Cummins Canoe (A Stepvan Story)
- Thread starter PlethoraOfGuns
- Start date
PlethoraOfGuns
Adventurer
Thanks. I'm going to try and fix it. New Cummins heads are like $1600! I'm doing research on silicon bronze TIG brazing.
PlethoraOfGuns
Adventurer
I'm afraid of the crack getting bigger. I want to drill out each end of the crack, grind a groove into surface of crack, and braze it with the TIG welder. Hopefully this can be done without removing the cylinder head.
llamalander
Well-known member
Got any seals in there that the TIG might melt? What's the working temp of the braze?
PlethoraOfGuns
Adventurer
Only seal there is the head gasket. I'd obviously take the fuel injectors out first. Learning how to TIG silicon bronze. It's not going as easy as I would have hoped.
PlethoraOfGuns
Adventurer
Oh boy, it's been a stressful week. Did many hours of research. We're going to attempt to fix the cylinder head right on the engine. It's already screwed, so I don't think we can do much worse. Picked up some silicon bronze TIG brazing rods and went to town practicing a new skill.
My first few beads on an old piece of disc brake rotor were not so great. Then I cut some grooves into a jack stand support in a fashion that I envisioned would be what I would do to the cylinder head. In both my research and personal experience I found that there are different grades of cast iron. One grade you just can't weld. Another grade in which it's almost impossible. And another grade that you have a 50/50 shot at it working. Whatever grade the brake rotor was meant that it was one that isn't good to weld. The jack stand one did pretty good in receiving the braze. What grade is the cylinder head? I'm not sure, and this keeps me up at night. What am I getting myself into?
Did many practice beads, I think I was getting the hang of it. The lower melting point of the silicon bronze rods made it act very different than regular TIG welding rods. It took some finese to get the temperature right and make it actually work well. Need to get the temperature high enough to melt the rod but not high enough to melt the cast iron. I can see many other applications where these techniques can come in handy.
Dug out the crack in the cylinder head. Here going nothing...
My first few beads on an old piece of disc brake rotor were not so great. Then I cut some grooves into a jack stand support in a fashion that I envisioned would be what I would do to the cylinder head. In both my research and personal experience I found that there are different grades of cast iron. One grade you just can't weld. Another grade in which it's almost impossible. And another grade that you have a 50/50 shot at it working. Whatever grade the brake rotor was meant that it was one that isn't good to weld. The jack stand one did pretty good in receiving the braze. What grade is the cylinder head? I'm not sure, and this keeps me up at night. What am I getting myself into?
Did many practice beads, I think I was getting the hang of it. The lower melting point of the silicon bronze rods made it act very different than regular TIG welding rods. It took some finese to get the temperature right and make it actually work well. Need to get the temperature high enough to melt the rod but not high enough to melt the cast iron. I can see many other applications where these techniques can come in handy.
Dug out the crack in the cylinder head. Here going nothing...
PlethoraOfGuns
Adventurer
JB Weld is some serious stuff! But we're gonna keep it in the drawer on this one. I have confidence this might maybe work.
If I run the engine, all the coolant will enter out the crack and contaminate everything. It was a mess trying to blow out all the coolant from the cylinder head. I might just lightly torch the area before brazing. Removed all the fuel lines and injectors so no worry's there.
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PlethoraOfGuns
Adventurer
While I stall on fixing the cracked engine, decided to get the air compressor up and running. Got this thing ages ago, just never had time to install it.
First step was to mount air tank. Found this 5 gallon tank floating around in a dumpster. Welded up brackets from the scrap bin and we got a good tank to mount under the rig.
Mounted tank down behind the driver seat. 5 gallons should be plenty good for all the small stuff we'll be using it for.
Mounted the compressor nice and close to the battery. Put a toggle switch on outside of electrical cabinet by the battery cutoff switch. Piping goes to check valve and then through bulkhead fitting down to the tank.
On the firewall I installed this manifold with all kinds of other goodies.
On the passenger seat I installed a connector to hook up and air hose. Now we can easily air up tires and such!
First step was to mount air tank. Found this 5 gallon tank floating around in a dumpster. Welded up brackets from the scrap bin and we got a good tank to mount under the rig.
Mounted tank down behind the driver seat. 5 gallons should be plenty good for all the small stuff we'll be using it for.
Mounted the compressor nice and close to the battery. Put a toggle switch on outside of electrical cabinet by the battery cutoff switch. Piping goes to check valve and then through bulkhead fitting down to the tank.
On the firewall I installed this manifold with all kinds of other goodies.
On the passenger seat I installed a connector to hook up and air hose. Now we can easily air up tires and such!
PlethoraOfGuns
Adventurer
Unknown. I fixed it up as best I can. Nervous to find out if it worked or not. Decided to revamp the complicated coolant/engine/Espar/aux heat system while the coolant is all drained out. Been working lots, will post some photos once I get some time to sit down with my computer.