fishermanjesse

got a 351W with a trans ear broke wondering if theres anyway to fix it and if its okay to use then?

farseek1

They make a nickel alloy welding rod that will weld cast iron. You have to grind a good deep bevel in the
crack, alternate endwelds to spread the heat evenly. Of course this is if you have the broken ear to weld back.
I have welded starter housings on an engine that was overturned on an engine standwith this method, dressed down the weld and painted, worked fine and didnt
show up as patched.. Depending on position might could do with out one bolt if necessary, or make a dowel pin.

MadMan@TheWheel

I have seen it done before, but normally with less than average durability. Castings regardless of metallurgy are difficult at best to weld and maintain integrity.

P.S.I.cho

u can use a nickel rod as stated before but cast can be hard to weld on at times, older cast tends to be harder to weld because it collects deposits, and the best way to weld cast is to bake the part in an oven getting the entire part hot, weld it hot, then burry it in a sand pit or some way to let it cool slowly over at minimum of 24 hours, this should give u a decent weld, i would recommend an experienced welder to do this for you, can be very difficult

MadMan@TheWheel

^Perhaps the best cast welding advice yet

lookin4astang

It isn't that bad to have done. I broke an ear off my tranny and had to have it welded back on. We have a local guy that will come to you and weld cast aluminum. He charged me $60 and told me if it ever did break again, he'd reweld it for free. He said the others would break before this ever did.

And so far, he's been right.

farseek1

The procedure with the oven, sand pit and wait time, perfectly describes the procedure for repairing a
cylinder head or block. I dont think there would be a chance of compression leak or coolant leak on a
transmisson ear. Sure beat's the prospect of scrapping the unit.