Bell housing crack

[bball7754]

When I had the Crossflow in my Mallock rebuilt, I asked the engine builder to align the bell housing.  When I picked up the engine, I found that he had counter sunk the top two mounting points of the bell housing, removing a LOT of material.

 

Yesterday I was mating the trans with the engine.  I tightened the bolts in stages, and then torqued them.  The last one was the top right, and I realized I had passed where the torque point was but no click from the wrench.  I stopped and looked, and saw that I had a hairline crack across the top of the mounting point, at which point I backed off the bolt.

 

I have a race in two weeks.  Cancel, pull it apart and get it fixed?  Have no idea who could do that work, as after welding it would need to be re-countersunk.

 

Liklihood of it getting worse if I race?  Race and monitor it?  
 

I’ll get a better picture later today.

 

 

 

[MV8]

Bell alignment is normally done with adjustable dowels to replace the original dowels. The bolts and holes in the bell are unchanged. The adjustment is only as good as the current condition of the crank and bearings. The dowels align, not the bolts which are just clamps. Countersinking might make a bell concentric to the crank, but it has to be confirmed with a gauge to know.

I'd replace the countersunk bolts with the standard bolts and washers torqued to the minimum spec. If I could not reach minimum spec on one, I'd leave it out and race with plans to pull and repair before the next race.

You'd need an AC TIG to repair it. Vee'd crack, welded, and redrilled. Find a professional welder.

[bball7754]

MV8- thanks for your input.  He did change the dowels, I just assumed that the counter sink was to assist with placement.

 

Replacing with the normal bolts and washers makes sense, as the bevel will only increase spreading force as it’s tightened.  Guess I should do that on both sides, right?

[MV8]

I would return all holes to original. When the block was cast then drilled, those holes were not intended to locate the bell. There are hollow eccentric/offset dowels available but I don't know if there are any that would fit this block.

 

Stepped od dowels could be machined and tapped in if the bell was a loose fit to the oem dowels.