It can certainly be done. Read a description of one successful
cast iron repair at
http://www.dimebank.com/FrankenLathe.html
(search for 'welded' if you don't want to read the whole thing :-)
It's a lot of work. It's hard to get right. It will likely
have pinholes or fail again.
That was a part that doesn't get heated. We've also done successful
repairs on an irreplaceable exhaust manifold - along with some
re-engineering to remove the causes of the failure.
(Which is a good sidebar here - what caused the original to
fail? The 4A's exhaust system is well-designed to avoid stress
on the manifold ... so either the exhaust in question was hung
incorrectly, or there was an original casting failure in the
manifold ... and it will likely fail again in the same way.)
For a part that's made of the unobtainium alloy of cast iron, it's
worth the effort. For a 4A manifold, as good as they are, it's
probably not - by the time you're done screwing around with it,
you will have spent on materials what it would cost to buy a used
manifold. If you put any value on your time spent, you will have
spent what it would cost to buy a stainless header :-)
Best,
chris
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