Weld aluminum?

It is possible, but you will want to have this done by a professional welder who has been to welding school and has experience with aluminum. How do you know that that little voice in your head is telling you bad things or good things, unless you try them?

Earle

It is certainly possible... saw that very thing done on TV once (if it was on TV, it must be true). They built a form around where the original flange was and filled it using special arc rods. Then re-drilled the hole. The weld experts (Nathan) here can tell you more.

-- JimG

80' CJ-7, 258 CID 35" BFG MT's on 15x10 Centerlines 4.56 D30-D44 SOA D300 w/4:1 & Currie twin sticks Warn 8000i w/dual batteries LockRight F&R

Thanks. Yes... I will have a professional do it. Although I am trying to learn to weld I don't think this would be a good project for a beginner.

Cool. I think I'll go ahead and take it to the welders at lunch today. There is a local place that a friend recomended. Aparently they re-welded his aluminum adapter plate and it worked fine. He said they only charged him like $20.

"Kevin Sperle" wrote in message news:71clb.1090$ snipped-for-privacy@news.uswest.net...

Like if it tells you to put 44" boggers on a Kia Sorento? Or if it tells you to dress up like a clown and climb the nearest clock tower with a high powered rifle? Those would be the things that I would avoid.

Oh...

OK...

So I guess I should take back that clown costume then?...

What if it wasn't a clock tower?...

ROFL!

Chris

When the little voice ends a sentance in "muhahahaha" it may be something you'll later regret.

-Brian

LOL!!

absolutely! however, the special requirements of cast aluminum means its not something you should take on yourself. take it to a welding shop, or bring it by the house sometime. :-)

I took it in. They said about $30 to fix it. They said I'll have to drill and re-tap the hole myself though. That shouldn't be a big deal.

$30 is much less than I anticipated when I first did it (and imagined the worst) so right now I'm pretty happy.

To concur with this, I had my stepdad weld my 700R4 case. He works as a boilermaker, so he's quite capable. It is still going strong after 5 years. Just one thing, if you broke the complete ear off where the bolt goes thru, make sure you have it proper aligned before you have it welded. I used another transmission case and basically clamped the two cases together using shoulder bolts that fit the holes snugly. After it was welded, I ran a drill bit through the hole that was the same size as the original hole. The hole did distort a bit but I don't know if that was from the welding or because of the boneheaded way my trans case got broke. Oh and don't feel bad about how you broke it, because it can't be much worse that how I broke mine. I had just finished rebuilding the transmission (4 nights of work), I had it sitting on a 4' x4' sheet of plywood on 2 saw horses. The plywood was lag bolted to the horses, but Chris was careless and gave it a good bump with an engine stand he was moving. I guess the weight of the engine and stand were enough to start everything moving, and the weight of the trans carried it over. Believe me, the sound of a transmission hitting the floor and cracking is enough to bring tears to your eyes.

Chris

Yup, just took it in at lunch to a reputable shop. They quoted "about $30" to fix it. I tried not to jump up and down for joy. I will have to drill and retap the hole myself though. Maybe I'll use Chris' method :-)

Unfortunately bring it by your house would be a few days driving :-) My guess is I'd spend more than $30 in gas to get from Western CO to NC.

Well Kevin, between the two of us, I think it is safe to say that saw horses and transmissions are a bad mix. LOL

Chris

Thankfully I had just unbolted my new Lokar shiter kit ($200) that I was test fitting, before it took the tumble. I'm sure if it had still been bolted on it would have found a way to break. Whew!