MIG welding AL

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oldmule

Active member
Joined
Sep 12, 2007
Messages
43
Location
Colorado, East of the Peoples Republic of Boulder
I have a rather rare bell housing that I need to fix two cracks in. My TIG is DC only (yeah I know) but have heard of people MIG welding AL. I have AR and AR/CO2 blend gases and a Millermatic 175 welder. Can it be done?

Just because some of you will ask, it's a braced case TH400. The cracks are 2" long on the top dome lip and dr side above the alignment pin hole. I think the tranny bolts came loose on it because the alignment holes are wallowed out some. This is for a crawler build that has to be done before I can start on my 18 Dodge.....
 
You will need a different liner to run aluminum wire through your mig, also argon is the gas of choice. I know you have seen those heavy thick looking welds usually found on structural aluminium. Usually not as good looking as tig, but I have seen guys mig some nice looking stuff with mig.
 
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I need to get a Tweco gun, so maybe I'll pick up the liner for my old one and a bottle of HE and give it a try. I really ought to just suck it up and get a good TIG, but that's a lot of cash....

I've been meaning to ask you about something.
Do you have anyone over there that would want some old 40s and 50s trucks? A friend of mine is crushing his salvage and has a 45 ish type 4 Stude 2 ton truck, a 57 Chevy pickup cab that is decent w/ one door and good glass - the front end is laying there too that is decent. If you can plan a trip over the divide one day, I'll take a day off work and take you up there. There is actually several old trucks out there, I told him not to crush them till I can get pictures and see if I can find someone to get them. I have a 50 FIII sitting in the back weeds I'm waiting for. No front clip, bud decent cab and bed (that's going on my 18 Dodge and 30 A - 1/2 for each).

I'm taking the doors off the stude for some small parts for a guy on the HAMB, and I have the headlight rings off it for him as well. He won't take the doors, so they will be ok.
This is the inside of it.
Studeinterior.jpg


Talk to you later.
Greg
 
I told you wrong, sorry, 100% argon is the gas I was thinking heliarc, I went back and read what I wrote, and said "it is he11 getting old".
Depending on your machine you may need rollers, and tips too. Before I got my TIG I was looking into this project for my mig.

I would love to see ( or own) the old trucks but I can't do road trips right now. about 30 minutes in the truck and I have to get out and walk a while.
The studebaker sounds like the winner of the bunch.
 
Tig or Mig welding aluminum. A few tips. Don’t use a grinder where your welding. Aluminum likes to be clean when welded and small parts of the grinding media will imbed in the aluminum and will create porosity just like dirt and grease do. Use a file hand or rotor. A little preheat from a torch will help also.
Remember weld one end of the crack first then start at other end. This prevents the crack from opening up or growing ( getting longer as you weld). Hope this helps.
 
The spool gun is the way to go if you don't want to go TIG... trying to stuff soft aluminum wire through a standard MIG even with the teflon liner is hard to do, they end up stickin all the time...
 

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