MTX mounting hole damage (Huge Boobs Inside!)

[jonheese]

From the continuing saga of my '90 3.2 & trans swap...

Okay, a little back-story, for those of you not following religiously (anyone? anyone? no?)...

The car's original engine and trans have ~293k miles on them, and 5th gear was making a "bad synchros" or "damaged gear teeth" noise, so I secured a 3.2 from a local (at the time) junkyard, and a replacement trans from a SHOForum member (who shall remain nameless until I work out how bad this whole thing is). Now, IIRC, the trans had ~92k on it, and there was "nothing wrong with it", although I don't remember why it was out of the car (wrecked?).

This all happened almost 3 years ago now, back in the spring of '07. It's taken me this long to get the 3.2 prepped and 60k'd, get the original engine/trans/subframe out of the car, and get the 3.2 on the subframe.

I know I'm an idiot for not inspecting the replacement trans closely the instant I got it (almost 3 years ago), but I didn't. I just said, "okay, it looks like it's all there, I trust the seller (???), great transaction, thanks."

So now I'm ready to put the trans on the block, and I'm swapping bits and brackets over from the original trans to the "new" one, and I notice this damaged mounting boss:

To compare to how it's supposed to look, here's a shot of the original trans:

This is the rear side of the case, where this mounting bracket attaches, with the bolt pictured:

So, I'm at a fork in the road. I can either a) just put all together anyway, leaving out the bolt (the mounting hole is totally stripped out and useless as-is), and or b) swap the internals from the (supposedly) good replacement transmission to the original transmission that has the bad 5th gear/synchros.

Option "a" is obviously more risky (depending on how crucial that mounting point is), but MUCH easier and quicker, and option "b" is a major pain in my @$$, but guarantees that I won't have any problems down the line from the missing mounting point.

So... What say you all? Is this a major issue, or am I worry about nothing?

Thanks in advance for any (experience) advice.

Oh, and also, there are no huge boobs, but here's a nice pair of ****, for anyone who just came for that:

 

[gmorrell]

That sort of damage is common for cars that have been in a good front end hit.

The bracket in the third picture is for the cable shifter linkages. Are you using cable or rod shifter? If you use the rod shifter, you can lose this bracket.

That broken boss is critical for the equalizer link on the rod shifter, but maybe not so critical for the cable shifter.

Doesn't Jose', the SHO short shifter guy, have a reinforcement for this boss? I know that doesn't help much, but you could have someone TIG some new metal onto that boss, then maybe Heli-coil the hole M12-1.5

Here's rktmn's (Jose) transmission boss brace.
http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=97348

Nice **** ya' got there...

 

[jonheese]

Aha.... That does shed quite a bit of light on the subject.

Being a '90, the original trans was of course cable shift, but I have a rod shifter ready to go in the car after it's all together, and I've actually already sold the cables to someone who had a broken one, so there's no (easy) going back on that decision.

I see from the post you linked (Jose's boss brace) that he does make a version that will basically replace the junked boss... I think I will go that route. I don't know anyone locally who can TIG, and I'd really like to get this installed this weekend. The car won't be ready to drive for another few weeks anyway, so I can wait and install the brace whenever it comes.

Thanks so much for the info, Gary.

 

[LJRuddy]

No ****, no advice.

 

[jonheese]

No ****, no advice.

Here's a nice pair of ****, for anyone who just came for that:

???

 

[LJRuddy]

I see no **** on those boobies :theyareontome:

 

[luigisho]

I see no **** on those boobies :theyareontome:

You don't see any boobies on those ****. Know your cleavage.

 

[Phoenix]

Well they are not huge :angelnot:

 

[jonheese]

Hey, it's all relative. Trust me, if you were a ***, you'd be quite intimidated by those brutes.

Anyway, quick on-topic question:

How necessary is the thin plate that goes between the engine and the tranny?

I only ask because I've spent the last hour scouring the garage for mine, and I can't find it anywhere... What does this piece actually do? Am I asking for trouble if I leave it out? I did some quick searching, but without knowing exactly what this piece is called, I didn't find anything.

Thanks in advance.

 

[AREA 91]

I would pull the tranny apart and at the very least, change the diff roll pins.

 

[jonheese]

I would pull the tranny apart and at the very least, change the diff roll pins.

Any specific reason for this? Just general preventative maintenance, or is it at greater risk because of the shifter boss damage?

I'm really hoping to not have to open the "new" tranny up and get all involved there, as I'd planned on getting all of this installed this weekend and freeing up the parking spot in the garage...

But, now I've found a new problem:
http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=107067

Also, any takers on the question about the thin plate between the trans and the engine? Necessary or not?

 

[damarble]

There's a product called Alumaloy that they claim can fix that boss.

 

[jonheese]

I already got a brace from Jose to fix it. There was a slight fitment issue, which we're working out now, but I'm confident that it will solve this problem.

Alumaloy, huh?

Well, the website looks pretty busted, and I can't find prices or the temperature necessary to melt the stuff, but I will say that it sounds very similar to Durafix, which requires 732°F to melt.

I ordered some Durafix last week to fix another broken mounting boss on the other end of the transmission, where it mounts to the transmission mount (see thread here), but I wasn't able to get the transmission case (removed from the rest of the transmission and with all extraneous bits removed) up past 400°F with my MAPP torch (which burns around 3650°F). I have a feeling that I would have the same results trying to braze a repair onto this mounting boss as well.

 

[sperold]

I am a day late and a dollar short, but would it be an improvement to thread a stud in this boss and weld it in place (maybe even at a later date). That might make the transmission installation and removal a bigger deal, but the stud would be nice and strong, compared to the bolt that doesn't have all its threads available anymore.

Or..... can you tap this boss a little deeper and use a longer bolt / stud?

 

[jonheese]

Yeah, those sound like pretty good ideas to me, but keep in mind that the trans case is cast aluminum, which can be pretty tricky to weld.

Jose's boss brace is a much easier (and probably equally reliable) solution in my opinion though. It basically uses the two bolt holes that were used for the cable shifter bracket and replaces the original mounting boss with a big solid chunk of aluminum that spans between the two aforementioned holes.

 

[sperold]

That sounds like a well-thought-out solution to this issue.