Solder steel to aluminum?

[ZMan]

My friend has a JDM KLZE 2.5l in his '97 Probe, he needs to convert it to accept an EGR so that it will pass emissions. Basically what I'm doing is drilling two holes in his upper intake, and I'm going to use 3/8" steel fuel line to connect the two holes. Can I just use pipe solder to seal around the tube?

 

[JohnnyU]

Nope, your best bet would be to use an NPT tap and thread it for a fitting.

 

[almostclueless]

Excellent place to get all kinds of unimaginable stuff (and great service);


www.mcmaster.com

 

[metalmacguyver]

x2

i ordered a piece of bronze from them. i was expecting it to be shipped by standard ground. it arrived the next day in potsdam new york from some place in PA. dont know why it was so fast but im not complaining. i ordered it through my local machine shop though cause they had an account.

 

[ZMan]

Excellent place to get all kinds of unimaginable stuff (and great service);


www.mcmaster.com

oh ya thats a cool place, I'm gonna get some louvers from there for a ventilation fan in my shop.

 

[Dave R]

i was expecting it to be shipped by standard ground. it arrived the next day in potsdam new york from some place in PA. dont know why it was so fast but im not complaining. i ordered it through my local machine shop though cause they had an account.

Because they, as well as MSC, Graingers, J+L, etc. all have large UPS trucks leaving on an hourly basis, if not more often. They move a LOT of product out of their warehouses. Couple that with the fact that nearly everybody has jumped on the JIT band wagon and they expect their in-stock product within 24 hours or they go to another supplier who can deliver. I've come to expect that type of service and get downright irritated when I get excuses and not materials.



Zman,
JohnnyU is right, drilling and tapping would be the way to go, though if you want a nice, permanent, semi-professional looking installation you should weld a threaded bung onto the manifold.

 

[ZMan]

Thanks guys, I guess I'm gonna go for the fittings.. No welding here, I don't have access to a tig and don't have a welding tip for my torches.

 

[Destroyer000]

as stated a npt tap an fitting would be your best bet... its almost impossible to weld alum/to steel unless you goober it up an melt it together.. but THEIR is a welding process that allows you to fuse both metals together but its EXPENSIVE!!!!!!

 

[krugford]

as stated a npt tap an fitting would be your best bet... its almost impossible to weld alum/to steel unless you goober it up an melt it together.. but THEIR is a welding process that allows you to fuse both metals together but its EXPENSIVE!!!!!!

Are you talking about friction stir welding? That's a pretty neat process.

 

[Destroyer000]

no thats not the process iam talking about.. the process iam thinking of is cold metal transfer.. hers a bit of info on it
http://www.aws.org/w/s/wj/2005/06/038/index.html

 

[Dave R]

no thats not the process iam talking about.. the process iam thinking of is cold metal transfer.. hers a bit of info on it
http://www.aws.org/w/s/wj/2005/06/038/index.html

And what sort of applications are they envisioning for this process?

Fairly low strength, drastically dissimilar thermal expansion characteristics and inherent corrosion problems would seem to limit it's uses.

 

[Will]

Epoxy? I epoxied a steel EGR block-off plate to an aluminum manifold on several occasions and it never failed. It should be possible to drill a hole, goober it with epoxy and push it in there.

 

[ZMan]

Epoxy? I epoxied a steel EGR block-off plate to an aluminum manifold on several occasions and it never failed. It should be possible to drill a hole, goober it with epoxy and push it in there.

What type of epoxy would you suggest?

 

[ZMan]

Also..why exactly won't solder work?

 

[Will]

I think solder could work. Sweating copper joints is easy; wiring electrical connections is easy; the tin mailbox I had to make it grade school shop was tough. I also don't think it would last.

JB Weld is what I used. It is basically 2-part epoxy with a filler added in. It is enormously strong, flexible and thin enough the fill in gaps. The firmer stuff that comes in a tube would work also. It has more filler in it and is firmer.

Epoxy is amazing stuff. It isn't half-assing something like this. People have been filling in the coolant passages of blocks on drag motors and doing port work on heads for 30+ years with the stuff.