Crankcase Repairs

I've repaired quite a bit of crankcase damage over the years. Most of it is fairly minor, cracked out screw holes and things like that. However, some damage is more severe. Three examples are shown below. The aluminum used in Harley castings is notoriously porous. It must be absolutely clean. When the arc and heat of a TIG welder hits a case, the welder can actually see oil boiling out of the pores of the metal. Except for very rare instances for small welds the cases must be disassembled to repair them. The cases must be bolted together and heated to prevent warping, large amounts of localized heat will expand the metal in the weld zone. The weld "freezes" that localized area into a distorted shape and will actually cause the case to bow. The case halves will not sit flat on each other.

No matter how badly you've damaged an engine, it is worth assessing the damage and considering a repair. With the right techniques even the most severe damage can be addressed and the case can be saved.

This specialized work is priced strictly based on time @ $65.00/hour and material. I will attempt to give an estimate, however, this work can be extensive and involved and you will be charged for actual time spent on the repair. You can save a lot of money by disassembling the cases and ensuring they are as clean as possible. If you must send an assembled case or engine, make sure it is completely drained of oil. Most of the damage I see is to the bottom and rear right side case. Usually a gear breaks and the broken parts get jammed up against the case, the case will fail. Do yourself a favor, at first signs of hard shifting and missed shifts, investigate and repair the problem before you have to deal with the situations in the pictures below. Each weld repair is custom designed to address your particular damage in the best possible manner. The early cases are very thin in the counter shaft boss area, very often the best option is to plug the speedo drive and weld reinforcement around the boss.