So I had a little problem a while back with UPS damaging my shortblock during shipping...nothing too major. The two biggest problems I have is that one bolt hole on the bellhousing is smashed and then on the deck face there is a smallish dent on the lower part of the block below the oil passage. Smashed bolt hole: FIXED by grinding the excess material out of the hole and retapping: Here is my biggest concern right now and I'm wondering what you guys think... My thought is because this isn't near the cylinders, it won't see any compression in that area so chances of leaking are small, considering there's enough "meat" for the headgasket to seal against. I'm wondering if maybe this area could carefully be built up a little with some welding material and then resurfaced flush with the rest of the deck. Should I replace the case halves?? Or am I just overthinking this and shouldn't be so worried about it......
I definitely wouldn't worry about the bellhousing bolt. In rally cars, it's fairly common to cut that tab off the transmission bellhousing to make it possible to remove the transmission without removing the turbo. That block face would probably be OK as-is, but also probably wouldn't be difficult for a good welder to repair. If it were my car, I'd probably pack some QuickSteel or similar epoxy (JBweld would probably be hard to form, QuickSteel is more like a putty) in there and call it a day....but I don't mind oil leaks.
LOLOL. Lol's aside. I just want to say Chux, that i am extremely grateful for your presence on this forum and your willingness to share your many years of Subaru knowledge/experience with anyone that asks. This is an awesome and helpful community of enthusiasts, and you play a pivotal roll in making it what it is. So thank you for that!
Yeah, wasn't too worried about the bellhousing bolt hole much and I'm comfortable with my "fix" on that. I was hoping to hear that about the block face...never thought about JB Weld. I wonder how well that would hold up to the heat though? I second that! Much appreciated!!
Awwwwww.....I feel all warm and fuzzy. Thanks I patched 2 blown rows out of the core of a radiator on the trail with QuickSteel, and it never leaked again (daily drove it for about a year, then gave it to a buddy who beat the piss out of it at their farm for probably about 7 years before retiring it due to rust). A tube of QuickSteel is always in my offroad repair kit. I've also seen JB Weld used to make a turbo restrictor (machined aluminum piece that fits right on the inlet of the turbo) a slightly smaller diameter and therefore pass tech. A weld and resurface would definitely be the correct fix. But being that it's a low-pressure oil passage, it would *probably* work as-is. A little epoxy would make for a decent piece-of-mind.
