I would bolt it to an engine block. Drill the end of crack to stop it, otherwise it will keep running while cracking.

I would V out two spots. One as close to the mating surface as possible without getting weld into engine block. The other midway. Make those welds on the one side. V out the opposite side and weld. Then V the remaining area and weld.

Like others said you will probably have to boil out the contamination in the porus aluminum.

Not a hard place to weld.

I assume everyone understands that welding alum usually makes the base surrounding metal weaker, and if the crack is going to be completely welded by v grooves, penetration, etc, drilling a hole serves ZERO purpose, other then to require more welding, and produce a weaker surrounding metal finished repair.

I am assuming above we are not referencing the uncommon in our field 1xxx (pure) series Alum

The trans is out. It's just a 42 and used ones are dirt cheap...save yourself the aggravation and time of trying to clean and prep it to weld and just re-case it. If you've ever welded junk cast aluminum and then compound that with oily junk cast aluminum, you'll know what I mean.

And welded up, took fairly little time and gave us no problem at all. We actually had to dial the power back as we blew through on the first pass.



$350-$600 with the nearest ($600) being 2 hours away, 4 hours round trip.



Case was spotless, I don't like greasy stuff in my car.

The location is actually a very low stress spot by one of the lower cover bolts so I'm really not concerned about longevity. I will polish everything though to be on the safe side and reduce stress risers.

I also wanted to point out I'm working on a tight time frame- I'm simultaneously prepping 3 cars for racing next month or two (one that has not been to the track since 1996), had a friend pass away last weekend, have a wedding coming up in 3 weeks (I'm in the wedding party), working 40 hours a week, have three teens with all their related activities AND along with the transmission upgrades being done to the Duster, its getting a rear main seal (do the damn things ever seal on the first shot?!), the rear axle ratio being changed from 3.55's to 3.90's, 8.25 axle) and new front brake hoses.

Lots on the plate! Last thing I need to do is be traipsing about looking for another transmission and doing a gut swap.

Whew.