Thread: FFR 33 Ford Hot Rod

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Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

although I doubt it would help much cause it's welding steel to cast

Turns out his 9 inch had a bent tube also.

Cast can be welded using the right welding rods and procedure. I tig welded my tubes in with nickle filler rods and preheat. It welded fine with no visible cracking. I've had good luck tig welding cast over the years. Tigging seems to help prevent cracking.

The housing is most likely nodular iron (which is made with scrap steel and iron, cheaper than pure cast iron and stronger), but nothing I've found proves that. I will say that it grinds (sparks) like nodular iron or what we used to call in the machine shop "semi steel".

I've had a 9" with a bent tube also. It caused a bearing and axle failure in less than 10,000 miles. I learned to check every junk yard rearend for straightness after that.