ColoradoMark

My son caught his 90's oil pan on an unavoidable pothole in a parking lot yesterday. We're looking for a used one, but the thought occured to us that it might be possible to weld his cracked one, is it?
BTW, do you think we have any recourse against the property owner's insurance for a damage claim?

Reggie

I think owner is responsible when they have been notified of a problem and did not fix or take steps to warn people. Worth a try in small claims

Trango

...it's not like you're dealing with the peculiarities of cast steel or worse yet, iron (which I'd rather stud and butter than weld even with hi-Ni, for example). On the aluminum side, I have welded up broken sections of tcases and bellhousings, which see structural stress as well as having to be oil-tight. As long as the oil pan doesn't, say, add rigidity to the engine, you should be good with whatever process you end up choosing.


The one concern I'd have is heat warp. What is the damage looking like? Is it a situation where you stop drill, bevel (depending on welding process), weld? Braze? Whatever you do, I'd suggest a preheat not just as part of the welding process, but to drive any oil out of the pores in the metal, as finicky as al welding is, and as obviously oily as the environment has been (and with heat cycling to facilitate surface saturation).

Any aversion to brazing with al flux? It may not look as hot, but whatever - it's an earl pan.

So long story short: yes, it's possible.

HTH (and thanks for letting me think about welding for a while as I procrastinate a big prezo)

ColoradoMark

thanks - now to find a shop in NoCo that can do it

Reggie

Peter here knows someone he trusts for welding Al.

ColoradoMark

let me know who - we're pulling the pan off tonight

Reggie

sent you a text message with the guys website

urS4guy

His phone number is 303-828-4546. He is a machinist that builds FMICs. He can weld just about anything.

Hap, wit dakine weldin thoughts not from Evahboost, Maguire