Quote:
Originally Posted by DBasher
Looks great, Craig. I think I know but I've got to ask...The insulation on the housing, have you got it on a hot plate preheating before welding? What temp were you able to get it up to?
Love the work you're doing and the thought put into the entire build!
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Thanks Dan,
Yes, that is a hot plate I borrowed from my day job. I got the entire center up to 450*F, I then locally pre-heated with a mapp gas torch to 550, then would weld about an inch at a time, let it cool down to 475, then heat and weld again. The housing is cast steel, but it has a high carbon content so I used Ni99 rod as a precaution. I did some test welds (on some heavy plate steel) with the Ni99 and the 309 rod. The Ni was softer and broke rather than pulling out base metal like the 309, both were able to bend over 180 degrees before failing. With the amount of weld area I feel pretty good that I won't have any issues. I was checking temps with an IR temp gun which I think was giving good readings as the housing was almost black. I post heated the housing for about 6 hours (slowly turning down the temp) before turning off the hot plate and letting it cool overnight. Took a solid 6 or 7 hours to add 3 brackets and weld the tubes to the housing.... I should have just bought a floater... and a new driveshaft... and new brakes... and a new center section... but now I have the only 8.8 like this.