Broken bellhousing exhaust bolt hole
Discussion
I smacked a stupid gate stop plate when visiting somewhere yesterday - nearly shook my teeth out.
Got under the Griff today to see if I can see the damage and it was the bolt that mounts the exhaust to the bellhousing which took the hit.
The bellhousing is fluted up to build enough space to drill a bolt hole in and this has broken.
The exhaust looks OK if a bit skewed out of alignment, and the bellhousing itself looks OK. Trouble is, I now have nothing to put a new bolt into because half the bolt 'hole' is missing.
I'm thinking I might be able to fabricate an extension to the exhaust bracket and attach it to what looks like the bellhousing inspection bolt which is about 4 inches further along the bellhousing.
Has anyone done something similar and fashioned a fix?
If someone can come up with even a quick and dirty fix for now I'd appreciate it because the Le Mans trip starts Wednesday morning and I'm not sure it's wise to go without this bracket being attached.
Thanks guys.
Ian
Got under the Griff today to see if I can see the damage and it was the bolt that mounts the exhaust to the bellhousing which took the hit.
The bellhousing is fluted up to build enough space to drill a bolt hole in and this has broken.
The exhaust looks OK if a bit skewed out of alignment, and the bellhousing itself looks OK. Trouble is, I now have nothing to put a new bolt into because half the bolt 'hole' is missing.
I'm thinking I might be able to fabricate an extension to the exhaust bracket and attach it to what looks like the bellhousing inspection bolt which is about 4 inches further along the bellhousing.
Has anyone done something similar and fashioned a fix?
If someone can come up with even a quick and dirty fix for now I'd appreciate it because the Le Mans trip starts Wednesday morning and I'm not sure it's wise to go without this bracket being attached.
Thanks guys.
Ian
A brilliant mate of mine came around tonight and we've managed to fabricate a bracket which I hope will see me at least through the Le Mans trip.
Here's a couple of pics for the curious.
Looking at the bellhousing from the front of the car. Our bracket is attached to one of the cover plate bolts (we put in a slightly longer bolt) and we drilled the exhaust bracket so we could bolt the two together.
Our bracket is made out of about 4mm aluminium bar. If I'd known the photos were going to be so good I'd have polished it!
This is from the back of the car. You can see the crack in what used to be the bolt housing.
This shot shows the damage to the bellhousing. Follow the line of the fluting ridge and you can see some thread - you shouldn't be able to see thread because there should be thread on THIS side too. You can see there is a big chunk missing. This shot is looking to the bellhousing from the back of the car.
Here's a couple of pics for the curious.
Looking at the bellhousing from the front of the car. Our bracket is attached to one of the cover plate bolts (we put in a slightly longer bolt) and we drilled the exhaust bracket so we could bolt the two together.
Our bracket is made out of about 4mm aluminium bar. If I'd known the photos were going to be so good I'd have polished it!
This is from the back of the car. You can see the crack in what used to be the bolt housing.
This shot shows the damage to the bellhousing. Follow the line of the fluting ridge and you can see some thread - you shouldn't be able to see thread because there should be thread on THIS side too. You can see there is a big chunk missing. This shot is looking to the bellhousing from the back of the car.
Now just dont touch the Griffith Till Wed morning Hi Ian, I still haven't got around to fitting the grills in that bonnet you gave me, but I'm not going to start hacking it about until I've got a clear picture of what I want to end up with.!
My '94 500 has the rover box, and the flexible exhaust section, but there is no bracket, or provision for any bracket to the bell housing. There is a bracket further forward which attaches the flexible bit to the engine block. Maybe they made this mod when they found the weakness that you've found? Who knows! But it does go to show that they are not all the same.
ATB
Steve
My '94 500 has the rover box, and the flexible exhaust section, but there is no bracket, or provision for any bracket to the bell housing. There is a bracket further forward which attaches the flexible bit to the engine block. Maybe they made this mod when they found the weakness that you've found? Who knows! But it does go to show that they are not all the same.
ATB
Steve
victormeldrew said:
Quinny said:
victormeldrew said:
Yes, the Chim one is tucked up twixt chassis and bellhousing, and not exposed like that. Curious difference.
Probably cos Ian's car has a Rover box and your Chim has a T5
Yes indeed that would explain the difference.
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