On Fri, 3 Jun 2005 13:48:30 -0500, "Gig 601XL Builder"
wr.giacona@coxDOTnet wrote:

P.S. Corky, your great to talk to when your not talking politics.

Heh heh, I'm great then too, you just don't like the answers. :-D

By the way, my engine is down again. When I assembled it (Ford V-6),
I noticed that the timing chain cover had a minor crack around one of
the tabs that bolts to the engine block. I didn't have another timing
chain cover as I'd discarded the spare engine I'd bought for parts
long before I noticed this problem. So I fixed it using a space age
epoxy I got from MSC. It duly hardened up like metal and could be
filed, machined or tapped, but it didn't seal the crack very well.
I'd flipped the timing chain upside down and poured the epoxy in so
that it hardened directly on top of the crack. I didn't do anything
with the crack on the outside of the cover.

Well that just didn't work. After running the engine for a while I
noticed oil on top of the timing chain cover right next to the crack.

So I pulled the cover, again (third time) and tested the epoxy. I
tapped on it with a screw driver and it sounded hollow. Not a good
sign. I got a small chisel and popped it a couple of times where it
was thick, where it mated with the block, and the entire piece popped
off.

Obviously, it hadn't bonded properly.

So the cover is at a local shop where a guy who knows how to weld
aluminum and who has a good TIG machines has agreed to run a bead on
the inside and outside to seal the crack. By the way, this crack is
in a non structural area, around a little tab that has a bolt hole in
it. It may have cracked due to some past ham handed mechanic trying
to remove the timing chain cover without first removing this bolt.
That's what the crack looks like, it kind of travels half way around
the tab.

Then it's back together with a fresh coat of paint and some long term
testing. I'll have to stand right next to the engine while it's
running to keep an eye on the guages so this will be interesting. I
guess I won't have to worry much about Mosquitos or Black Flies...

Corky Scott