I remember getting two full rear corners from JK for £90. Think they were trying to clear the warehouse out.
Just heard back from the welder and he says it won’t weld!!! He says it is quite corroded in that area and thin. Recon engine now useless. I can try drilling the hole bigger, tapping it and then use liquid metal to try and seal in the bolt rather than a thread locker? I can’t believe this has happened, I really wasn’t expecting an engine issue when I bought 2 months ago as it is recon. I’m just worried about the bolt and liquid metal failing and engine destroyed when I am miles away and maybe even in another country, then I am really screwed.
Hmmm, thought the guy was confident and competent. If on seeing the case he suspected his attempts might make it worse he shouldn't have tried IMO. So, what now? What kind of mess has he made trying to weld it is the question. Looking forward to the photos of welding carnage. IMO this will still be fixable, there are plenty non-pressured places on the case with plates and whatnot that rely on bolts, sealant and / or gaskets to keep the oil in... depending on what mess he's made of it.
Yes, a picture would be very useful. The first engine I ever helped take out was from an Austin 1800 in 1972. It had a big patch of araldite in the block where a rod had escaped, the hole had been glued up and had a liner inserted; it ran like that for ages.
I will pick it up this afternoon hopefully with someone’s help. I will then report back here with photo and details. Is JB Weld the best to use to fix a bolt in. I am just wondering what to pick up at the same time as collecting the engine? I have just read through the service history but the paperwork for the engine was lost by previous owner but it says less than 4000 miles on new engine. After I bought it and drove it back for two hours I parked it up and then the next day driving heard loud blowing like a plug was out. Looked and No.4 plug had come out of the engine on the HT lead. 2 months prior to buying it the new owner had the tappets checked/adjusted, I thought maybe they took out spark plugs to turn engine over more easily and didn’t tighten them properly. When I went to put plug back it was tight and difficult to start to thread. Eventually managed to get it in and tight. I have just looked at the service history and can see an advisory by a garage a 4 years ago that No.4 plug wouldn’t tighten fully. So now I’m wondering if that plug is going to come out again as the thread is wrecked or is going to stay. That is the only other issue with the engine. This is what it says: “No.4 plug feels like the thread in the head is deteriorating, its’s in and tight but not completely tight as I would like”.
It might have been on one of the replies that got lost last week, but did you say that it was an aftermarket casing? Hard to tell from the photos but it does look like there's a lot of porosity in the area that's leaking. That would be more likely with a sand cast casing than a die cast one. I'm struggling to imagine what the stresses there are that would open up a crack. Possibly some residual stresses from manufacture, but even so they shouldn't create a crack unless there were significant flaws or porosity there already. If it does look like a chocolate Aerobar, then it's not surprising that your welder didn't want do it.
Sounds like the thread is knackered, and it's only tightening because it's cross threaded. The only proper remedy is to take the head off and put a metal insert in.
So picked up the engine late this afternoon and been wondering what the hell to do about this whole mess. The guy who attempted welding it said it seemed very corroded in the spot. JB weld it and pray it doesn’t break down in the middle of Europe etc, get a case half and try and transfer everything with just a new gasket set only, look for a 1776 engine available to buy now that doesn’t cost too much, look for a running 1600 secondhand cheap… The attempt at welding by this company means that now I would have to drill and tap to M12 as a minimum. My friend here who does lots of mechanics recons the best thing is to remove the support bar and remove end gallery plug and fit a bolt etc end on into the gallery area. Any thoughts on that.
I would be worried if it’s that corroded is it go to go somewhere else. What’s the rest like I would be tempted just put a big lump of chemical metal or jb weld over it and hope for the best.
Well, he made a right mess of that didn't he? What could be done? You, or someone, could pull out the core plug, sleeve it past the hole internally and ram the hole from outside with JB weld or similar and fit a screw in core plug, but really for success the engine needs dismantling , cleaning and degreasing before you could be assured of a successful fix. At that point if it was me I'd be looking for a replacement case anyway.
Let’s just say that I get another case half… Sorry for the stupid questions. I am not as useless as I probably sound. I have done cambelts, water pumps, and stripped and put back together bike engines. 1. Are cases matched or can I just get a case halve and use it with my other? 2. Can I really just use the existing recon pistons and everything else in the engine and literally just replace that case half? I mean I don’t have the tools and knowledge to probably test the tolerances and wear on every single component. 3. Cost wise can I get away with a full engine gasket set, replacement case half and that’s about it or is there going to be other costs involved that I’m not appreciating? 4. What is a reasonable cost for a case half or a set of cases? And is there any particular engine codes I should be looking for or looking to avoid? 5. How long do you think it takes to properly do this job first time round?
1. You need a whole case. The halves are bolted together then machined. 2 odd halves will not match, can't be done. 2. Yes, maybe. A new bearing set might be advisable. Cases get machined again as they wear and your main bearings may not fit the replacement case. but yes you can use all the parts inside a different case including barrels, pistons, crank, cam, heads, oil pump etc. 3. Cost, yes a gasket set but also bearings is common sense while you have it apart. 4. how long is a piece of string? A gamble used case is a gamble, it might need machine work to bring it up to spec. This machine work can only be done twice, if it needs a third line bore it's junk. Cases are hard for we amateurs to assess, it would pay you to get to know a friendly machinist/engine builder. 5. Took me a few months as I had to learn and worry about everything one thing at a time, then do it and on to the next. Every answer you get leads to more questions! Of course you can slap just about anything together and it will likely run for a while. Or you can take more time, be more precise and get a better running longer lasting engine for your efforts.
Someone else has suggested I drill and tap the gallery past the hole I have to seal it with a large bolt. Is this not a good try before going extreme with rebuilds and replacements? Do you get different sized bearing sets to fit already machined cases? Like you get different sized pistons for worn cylinders (MX bikes), or are all bearing sets the same for a 1600? Oh trust me I have so many more questions I am trying to be restrained. I also have a load of questions about windows, model changes, and so much more.
