Mike Sharkey Posted January 25, 2023 Posted January 25, 2023 Does anyone know if the Bellhousing for the Dynaflow on a 1960 is a weldable aluminum alloy? Mine has a crack along the bottom.
37_Roadmaster_C Posted January 26, 2023 Posted January 26, 2023 This is a question for a professional welder. All aluminum is weldable with the right equipment and knowledge. One VERY BIG issue is cleanliness of the metal to be welded. It MUST be clean and 100% oil free! There are ways to clean the metal and it is not a sponge and dish soap 😆. Now seriously, contact a welding shop. They can give you a much better idea of the process and cost. Take a LOT of pictures of the break and then go from there. Good Luck!!! 3
EmTee Posted January 26, 2023 Posted January 26, 2023 I wonder whether metal stitching would be an option? A picture of the crack showing its size and location would be helpful.
60FlatTop Posted January 26, 2023 Posted January 26, 2023 It should be a common enough item to just find a used one. I would exhaust all my replacement options before I would repair a cracked one. 1
Mike Sharkey Posted January 26, 2023 Author Posted January 26, 2023 I do quite a bit of TIG welding of aluminum so the actual weld repair isn't going to be difficult. The one concern I have though is that there are some alloys of aluminum that are described as "non-weldable". I haven't worked with one of these alloys but what I've been told is that they will weld just fine but will tend to crack again later.
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted January 26, 2023 Posted January 26, 2023 3 hours ago, 60FlatTop said: It should be a common enough item to just find a used one. I would exhaust all my replacement options before I would repair a cracked one. So, wait a minute! Don't repair a thing. Replace it and [ unsaid ] throw the broken one away? So what is the HARM in attempting a repair? Ruining the thing? THEN throwing it away? Sharkey, looks like no one that KNOWS the answer has read the question.😁 Ben 1
60FlatTop Posted January 26, 2023 Posted January 26, 2023 Throw away the 60 year old housing that broke, which is an uncommon event, and replace it with a 60 year old housing that ain't broke and similar to the majority of 1960 Buick bell housings. At my advanced age I really only have time to do things onest. If I am going to get all the stuff done.
old-tank Posted January 26, 2023 Posted January 26, 2023 On 1/25/2023 at 5:12 AM, Mike Sharkey said: Mine has a crack along the bottom. Most bellhousings are only structurally bolted to the engine at the top half to 2/3...the lower part serves as a dust cover and to direct leaks. Weld it and don't look back. 1
Mike Sharkey Posted January 26, 2023 Author Posted January 26, 2023 (edited) Here's a couple pictures of it. I don't think it's in a structural area. At some time in the past something got thrown around in the bellhousing area. The inside of the bellhousing is all beat up as well as the edges of the flex plate and the bolts on the torque converter. I get the feeling that one of the TC bolts came out and spent some time orbiting the TC at high speed. Edited January 26, 2023 by Mike Sharkey removed photo (see edit history)
Mike Sharkey Posted February 4, 2023 Author Posted February 4, 2023 Cleaned it up with brake cleaner. Stop drilled the end of the crack and then V'd out the crack with a Dremel. Then welded it up both sides. I'm not going to bother closing up the stop drilled hole, I don't think it's gonna matter. Hopefully the alloy is one of the weldable ones and the repair will hold. 4
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