what kinda metal was this!?

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Help me out guys, The other day I was called in to remove a ceased threaded cap on the head of a fluid pump. After building a tool to remove it and fighting with it, we decided the best way was to cut the center out so that I could heat the inside of the cap where the threads were.Now this cap was very maleable, before i got there the operators were hammering on it's pertruding nubs as they normally do to remove them, these nubs compressed easily and mushroomed on the ends. grinding them down so that my tool would fit on them the sparks looked like a typical mild steel spark pattern. And the resulting ground metal looked like typical steel. When i went to cut the center of the cap out with my O/A torch however, it would not cut at all. It was as if the cap was very high carbon, the metal would just drip away and I never could start oxidation.After cutting the center out with my plasma and got my rosebud on the threads on the inside it shrunk nicely when we quenched it. And we removed it easily after.  So basically it acted like mild steel except it would not cut!I looks like it's a cast peice with threads and o-ring grooves machined into it. Perhaps it is a high silicon alloyed peice? It has me wondering Any thoughts as to what this was?
Reply:or stainless steelChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:Originally Posted by chopper5or stainless steel
Reply:Maleable iron. One of the casts.
Reply:That would cut with the torch, though.  It's definately stainless steel.  Inconel or monel would be other possibilities for a pump casing, but they don't throw sparks like steel does.
Reply:Its definetly not stainless steel, it was magnetic plus it was rusting slightly.and the spark pattern definetly was not short red sparks, they were long and straw colour just like mild steel
Reply:well some stainless is magnetic and stainless is not rust proofChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:Certian 400 series stainless is magnetic and prone to corrosion......zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:No stainless is rust proof.
Reply:Originally Posted by 76GMC1500No stainless is rust proof.
Reply:i thought i said thatChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:Originally Posted by zapsterCertian 400 series stainless is magnetic and prone to corrosion......zap!
Reply:Well, I misread it as some stainless...
Reply:True, martinsitic stainless steel is actually magnetic, however with this level of rust there is no way it was alloyed with nickle or chrome. Besides that, the metal did not discolour like SS does when I heated it up.I'll try to take a picture of what I'm talking about thanks for your thoughts.