Welding A Flathead Block

SHADETREE years ago there was a co named utech or something like that . they may still be around .they made a torch where you screwed a container on it. they had different type metel for different needs. & you sprayed the part you were repairing we would spray worn crank shafts & ground them back to std & never had a proulbem. also worked on worn shafts . never tried it on a cracked eng but the salsman said it would work
 
Flamespray was developed to add a hard surface material to plowshares but was further developed for all sorts of purposes. I would have just brazed it with rod myself but then again, I don't have any flame spray equipment. A person just has to remember to let it cool down slow or cracks can develope.

Kerby
 
Uetectic was the company that sold mantaince welding products. They were in Flushing N.Y. I made some wire feed welders for them and was at their facility several times. The spray type powdered metals were for shaft build up. They did have several types of stick electrodes that flowed good on cast iron. I don't know if they are still around this was over 40 years ago. Lincoln makes some good stick rods for cast. I found MIG or TIG don't work to good on blocks, the welds crack as soon as they cool a little even making small tacks. I welded a few old Ford blocks with the Lincoln rods. You can't be in a hurry. I ground a U in the cracks, weld about an inch and peen the weld, weld an inch somewhere else and peen that. Let it cool so you can just about hold your hand on it at all times. I grind the weld at the stop of the last weld to thin the weld down into the U I ground. Keep welding 1 inch welds at differant spots letting it cool every time. If it's in a surface visible it can be ground off flush with the base metal. I take an acid brush and thick engine paint, put paint on fairly thick and let it set up some. Then use the stiff end of the brush to give it the same stippled look as the original cast iron. G.M.
 
GM there was a welding shop on long island ny. the owner welded to two chevy v/8 together including the camshafts & crankshaft & the blocks & valve covers. makeing it a 16 cyl you could not tell it was welded together. he had it at a car show it was in a i think a 39 chevy coupe he drove it in. i spoked to him & he said his shop could weld any thing made of metal have you ever herd of him also there was a shop that advisited in hemmings showing broken heads & blocks & they said they could repair any cast iron part
 
Folks that weld cast iron professionally usually have all sorts of equipment to heat the parts up and then cool down slow after the weld. From big burners to big ovens. Heating the whole thing up before welding makes it much easier to get a good weld then just start slowly turning down the heat. Many rare antique engine parts, differential cases, & transmission cases have been repaired rather than spend the funds to have the parts recast. This is an art that is slowly dying out though. Not as many folks go this route as there used to be.
 
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None that I'm aware of. I've brazed up cylinders & heads on the older HD motorcycles but nothing as big as an engine block.
 
There is an article in Rod and Custom magazine about 1953 0r 4 on a guy whou successfully built a six cylinder Model T Ford, I think just to see if he could. I believe the car still exists and runs...
He cut up at least 2 blocks and several each crankshafts and camshafts...preheat was a really interesting bit: He built a firepit for the block, aligning the pieces with angle iron, then built a custom furnace by stacking fire brick around the lump. Once everything was sizzling, he removed a few bricks at a time and welded the exposed area, restacked the bricks, and moved on to another area. Once he was done, everything was left in the furnace til it burned out and cooled off.
Shafts were rewelded into proper 120 degree type formation, engine was assembled and ran fine.
So...a welding genius with excellent improvisational skills can do just about anything.
The article is worth seeking out, and last time I posted about it someone put in information on the car's more recent life.
 
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