Bell housing repair???

admin

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ok folks this just in...went and met with some folks today and things are already busy and back to normal from my long stay in New England.This one place hands me this housing (coulnd'nt tell you what kind except its jeep related) and hard to find. Closest one is in Ohio.Not really sure if this is repairable or not wanted to get some info. BTW it wont be me welding this one up ,still working on my tig skills;however, I have it and will farm it out if some of you folks think it can be done.....I don't believe I know or heard of anybody doing bell housing repairs.So what you guys think? The one in Ohio wont be here till after next Tues and customer is in frantic mode.__________________ weld it like you own it
Reply:it's kind of intersting how it broke... semi-symetrical-like... not bad, just intersting... anyway, as far as fixing it, as long as the weld is sound, i don't see why not. hopefully they have some tranny and motor mounts, so there isn't a ton of stress on the housing flange once it's back in the truck. the main thing i would check is how close the clutch pack or torque converter sits next to the inside of that housing. just a clearance issue. one of the other things to look into is what kind of metal it is... it looks like it was cast or was made with powdered metal (very intersting process... nearly zero over-pour and/or waste... very precise). i haven't heard of any expereinces with the powdered metal, so i don;t know how well it woudl hold up to welding processes. anything that i ahve dealt with that was made that way (no welding involved) seemed very porus and had a lower-than usual density for the base metal.in short, i'd at least tell the client what the situation is and see if they want you to do it... just my opnion.Later,Andy
Reply:Tack it, grind a double V, preheat and weld.  Its only a bell housing.  It broke when it was made, so it could break again.  Those things don't break like that unless there is some unusual stress.  You said JEEP. so 900 hp?  44" suspension travel?  PAY most attention to getting it straight.  If I could, I would tack it or even weld it while attached to the engine.  They have dowl pins that have to be daym close to perfect.  I have done them, no big deal.Edit:  After looking closer, where their bolts missing?  How DID it break?  I don't see where it got hit by a rock.DavidLast edited by David R; 11-17-2007 at 06:51 AM.Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Powerstrokes are notorious about breaking like that when the dual mass flywheel wears out causing weird vibration issues.  I wonder if this failure is due to the same type of thing?
Reply:Thanks Aczellar,David,TubularGood info They found cracks at the bottom too.I believe the jeep ,like stated earlier, had bad vibration problems.  This rock-crawler is street driven most of the time so that would make some sense. They added suspension and 35" tires ...we call them mall crawlers weld it like you own it