tack the piece back on in a couple places,then take a grinder and follow the crack making a V along the crack. then heat it up dont have to be red but put heat it up some. then weld it up

Maybe I'm missing something with all the suggestions on using all the different rods to weld it with. I may not be thinking too correctly in my older years, but from what I was taught, weld it with the same filler or as close as you can get to the base metal. In this case, weld it with cast rod. Yes you can get it for arc welding and I'm pretty sure it is an AC rod. My second choice would be to bond it by brazing. Just my thoughts, it belongs to you. Keith

If you want to weld it, I would use either nomacast or Ni-55 rod. The nomacast will be cheapest and easiest to use, but will not be machinable and be less strong. The Ni-55 is more expensive and can be machined some, and is easier to use than Ni-99. Ni-99 is machinable but is the most expensive and hardest to use. You could also braze it. Seems like all you need to do is fill the hole so I think any of these will do the job for you. As said I would weld short runs and peen them between and when done throw an old blanket or something over it to help it cool slower.
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It would be a lot easier to make a patch, slobber it with RTV and attach it with screws, clean the RTV on the inside and let it set up for 24 hours before going forward. We had an Oliver 1600 that was repaired this way behind the starter, never had an issue.

Rich

I have welded several with problems like this . Don't worry too much about making sure you don't have any porous spots. I just use an epoxy sealer over the whole area after welding the pieces back in place.

While in college I drove a bus that had a big straight 6 cylinder GMC engine that had a piece of channel, iron welded into the bottom of the block. The oil pan sealed on the flange of the channel iron.

There are a hundred ways to screw things up and generally only one or 2 ways to do it right. I have made my living for close to 40 years fixing things that others said couldn't be fixed,engine blocks included. Arc welding is the worst way to fix one and I will leave it at that.

So how would you do it?

Keith:

I welded a broken tooth on a cast 6 foot diameter Bull Gear on a large Mine Hoist. The broken tooth was 6 inches long, 3 inches high, and 2 inches thick. I used Castolin Eutectic rod on AC. That tooth is still holding after 35 years.

Doc :>)

My first choice would be to metal stitch it, have done dozens and never had a comeback. If it were out of the tractor and disassembled, I would gas weld it and 3rd choice I would braze it.I have seen too many blocks that were arc welded, when they got back up to operating temperature or the vibration of the engine cracked them again in the heat affected zone of the weld.