Whats the difference between cast iron and cast steel?

[andrew e]

I'm modifing a dump pipe off a RB20 and need to weld it. where i have cut it the metal is silver in colour (not grey) and im pretty sure it is cast steel. is there any other way of telling?

Also, can you weld cast steel like any other normal steel, ie MIG? or do i need low hydrogen sticks or somthing fancy?

Andrew.

[80UTE]

The real easy way to tell is when grinding steel there are heaps of bright sparks visable when grinding cast iron there are bearly any sparks and you can get a strange taste and smell from the grinding dust. Steel is easy to weld with the mig just pre heat it a bit, and cast iron can be a pain but i have modified cast iron turbo manifolds in the past and just welded them up with the mig and had no problems just heat it up first and do small passes to fill the weld prep. ( i doubt the manifold would be cast steel as cast iron is more heat resistant and stable a high temperatures and thats why manifold are made from this material).

Wally

[dow50r]

cast steel looks like a crankshaft does....you are looking at cast iron, its silver when dressed up or cut, you need to weld it with TIG or preheat in oven and use a special electrode with welder.....
Andrew