What next, Broke engine mounting ear for bellhousing

[iamchappy]

While assembling the bell-housing to the engine this morning, everything seemed fine,
the drive-shaft went right into the pilot bearing all the case pins mated the case all the bolts started to thread in by hand. As i was going around the case tightening all the bolts
i had all of them so there was about a 1/4 gap all around the case i continued from the top and then down the passenger side when i got to the bottom bolt i figured all was going smooth so i decide to close the gap, bang! the top drivers side engine case ear broke............ARRRRRRRRRG. After inspecting closely it appears it had been welded a some time before. i cant imagine why it broke though, i did not find anything that was in between the case and the bell housing, my first thought was the accelerator cable but that was free.

I'm not sure i can not do a good enough job aluminum welding it without removing the engine now..I hate this car i have never encountered so many stumbling blocks in my many years of wrenching.

I will have the entire car apart by the time this is done all to replace a starter ring gear.

[SolReaver]

Rotten luck there...

// Notice! this is a Hack-- Those of you who have sensitivities to actually working on cars or think "the right way" is the only way, are urged to look away //

OK a bad weld let go. It happens. Assuming that the ear is all that is broken and that you still have the majority of the mating surface to work with I would hack it by using Cold weld or some sort of (good ) metal epoxy. Welding it where it is will be a PITA and runs the risk of something else going wrong.

Structurally, It will never be as sound as it was before the weld. However, the engineers built in a substantial factor of safety to allow for material defects and so you should be OK as long as you don't rally race the thing or something along those lines.

The ear was broken long before you got there, the weld was just waiting for a chance to let go. Why it went...Hec, It could have been a butterfly farting the next town over. Anyhow, Don't stress it. You are picking up the pieces of a bad repair job done before you. Probably done by a dealership under a warranty repair.

I am assuming that you have all the holes intact and that all the nuts and bolts will securely fasten. If your ear broke off in such a way so that you don't have all your anchoring spots It gets more difficult. You can probably live without 1 if it is up a the top there. (actually, you have already been living without it)

Appraise the situation, take a break, get some good cold weld, prep the area, and glue the puppy back together. In this instance, torque the affected area only as much as you think it will take and use some kind of light threadlocker like paint or something.

I once saw an entire 911 case held together with the stuff. ( scary )

OK, now all the nambsie-pansies can chime in and say how awful an idea it is. Fine, I won't be listening. I will be driving my car, used rollers and all across country.

[iamchappy]

Well there is always the c-clamp bailing wire repair job, it's just not the way i do things, but i am going to look at all my options in getting my sons car back on the road for him.
This is a daily driver in need of a lot of cosmetic work so i may have to ghetto rig it before the snow flies, or i maybe learning how to drop the engine. The whole underside is basically stripped anyhow.

[many944s]

Sorry to hear... Sounds like the ultimate: "while you are in there"
Unlike alot of bellhousings, the 944 really doesn't take alot of abuse. If you need to "get it going for now" cold weld is an option, but I would sure as he!! never sell it like that! I too am a perfectionist, and take pride in doing things the right way the first time. You probably don't want to hear this but, if it were me, I would put a new bellhousing on now. Just make sure there isn't a flaw at the rear of the engine casting that caused the original to crack! The last thing you want to do is put on a new one and have it go "bang" too

Sol- I had to laugh at your post, I once had a ricer bring his STI to the shop saying it was leaking oil all over the place... I ended up finding that there was a large portion of the driver side head that was gone..... and replaced with JB Weld.

It wasn't crucial to holding the cams or anything, but where there was usually a black plastic plug and about 3" inches of aluminum there was a MASS of JB just oozing oil

At least the PO had a cheap fix for it! Unfortunately for the new owner my bill for the proper repair was a little more.

-Nick

[Schumi]

Welding casted aluminum is not for amateurs. Sure, it can be done, and sure it looks like it is right, but without a proper re heat treat it will not be as strong as it should. We bought a formula car motor a while back jsut to find one of the main engine mounts was cracked. As the engine in that car is super-structural (the engine is fully stressed and holds nearly the entire rear suspension/differential) we decided to send it to some professional aluminum weld repair guys. They did a proper job which I believe for that alloy block involved dry ice cryotreat among some other exotic heat treat. The motor now lives happily in one of our older cars I believe. In a case like that it could be someones life if that mount failed at high speed so it was best to do it the right way...

but for a 944 bellhousing ear... like many944s says, there's not a lot of load there. A good cold weld epoxy might last a good long time. In fact, no bolt there whatsoever might even be fine for who knows how long, allthough I would not go that far.

[iamchappy]

If i do weld it i will take it to my buddy at the wheel shop and have him do it. He is a real pro and has done many custom welding jobs for me on my 914 Turbo GT, But i am leaning towards the JB Weld job and get the car back on he road for my son. This car is not a cream puff, but just about everything has been replaced in the last 10,000 miles and i was hoping it would be a good runner that he will enjoy for another 25,000.

[mikepellegrini]

I don't know what the market is like in your neck of the woods, but over here, I've seen entire engines go for as little as $250. Seems like there's always someone parting out cars here - usually on craigslist.

If it were me, I'd hold out for a new bellhousing - while you have it apart (more or less). I'll bet the price would be <$100.

edit: I looked and for the Minneapolis CL, it looks like at least several people are parting out 944's. http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/search/pts?query=944&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max

[Taz's Master]

Do what you want, but when I bought my '86, one of the bellhousing bolts was missing. I replaced it, but I have no idea how long it went without, and can see no ill effects. If you are serious about fixing it properly, I'd replace it, but if you aren't going to replace it, I second a quick and dirty option.

[iamchappy]

I JB welded it.
I was able to get the car back together today. I learned a lot and am sure now that i could do this job over again start to finish in a hard day of work.
Tomorrow i will hook up the battery and cross my fingers that all is well and hope it fires up with out a glitch.

[Brando]

Chappy, time for a replacement engine

[paper1122]

Glad to hear you were able to get it back together. Necessity is the mother of invention!