Hole in water housing- 74 Lesabre 455-4

Today I brought the car home on a trailer; it couldn't hold its water. This is the darnedest thing I've ever seen. It's a hole in the top of the housing where the water pump bolts on. It's an irregular shaped hole. The pump was replaced 8 years ago and probably has less than 100 miles on it. This car was owned for over twenty years by my friend's dad who passed suddenly earlier this year. The car is a burgundy Lesabre with a white ragtop and has only 40k miles. What on earth happened to this and is there a fix short of replacement?

thanks,

Joel

Is it aluminum?

Yes, it appears to be cast aluminum. I still have some of that Muggy Weld stuff I used on pot metal. Maybe it would work? Or maybe I can wittle a wooden plug!

Pull the water pump off so you can get to the inside and clean it up really well. Then try some epoxy that is made for metal. OR since it is aluminum, remove the timing cover and have it welded shut. I would try the first option....first.

I have one from a 1969 430 V-8 if you are interested. 430 is the predecessor to the 455 and is very similar. In fact, if anyone needs 430 parts, I have one that I am parting out.

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

Leonard, Texas

These pics are out of order, working pics from my iPhone isn't too easy. I decided to take Adam's suggestion and took things apart far enough to get the pump out. I scraped out the corrosion material and took the second pic looking up from the inside. I dremeled out to get clean metal inside and out and the used JB Weld. I held the epoxy inside the housing with aluminum tape and then made an aluminum patch for the outside.

Next weekend I'll get this back together. If it doesn't hold I'll tear it down further and have it welded or replaced.

thanks for the help,

Joel

Make sure the impeller of the water pump doesn't interfere with the patch.

It would be much better if you can use the epoxy method. Reason is that sometimes, when you weld aluminum, if you're not careful, you end up with a much bigger hole than you started with, which can further render the item as "needing replacement".

Once the JBWeld is well-cured, you can lightly file it down (inside and out), blend the repair with the surrounding surfaces, hit it with some engine paint, and reassemble. Then, let it cure further by engine heat, adding cooling system pressure gradually, just to make sure the repair is reliable.

Please keep us posted on your progress.

NTX5467