Broken Stabilizer BOSS (With Pics)

[Mike Kopstain]

Hey guys. I posted a week or so ago about the stabilizer rod breaking off the transmission case and bringing threads along with it.

Well, today, I showed the pieces to my machine shop guy and he explained to me that the threads were actually a seperate piece of metal, welded onto the aluminum case. He says that this is done because the pressed in piece is stronger.

Well, it appears that the case actually isn't broken at all, but rather this piece came off, and some of the welding that held it on came off. If this is the case, can it be welded back on? Jeremy mentioned in my first post that it would burn a hole through the transmission case if we tried to weld it, but my machine shop guy says the solution to that is to use an electric welder rather than a torch welder. It has to be welded somehow... you can see weld marks in the picture.

So, we are trying to go about finding the best way to fix this. We have about 5 threads left in the case and space for perhaps 5 more that we could tap in. The original plan was to use a threaded rod, snadwich the broken piece in between the stabilizer rod and the case, and use a lot of JB weld.

Seeing as this is going to be a track car it's going to be abused more than your typical SHO... As such, I want the repair to be the best possible. So all ye SHO experts: take a look at the pictures of the damage and let me hear your suggestions. Here you are...

I need to wash my hands.

<small>[ April 10, 2003, 02:43 AM: Message edited by: Mikeys_Taurus ]</small>

 

[Machspeed]

Ouch, well im not an expert but i do want to be the first to reply to this post. I would go with what the shop guy said, a weld would probably be the strongest solution...

 

[twr]

You can weld it back on to the case - but you need to clean the area as best as you can - the casting is porous and holds alot of crud. You will need to be doubly careful when welding the case - it is very easy to punch holes through cast aluminum, make sure you get a welder that knows how to weld aluminum - not one of these guys that say "Yeah, I welded aluminum once"

 

[munkee]

Exactly. Welding works by melting metal and because aluminum is so soft it's easy to burn holes in it with any kind of welder. I'm sure you didn't need me to explain that to you. Like twrsho said clean it up and find a reputable aluminum welder. On the bright side, the area it's in looks like it shouldn't be that hard for someone who's well versed in the craft to weld.

 

[sdpatt]

Did you buy the car used? It looks like the structure was broken and welded before and just re-fractured on the weld. That piece was a solid casting as it came from the factory - not welded.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

munkee:
Exactly. Welding works by melting metal and because aluminum is so soft it's easy to burn holes in it with any kind of welder. I'm sure you didn't need me to explain that to you. Like twrsho said clean it up and find a reputable aluminum welder. On the bright side, the area it's in looks like it shouldn't be that hard for someone who's well versed in the craft to weld.

No, actually I did need you guys to explain it to me. The science of metal isn't my forte (where's that e with the line over it? )

Scott, my machine shop says that the welds on there are machine welds and it was like that from the factory. Can anyone confirm this or debunk it for sure?

If you look at how clean the cut is, what they say about those threads being welded on makes sense.

 

[Yamaha V6]

Mike, OT, but what camera do you use? You get GREAT close-ups.

 

[twr]

Mikeys_Taurus:

munkee:
Exactly. Welding works by melting metal and because aluminum is so soft it's easy to burn holes in it with any kind of welder. I'm sure you didn't need me to explain that to you. Like twrsho said clean it up and find a reputable aluminum welder. On the bright side, the area it's in looks like it shouldn't be that hard for someone who's well versed in the craft to weld.

No, actually I did need you guys to explain it to me. The science of metal isn't my forte (where's that e with the line over it? )

Scott, my machine shop says that the welds on there are machine welds and it was like that from the factory. Can anyone confirm this or debunk it for sure?

If you look at how clean the cut is, what they say about those threads being welded on makes sense.

Mike,
I will give my spare tranny a look over tonight and report any finding on the case. I would tend to agree with Scott, I believe the case is cast piece with machine work done to it. Honestly the pictures make it look like it was repaired once before.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

A 3 year old Fujifilm MX-1200. You can pick them up on eBay for really cheap.

What's your .02 on this Fred... ?

 

[speedy91]

Of course this is my car AGAIN here folks. The MTX is a SHOShop rebuilt with quaife. It was purchased (barely) used. This piece may have broken before and SHOShop may have fixed it. The case looked new when I first received it.
Eric

 

[ilSHOu]

would you be able to get a heli coil in there? because that would work great if you could.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

you can actually see the smooth part where they filed each side down to give a good surface to weld. I would not be surprised if that was a helicoil in there now.

<small>[ April 10, 2003, 02:40 PM: Message edited by: SHO91MTX ]</small>

 

[jthomas68]

It looks like you`re SOL Mikey.If you do weld the piece back on,i`m not too keen on you getting the threads to line up 100% all the way down.I also have to agree again,cast is very prone to breaking in the 1st place,i`d be afraid the wled may cause you more harm than good,although it can`t get much worse. shrug .What i would do is get a new bottom tap(12X1.75mm)and get EVERY thread out of it you can.Run a threaded rod all the way down,snug it up carefully with a wrench.Put a nut on that,tightening it(tight,not just snug)against the case,so it holds the rod secure.Put a spacer bushing over the rod,approximately the lenght of the broken part.Slide the stabilizer on,put on another nut with just enough slack that it won`t hold the stabilizer at all,then double nut that end to keep the bar on.That`s basically how mine is done,but without the piece missing,although i do have 1/4-3/8th`s of the end threads stripped out.To help it along,make sure the car has good motormounts to help keep movement to a minimum.If it helps any,this exact problem has inflicted many other SHO`s,i check the bar tightness every time the car is in the air,just in case.

 

[rangerj]

Mike

Here is an additional $.02 worth.

Welding aluminum is an "ART". Find a shop with FAA certified aluminum welders. Look around for a shop that rebuilds aluminum aircraft engines. They weld aluminum cylinders, crankcases, and heads on a regular basis.

The welding process will depend on the aluminum alloy. Some alloys have to be brought up to temperature, then welded, then cooled down slowly over several hours. The welding rods have to be the same alloy as the object.

I am not a metalurgist so I do not understand the "Molecular alignment" stuff they talk about, but I do know that the welding of aluminum is a specialty.

If an aircraft type shop cannot (or will not) do the job for you, they can tell you who can, or at least tell you what kind of welding needs to be done.

There are probably a 100 welders that can weld the two pieces back together for you, but only a few of them will know how to do it right. Find one of those welders. Best of luck, rangerj

 

[billyshoe]

Its plain to see that this peice has privously failed & been welded. It held for a while. you can see the voids in the weld most likly from being dirty. It could be built up again redrilled & tapped and leveled mating surface. Those great pictures tell a story.