Welding the valve cover.. alloy?

[talon20g]

I was wondering if the 4g63 valve covers were weldable (tig) with a aluminum rod? Is the valve cover an aluminum and magnesium or what it is exactly. Magnesium wouldn't be good to weld. Slightly hard to put out if she catches on fire. I plan on tigging her tonight so let me kow something soon please.

 

[btak]

I believe its aluminum but I dont know if i would want to weld it. I had a crack in mine and I asked my dad if he could weld it and he said to just get a new one and he has 20 yrs + og tig welding exp. but if you do weld it tell us how it turns out

 

[Savage Talon]

You can weld on them no problem, I welded 2 -8 bungs on mine in place of the pcv and breather. You just have to get all the powder coating off and make sure its clean in the area of the welds.

 

[talon20g]

Can I use the aluminum rods?

 

[btak]

Well then maybe my dad was just lazy haha but if it is all aluminum then im pretty sure you have to use aluminum rods. Make sure you clean it up really nice because any junk still on it will make it harder to weld

 

[TSi_with_psi]

I plan on welding some -10 an aluminum bungs to my valve cover soon, so this is really good information to hear.

 

[talon20g]

I'll let you guys know how it works out tonight. And I'm sure it's a alloy not 100% aluminum.

 

[gsxeclipse97]

I was told that you can use jb weld on them. Mine is cracked just a little bit so i was going to get some of that and put it on there.

 

[Defiant]

Die-cast aluminum. It should weld okay, but it probably won't be pretty. Which won't matter if you're doing the underside.
But thirty bucks and less for a good used replacement is less than the juice to run the TIG would cost. They're just too common.

 

[talon20g]

Well it turned out okay. Not my prettiest work but it worked.

 

[talon20g]

Here is a heat sheild I made last night also. It's going on my rewelded and braced ssautocrap manifold. And one more pic of the valve cover.

 

[99gst_racer]

Pic of the underside?

 

[talon20g]

Inside the valve cover? Bottom side of the welded fitting?

 

[99gst_racer]

Inside the valve cover? Bottom side of the welded fitting?

Yeah, I'd like to see how you mounted that fitting so low and still effectively use the baffling to control the exit of crankcase gasses and the entrance of fresh air.

 

[talon20g]

Yeah... about that. Can you explain the importance of it.

 

[99gst_racer]

Yeah... about that. Can you explain the importance of it.

Sure, but I'll need a picture of the underside of the VC with the baffling removed to help explain it. I have one in my garage, so when I get home from work this afternoon, I'll snap a picture and explain it's importance.

Here goes.

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The green circle shows the divider underneath the baffle. This divider separates the path of air entering and air evacuating. The red arrows show the path of air evacuating via the PCV valve. As that happens, fresh air is drawn in on the other side (blue arrows).

If you weld fittings below the baffling and the divider, then most of the air that evacuates will be fresh air coming in. In a nutshell; both locations are relatively close to each other on the valve cover. If there's nothing there to keep them separated, then one will 'pull' on the other and the crankcase will not evacuate properly/efficiently.

The proper way would be to weld the fittings above the baffle like this: http://www.dsmtuners.com/gallery/files/1/0/2/1/2/2007build032_1.jpg

 

[keltalon]

Sure, but I'll need a picture of the underside of the VC with the baffling removed to help explain it. I have one in my garage, so when I get home from work this afternoon, I'll snap a picture and explain it's importance.

Here goes.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

The green circle shows the divider underneath the baffle. This divider separates the path of air entering and air evacuating. The red arrows show the path of air evacuating via the PCV valve. As that happens, fresh air is drawn in on the other side (blue arrows).

If you weld fittings below the baffling and the divider, then most of the air that evacuates will be fresh air coming in. In a nutshell; both locations are relatively close to each other on the valve cover. If there's nothing there to keep them separated, then one will 'pull' on the other and the crankcase will not evacuate properly/efficiently.

The proper way would be to weld the fittings above the baffle like this: http://www.dsmtuners.com/gallery/files/1/0/2/1/2/2007build032_1.jpg

do you still have your pcv valve?

 

[99gst_racer]

do you still have your pcv valve?

Nope. I just use the vacuum in the intake pipe to evacuate the crankcase now.