Welding Monkey

Testing the mask

Buzz packin'

So tonight was my second attempt at fixing the crack in the AE86 exhaust manifold. Being only a welding monkey, MIG was easy, but going back to the big old school buzz box stick welder was a bit harder. It takes a bit more skill to strike the arc and keep the stick at good spacing. What I was trying to fix is the all to common crack in the stock cast iron manifold for these Corollas. This lets nice buzz packing fumes go where they’re not wanted, like the front of the car! On Sunday (after wrestling with getting one last nut off on Saturday) I had my first attempt at welding the crack. I had to monkey around with the welder, get used to the blinking on and off of the helmet, and try not to get the stick stuck to the manifold.

After many attempts, this was the bead I laid down. It might look like it covers the crack, but it’s only kind of blobbed on top. I ground it down and the crack reappeared. Not great. I was being too conservative with power and turned it up.  By the end of the night I got beads that had better penetration, but still with voids. Ah well, too late at night to grind, so I just squirted on some paint to keep rust away and packed it in for that night.

So tonight I revisted it and ground down the welds again. If you look here you can see the crack. I crank up the power even more and have another go. With such a thick piece of iron, it takes some power and heat to get penetration on this stuff. I guess that’s why some people will preheat the piece when welding cast iron. I’m getting better, but frustratingly getting some big voids.

Grind down again. I slow down motion and work on the tip distance. This time I get a bead I’m fairly satisfied with.  I’m going to leave the glop of weld unground so at least it covers the crack. Guess it takes a bit more than a monkey to weld with stick on a non-intelligent AC welder. Maybe Big Foot. I can’t even contemplate TIG right now. A coat of stove paint and it don’t look too bad now! Hopefully it’s not all warped from the heat! Couldn’t get it back on the car. Oh well, looks like they’ll be enough space for the delivery guy to get the new washer in without having to move the car.  Washer you say? Yes our old washing machine broke down, it doesn’t know when to stop filling water and caused a little flood in the patio. Went and got a front loader style LG from Sears, being delivered tomorrow. Yes, Korean. We shall see how it works out, people seem to speak well of them.