Hi guys. Glad to be back. Stay tuned, there's lots more to do before this one is finished...

You can weld on the axle tubes - they're steel, but that center section is cast iron and should be left as cast.

Cast iron CAN be welded quite successfully with high nickel rod made for that purpose and a stick welder. I have welded cracked heads, cracked blocks, the broken jaws of a vise, the broken foot of a pot-belly stove, and other cast iron pieces over the years, but my life wasn't riding on any of them. If this had ben my car I would be tempted to go find the guy that built it and punch him right in the face.