So as the title suggests I found a small crack in my left side cam cover. My v12 is a Pre HE. Im assuming it was due to a botched gasket replacement done by a previous owner as it is near one of the bolts. After I discovered the crack I checked on ebay and a couple other places for a replacement. Unfortunately I cannot source a new one, and only found one very shabby beat up pre he one on ebay. Im not really interested in taking a chance and buying one for $100 that might put me in the same situation.
Ive never had one of these off but im assuming they’re made of cast aluminum? Ive never welded cast aluminum but I found these brazing rods that I think might do the trick. My only concern would be heat.
Couple of things….firstly in my experience the cast aluminium needs to be TIG welded to reduce heat.
Secondly the break was probably caused by a bowed cover being forced flat by the bolt. When I redid my renovation I got the undersurface of the cam cover machined to remove the bowing. I have.also seen this done using a long belt sander. I was only removing a few mm but it it was enough to make a difference.
I actually only have access to a mig welder for aluminum. I weld aluminum body panels every day as a body guy but like i said, ive ever attemped cast nor do I even want to try. Was thinking of using these brazing rods that accordng to the decription will fix cast. If thats a no go i can probably get a guy to tig weld it for me. I will for sure test for a warp before I put it back on. An HE cam cover wouldn’t happen to be interchangeable with a pre he one would it? Those are very plentiful and cheap.
Try Dave Boger:
Rob
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Wow! For 60 bucks on both I’m definitely willing to take a chance. I had found plenty of early 80s post HE cam covers on ebay but they were around 60 for the left side only. My right side is in good shape but it will be nice to have a spare laying around in case something goes wrong. Since ill have everything apart i may as well do the gaskets on both. I had already planned on that and bought all the appropriate gaskets. Thank you so much for that link. I’ll inquire this afternoon.
Did you buy some aluminum half moon seals, too?
I hadn’t but ill get a set before i do the job. Moss motors sells them. Thanks for letting me know. I’m a beginner at working on these engines so any advice i can glean from the experts is helpful.
I ordered that set today. Thanks so mich for putting me on with that site. Looks like a pretty good source for used stuff. I will browse it later on to see if he has any other stuff ive been looking for.
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