Hey guys, Well, from the looks of things, this aluminum transfer case housing is quite the mess. Can we get it back to working order???
You'll have to stick around and find out!! This one was quite the challenge so You'll have to see if I could save it. Thanks for the support and enjoy!
That was a great repair, certainly was not easy. In my youth I learned to weld aluminum MIG with a spool gun it was not easy, but I learned it, this was in the 1980's, one day at a friend's house I was talking about welding aluminum with a spool gun and how hard it was, my friend's grandmother said that it's much more difficult to weld aluminum with a gas torch....! She was a weldor at one of the Boeing plants during WWII and she welded aluminum with a freaking gas torch... much respect!
Ya never know who you’re talking to eh? ;)
I've been in repair situations with thick aluminum parts where that's the only way to get them hot enough to weld a nice big gas tip and some filler rod.. if you think about it a tig torch is doing the same thing just with electricity.
1 time, my buddys old ranch tucks front axle shaft came apart and broke a 4 inch round hole in the tranfer case . Took it to the local welder, and he said he can't guarantee it will hold and would not touch it. Next, we Coundnt find one at the junk yard or even new housing for that truck was obsolete, so we went over to local parts store and got JB weld clay type and mixed liquid type. And got a wire mesh. We scuffed it up good and put wire mesh over the hole and applied clay tipe first,let it drye and then we applied liquid type over it and so far its been over 10 yrs still holding t-case fluid in. Last resort kinda deal 👌
That was a nightmare. Aluminium castings are extremely difficult to weld at the best of times, never mind trying to repair some else's repair. It looks like that last repair was done with oxy. The case should have been scrapped in the first place and just replaced.
kzhead.info/sun/npqIeJaRp3yreHk/bejne.html
You must be the only person in Texas with a space heater running at the moment! Nice work Isaac.
I am! haha 🥵🥵🥵🥵
Wow. Thats all i can say. Anyone thats ever tried to weld cast aluminum like that knows how difficult that is.
Better effort than the first guy, can't win them all👍
Shit. Isaac won. Got paid for the job. At least I'm assuming. 😂
Every time I watch you work I learn something valuable. Added to that you manage to inject some humor in whatever the project is. In my opinion, one of the best channels on all of KZhead. 👍🏼
Isaac all your effort was not in vain , it gave us a view of what is involved in trying to fix caste aluminium, this one went the wrong way But you can’t fix everything, you are still the master of your profession, all the best from Tasmania Australia 🇦🇺
Patience of a saint Isaac . I would have definitely told them, well you shouldn't have tried to fix it before, and say you need another case because it would cost more than another case to repair it .
Exactly, I can't believe that a used case wouldn't have been way cheaper
Junkyard np231 or 242 or whichever it is, would cost less than the weld bill.
This is a great example of the difference between a professional tradesman and an amateur hack.
Good job Isaac for what you had to work with, they had absolutely cooked that cast aluminum before you ever received it, it is difficult to play second fiddle and come out on top !! 🤗
That t-case is going on market place and some poor kid will probably think it’s a good deal not knowing it’s welded. Wheels, t-cases, transmissions….only do them for people I know and I usually leave them as welded so people can clearly see it’s been repaired. It looks like a decent repair 👍
Sounds about right. Millennials are not the most trust worthy.
Your work was a success for what you had even if they didn't use it.
Wow! Give you credit for tackling this job. As to addressing the gap between the case i would have masked one side and jb weld the other side (gap), bolt together and let set.
Nice try Isaac. Your skills always shine through no matter what the outcome is! Thanks for posting and take care!
That "mess" turned into another work of excellence out the door!
I got to the end . Man Isaac, after all that work it didn't work ?... Still I hope they didn't refuse to pay though . All I can say is you're a hard working humble man Isaac . :)
Hey sir, I've learned a lot from you. I've been a welding student for about a year. Today I did some arc gouging. I thank you and keep the videos coming.
A lot of work by all parties for a $200 side cover, or $500 complete transfer case. Thanks Issac for the content.
Isaac, I admire you for even attempting that repair. If you or the customer had had access to a mill it would have been interesting to see if you could have built up weld in the area where the case was warped and then mill it back down to flat with a precision mill. Enjoyable to watch your work in any event.
damn surprised the repair didn't work. you made a great attempt... love your work
I broke one of those 30 years ago. The pressed metal planetary exploded putting a square or rectangle hole right through the case. The gasket and bolt area were not affected. I just trimmed the broken parts off the ground it neat and welded in a plate, lasted ten more years, and over 100k mi. Then it was sold off.
Looks like it was done with a spool gun initially.... no Bueno 😂 fixing these type of castings in the best case scenario are really tough. Look good now👌
Thank you for sharing, i learn a lot, another great video,always a pleasure watch your video,have a nice week end 👍👍👍👍
1:57 that gap also probably contributed to the failure since it could be over torqued there forcing it and causing stress till failure.
I think bouncing over a rock contributed to the failure 😂 The gap was a result of the first person’s attempt to fix it
Not at all, the case was damaged by whatever it first hit. The case was then ruined by whoever thought they were welding aluminum. Issac got close but ideally the case half would need to be surface planed or ground to get a seal surface again. Too much cost to make it worth while… replace the case
That's the "Attack of the Spool Gun".
Nice fix, congratulations on the new gear!
That looks like an NVG 241 housing. There are thousands of them in recycling yards. I bought a low mileage one for $140.
Hell of an attempt. I would have walked right off the bat. I commend your abilities!
Watching what you were doing to clean it up makes me think of that cheap low temp "welding rod stuff" that is advertised all over at the moment Shame about the outcome though, its not often something like that doesnt work for you, you did some truly impressive work on that casing.
That base with the grooves looks like a table off of a shaper, probably a pretty good sized one.
Big Radial arm drill
I can only imagine how hot it got in your shop with the heater running. Kudos on the effort which I'm sure could be measured in sweat.
I am shocked. You reserved all that tedious die grinding for your personal viewing.... LOL Great work Isaac. Few folk would even attempt the job. The previous comment hit the crux of the problem. Alum castings look so nice until you try to weld them.. It is funny the crud doesn't seem to affect the casting quality.
Thank you for the content. Your schooling on the videos is fantastic.
141👍's up IC WELD thank you for sharing
I do appreciate all the effort you went through to make this video. Unfortunately for the customer I know they spent more than the cost of a used junk yard transfer case just in your labor to clean out the old welds, let alone your labor cost to weld it. A new case half from the dealer is only $3-400 last time I bought one.
IC Weld to the rescue, well done. I would be very happy with that repair
You're an artist, my friend. And I hope you got paid what you're worth for doing it. 👍
Well done Issac very nice thanks for the video ❤❤ it. Take care of yourself and family and be Blessed ❤️.
It reminds me of a dentist , you and that grinder , in fact they could show this episode to dental students ! Thank you for the video as always !
First guy ruined that thing. It was a valiant effort!
Good work👍
Every time you grind away some porosity from the botched first repair you just get into more and more porosity. Wild. That first repair looks like it was done with a gas torch.
Nothing ventured nothing gained! I’ve spent my entire life repairing machines of all sorts, No matter the outcome ya just got to keep on trucking. This job you took on wow what a mess to try and repair someone best try!
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
Great work welding on that aluminum
Good try!.. Monday morning quarterback on what I'd have tried is to cut a thin slice near that bolt boss, clamp everything down tight, perhaps even with a thin feeler gauge under a couple of the neighboring bosses, weld everything else, then weld up my cut and hope it comes out close enough to straight to be able to sand it flush. definitely not easy to work the impurities out of that cast though and sure makes a decent weld on top much harder to do
Tig and mr professional for the winn ,great job and awsome vidio!
I enjoyed your video !
Was waiting for you to upload a new video. Always enjoy watching you work Isaac.
You win some,you lose some! You gave it your best shot. That's all that matters. I'm not sure what those cases cost but for the time you put into fixing it,I would think it would have been better for the customer to invest that money in a new one. Just my 2 cents! 😁👍
Metal magician!! You have amazing skill ....
You are just so sensitive to the metal and do such dainty work I think those like yourself deserve far more credit than you receive.
Most cases are so readily available these days that they shouldn't have wasted your time. If they had brought it to you first, you probably could have saved it. Still enjoyed watching. Thanks for your time.
I totally agree!
Darn fine effort Issac. I think that You would have been successful if You had the first try at it. Thanks for sharing.
agreed
Man you know how to pick them
nice repair
That stuff is my fave to repair have been doin that kind of repairs for over 50 years. Lots of antique motorbike parts. Take alot of pride in my repairs. Cast aluminum is a different kind of repair.
I hit pole while doing wheelie and used some J-B epoxy to patch the cover to avoid trying to welding aluminium again. That cover has seen better days.
You did really well on that. If they had got it to you before the other guy had a go, I think you would have saved it. Sadly with the amount of distortion, that was never going to be easy. Nice work though, some you win ...
Amazing repair!
Well, can't blame you for not working out. You may have been able to save the piece of you had first attempt. I've got an aluminum oil pan from my old Bobcat. 20 HP Kohler horz.twin. the starter mount snapped off. Sort of a weak looking affair. I was able to find a " marketplace" used replacement. If something happens to this one, I'll drive down from Wisconsin!:)
I think part of the problem is welding a cast work peice. Of course cast aluminum has pores that randomly appear after being remelted. Much respect because of the best effort possible! I guess IF you were set up to be a foundry a chunk could be cut out then modeled up then cast from aluminum and stuck in place.
Always learn something from you. Great job
Good thing you had to run your heater. Heard it's been mighty cold down there in Texas. 🤣
Dude that is awesome
Great video thank you for sharing
👍if you can't fix it, it ain't broken
Couldn’t they get another case ?love your work🇬🇧👍
Yup. Most of them are stupid expensive.
Doubt that unless it’s rare . That’s not
@@AndyL940 yeah, just looks like an NP241 or later variant
yup 241
It will be interesting for us also ;)
Bet it's hot in Texas without the space heater 😢😅😂
Welding, Aluminium Crankcases, Gear Boxes etc can be a pain ??? The primary work in my shop was previously Repairing Aluminium Casings. The jobs that look like would be a absolute pain actually went really well. Where as Cases that should be fairly straightforward were absolute Nightmare. Unfortunately, with some jobs I had to simply give up and hand the part back to the customer without completing the Repair ?? It's not a great feeling to simply give up from the sake of failing ??? But, some Cases were totally un-repairable no matter how much effort I put in.
Can’t help it bud.. every person has a different perspective but not everyone has really done aluminum cast! Again it stinks and most times breaks in the hardest to weld places! Rims, boats, door frames are considered a clip excursion. Always easier to weld but create hydrogen when welded. Seen some X-rays of new welded and it’s a sponge! Believe me after 30 years of welding it it is what it is bud.. swiss cheese pard! I love how you take anything on just to try. Gets me in trouble all the time but love it when it works out! A heavy coat of black paint will work wonders on cast aluminum pin holes. Thanks for your time bud. Your patience alone is worth $
👍👍👌👌 Thanks for the video!
I have fixed transmission cases with JB Weld if the crack /hole is not structural. They have lasted for years.
Seen other people build everything up and re-machine them after they cool and shrink. My first thought is find replacement from junkyards.
It should work Isaac Thats a Ford Transfer case there's a gasket anyway Could silicone it too .
Looked like they try fixing it with some of that low temp aluminium brazing rods.
the master of disaster at work that was a mess
Oh NO, NO, NO Hey man that transfer case is Magnesium. You need magnesium filler rod. I ran into the same problem several years ago, had one that had a small hole worn into by the chain, I cleaned, stainless brushed and tig welded with 4043. Was putting my stuff up and heard a little pop sound , the filler metal popped up a little . Tapped it with my hammer and it popped out. I figured it out finally and ordered some magnesium filler rod. It worked
It looks like someone believed the commercials and tried to repair it with those aluminum brazing rods without nearly enough heat.
A very tricky job and not one that is always a success. You dud auch better job than the first person. We learn nothing if we don't try l suppose.
The previous welder welds by the saying, "The bigger the glob, the better the job." Well, not in this case.
no pun intended
I’m a home gamer and I’m going to use that quote !!!😂🎉
I didn’t think bubble gum was that hard to get off!
You gotta try some Plantex flap wheels with Kangaru oil! It removes material so fast and no gumming! A simple cleanup with acetone and away you go.
Since you’ve started the channel, do you take odder jobs as a change up to what you would have before?
“It looks better in person…… ok not really” 😂😂😂 but all jokes aside what filler metal did you choose?
I'm not sure if the case you were working on was magnesium or not but a lot of them are and repairing with aluminum filler wire can make a mess- so that might have been the issue with the original repair attempt.
At first when you put that aluminum in front of the heater, I thought you would have tried to trick us into thinking it melted from getting to hot. lol It was a good effort in trying to fix it though.
It looks like the previous repair attempt was done with a spool gun and no thought was given to keeping alignment, not just on the mating surface but of the bores.
Great work! I am still wondering why you're not using auto darkening helmet!
My hood does have an auto darkening lens. I use the flip hood version for the grinding shield aspect of it.
Those cases are near impossible to repair and very easy to break
I fix them all the time. From C clips slicing a hole to chains wearing a window. I won't put one back together that has blown apart though. Stuff like this is not a challenge most of the time.
My friend dropped a case half on the ground, it just shattered like glass
wow, nice job there! the first attempt on that repair would have been better if done using JB weld...LOL
I thought most of the NV transfer cases were magnesium? I know the early 2000's chevys HD's were.
I’m pretty sure you’re right.
skills
cast aluminum is tough to weld, it was completed with the best skill set!
I C Weld removes years of J B Weld 😂😢😅
Atleast it was an interesting learning experience. If it was me doing it would have just JB welded it feom the first break for a "cold" weld, if it holds oil keep trucking. The first job was a good example in epic porosity.
Isaac, me thinks that transfer case is just so many pop cans, you're going to beat yourself to death trying to fix it.
My initial thought is it does not look like aluminum but alumiweld or similar 'repair' rod, especially when the thin piece on the inside was chiseled out. The bubbly outside look seems to say excessive heating with the torch because the casting had gotten oxidized and the alumiweld would not stick?