Gas porosity which is a common defect in aluminum alloy casting, is also thought to be severer in aluminum alloy castings produced by lost foam process due to the pyrolysis of the polystyrene foam pattern during pouring. Fundamental experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of process variables such as the melt treatment, the cooling rate and pouring temperature on the density and mechanical properties in A356.2 castings with simple bar shape. The density of grain refined specimen was slightly lower than that of degassed one, but was higher than that of no treated one and that of shot ball packed specimen was higher than the other specimens. The tensile strength and elongation were in the ranges of $200{sim}230MPa$ and $0.5{sim}1.5%$ respectively. The density and hardness of lost foam cast specimens decreased with increase in pouring temperature.