Re: Travelall Exhaust Manifold

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

The black helicopters hovering over the house recorded Mike Marentette
<mmarentette@domain.elided> whispering:

>What I was
>thinking of was sealing the crack with J-B Weld, but I don't know if it
>will stand up to the temperatures.  I was wondering if anyone has had a
>similar problem, and if so, tried J-B Weld to seal their exhaust
>manifold?

JB Weld *will not* work on such temp applications.  JB Weld has a plastic
resin base which will melt at such high temperatures.  In desperation I
tried it on the exhaust manifold of an AMC Eagle Summit for my
mother-in-law one weekend and it was a definite no go.

There are *supposedly* special patching compounds sold at most auto-parts
stores that are designed specifically for exhaust manifolds, but I've also
tried several and have had no luck.  They just heat up and flake right off.

I used to work in a metal fabrication and welding shop in rural Texas when
I was in high school, and we would weld or braze exhaust manifolds for
local farmers on occasion.  Whether it can be successfully done depends on
the skill of the welder, the thickness of the cast iron and the quality of
the metal.  Thin brittle metal will simply crack beside the weld as the
weld cools.  However, carefully peening the weld immediately when hot can
help alleviate the stress to prevent cracking.

If you don't have the tools or skills to try welding it yourself, take it
to a local general purpose welding shop and they should be able to fix you
up.  You won't be any worse off than you are now!  However, do not try to
braze the crack with a tiny home workshop quality Bernzomatic oxy/propane
torch... there's no way it'll develop the heat long enough to get the job
done.  You'll go broke buying the tiny disposable oxygen bottles.

Good luck,

John
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