Welding forged aluminum to cast aluminum?

[NoNonsense]

Hey guys,
I thought I'd post this here because I am making some engine brackets for an engine swap of mine.
I've got some cast ally bits with oil filled rubber mounts that were bolted to the frame to hold the old engine in place. I popped out the oil filler rubber mounts, and in place, I'd like to weld in a forged ally plate and make the proper bracket off of that.
The main question here, though, is can i weld forged ally to cast ally? Or would the welding process weaken the cast ally?

Thanks!

[Deltafox]

You can weld to cast ally as long as the parts to be joined are spotless first and you use the correct jointing rods.

[Boosted LS1]

You can tig weld it as well. Radiator companies are good at doing this stuff.

Boosted.

[NoNonsense]

Thanks! I plan to bead-blast the items first, so they will definitely be spotless.
I also was planning to TIG them...didn't really know you could do it any other way with aluminum.
I'll post up pictures after I get this done!

Cheers.

[Fatboy]

PPC did a feature on oxy welding aluminium last month....

Not that I'd have the first clue

[Boosted LS1]

Fatboy said:

PPC did a feature on oxy welding aluminium last month.... Not that I'd have the first clue

New mags out now and my engine looks very nice next to that Esprit even if I do say so myself

Boosted.

[wedg1e]

NoNonsense said:

Thanks! I plan to bead-blast the items first, so they will definitely be spotless. I also was planning to TIG them...didn't really know you could do it any other way with aluminum. I'll post up pictures after I get this done! Cheers.

You might struggle to do it at home unless you have a high-efficiency TIG inverter.
My TIG is of the transformer/thyristor variety (ie reliable!) and I can't run it near full power as it blows fuses, trips breakers and generally tries to burn the house down...

[Deltafox]

As wedg1e says, but bear in mind it MUST be an AC capable tig inverter as youll not manage to weld it on DC due to rectification issues with aluminium oxide.

[wedg1e]

Deltafox said:

As wedg1e says, but bear in mind it MUST be an AC capable tig inverter as youll not manage to weld it on DC due to rectification issues with aluminium oxide.

Well, I kind of presumed he'd know it was an AC weld needed....