I just got this block opened up and to my dismay found this on the front side housing.....Can this be repaired or am I in the market to buy a new one? ???

 

--bump--

 

i can fix that... but japan is pretty far away--not worth the shipping.

lemme see if i can dig up some pics of some old repairs i've done--should help give you an idea of what's involved.

 

this is the only one i could find right away...
it's just some high quality metal epoxy i found at the local place.

 

that was in between coats-- i think i used like 4-5 total.

the side seal is to shape the wall
razor blade is just what i had laying around--held the side seal pinned in

the cut marks are just to give the next layer of epoxy something to stick to... the final coat was smooth.

in addition to that, i go over it with a block sander to make it flush, then i dab a very VERY small amount of rtv on the repair area when the motor goes together.

i've never had a problem doing it this way.

 

Will the epoxy hold at high temps and at a high boost? Would a good weld be better?
Thanks for the pic.

 

i've used it on 400 whp daily drivers... if that tells you anything

a GOOD weld would be better, yes.... but this takes 20 minutes and costs $3

 

Cool...thanx for the info. I know a couple guys that can weld that up for me and I'm not in a hurry. Good to know that there are other engines out there that had the same problem. Stupid rust.

 

Uhhhmmmm. Seeing as how a side housing can be bought for pretty cheap in mint condition, and can't see how you could EVER consider trying to salvage that.... I can't justify not spending $150 when your going to dump $1500 into a rebuild, not to know if that shotty repair will hold.


And your in Japan??? Got to a junk yard, and pull an engine as a core, and have it rebuilt! Or get some aftermarket side housings..... You've got rare parts galore that most USDM people don't have access to.

 

Not as much as you would think. You would have to know the guy who put the car in the junkyard to get to the engine. You are lucky if you can find a good engine at a junkyard. We rotorheads like to horde parts. You know that...

The engine that came off of is the engine I'm rebuilding.

 

you won't have a problem if you do it right. if you don't know how to do it, have someone help you. why not repair the coolant wall in an otherwise good housing?

waste not.