Date:         Fri, 14 Jun 1996 18:24:58 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         ddes@anet-dfw.com (David Schwarze)
Subject:      Re: Aluminum Crank Case..Weld or Replace?

At 12:14 AM 6/14/96, Snuggles wrote:
>hey now,
>
>i was wondering...doing my rebuild my friend sean noticed that my crankcase
>has been welded in the past...and we suspect this is were my mystery oil
>leak was coming from.
>
>earlier i was thinking about just replacing it...i can get one for $250
>and this would come with the bottom end also...but Bob Hoover suggested
>that the aluminum cases can be welded and rewelded. i respect bob's
>advice and it's helped me on more then one occassion. i'd like to hear
>what others have done in the past...just to get an overview of the whole
>deal. i'm leaning towards welding...but i want to do this right since i'm
>dropping a buttload of money into the van..it's a keeper. :-)

Bob is right.  I have never had to weld an aluminum case, but I've had a
lot of other alum parts welded, like cylinder heads, without problems.  My
personal VW-engine-rebuilding-bible, Tom Wilson's "How to Rebuild your Air
Cooled VW" states very clearly that welding cracked cases is no problem.

Here's some more friendly advice:  You shouldn't even be attempting this
job without getting and reading a copy of the above book.

-David

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David Schwarze                   '73 VW Safare Custom Camper       (Da Boat)
Dallas, Texas, USA               '73 Capri GT 2800                (Da Beast)
e-mail: ddes@anet-dfw.com        '87 Mustang Lx 5.0          (13.986@100.81)
http://www.anet-dfw.com/~ddes    '93 Weber WG-50                  (Da Piano)
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