Engine Case Issue - Please Advise

[xeven]

My room mate recently bought a '83 Honda Silverwing. It had these 'riding pedals' installed and they were bolted to what looks like the engine case. I'm new to bikes so the proper terminology eludes me.

Anyway, the bolted pedals hit the curb and pulled off a small piece of the 'engine case'. A good deal of oil spilled out and we pushed it home. I read a few other forums and it seems like we might be able to JB-weld this beast back together. I'm pretty sure no metal got into the engine, because the piece that was torn off is still bolted to the pedals' crossbar.

The problem is, the tear is right on a bolted area, so I feel like it is more likley to leak after being welded.

Should I go ahead and weld this together, or am I looking at having to buy some new engine case pieces and have a professional put it all back together?

Here are some images of the damage.

Zoomed out view of the broken piece:


Ripped off pedal view:


Damaged view 2:


Damaged view 3:

[The_AirHawk]

JB Weld will never hold permanent-like. I see disassembly and new cases, or a skilled TIG welder in your roomie's Future.

You might say "Well, worth a try...." - but be aware that if you decide tp pull that cover later, and take the bike to a welder - he's likely to be pissed to have to clean all that epoxy off the pieces.

Oh - and ditch the case-mounted highway pegs, please. Note how the crash-bars mounted to key frame points? Why didn't he get highway-pegs that mounted to the crash bars?

Those cheap Chinese pegs and the weak-ass case did one heluva job protecting the finish on the crash bars, didn't they?

[xeven]

Originally Posted by The_AirHawk

JB Weld will never hold permanent-like. I see disassembly and new cases, or a skilled TIG welder in your roomie's Future.

You might say "Well, worth a try...." - but be aware that if you decide tp pull that cover later, and take the bike to a welder - he's likely to be pissed to have to clean all that epoxy off the pieces.

Oh - and ditch the case-mounted highway pegs, please. Note how the crash-bars mounted to key frame points? Why didn't he get highway-pegs that mounted to the crash bars?

Those cheap Chinese pegs and the weak-ass case did one heluva job protecting the finish on the crash bars, didn't they?

I see what you mean. Looking at the bars now, they seem like a really bad idea. I guess that's what you get for buying a bike and not knowing anything about them. We've been using this bike around our town to learn to ride for the past couple of days, so I can see him wanting to do something temporary before he gets it welded, but you're right, that could be annoying for someone later.

Thanks for the advice, though. I was mainly just concerned that even if we did use the JB Weld, that it wouldn't be ride-able in the short term.

[The_AirHawk]

Originally Posted by xeven

I was mainly just concerned that even if we did use the JB Weld, that it wouldn't be ride-able in the short term.

That really depends on how well you clean the surfaces - just like "regular" welding, the cleaner the mating surface is, the better the epoxy will stick. I advise carb-cleaner, then brake cleaner. Don't forget to apply something to seal the gasket-surface, should you decide to epoxy it. I really would rather weld it, were it my bike (but then, I've been able to weld since I was 13 - though I no-longer do it "for a living" - and am 40 now).

As with anything, results are not Guaranteed.

[seruzawa]

A good welder could rebuild it for you. He could heliarc the piece on, fill the gap, smooth it so the surface is level and then drill a new seat and insert a helicoil or just tap new threads.

JB weld is going to be very temporary. I wouldn't trust my life to it.


The cost of a new block alone is about $2K. Not to mention the costs of pulling the engine and replacing the cases.

[xeven]

Well, he went ahead and did the JB Weld for now. We'll see how it works after it sets.

Any idea on how much this particular job might cost? I realize it's a variable depending on the welder, but what's a ballpark?

He definitely wants to investigate getting it permanently fixed later on.

I doubt he'll be taking the bike out on the hiway for sometime, anyways.

[pplassm]

It's going to be tough. The area is coated with oil, and that means it's going to be difficult to get it clean enough to weld.

The front cover will have to come off, and the final seam filed and leveled.

Hopefully, your JB weld repair will be OK. Or slow the leak down enough to be liveable.

[The_AirHawk]

Originally Posted by pplassm

It's going to be tough. The area is coated with oil, and that means it's going to be difficult to get it clean enough to weld.

The front cover will have to come off, and the final seam filed and leveled.

Hopefully, your JB weld repair will be OK. Or slow the leak down enough to be liveable.

PLUS, '80s Japanese-bike diecast-aluminium isn't exactly the first thing I think of when I get the urge to weld aluminium bits together........

xeven, I noted you're in Oklahoma - what part? I'm in Tulsa all the time these days; NEOKLA SCCA is to "blame".

[xeven]

Well the JB weld seems to be doing okay. It isn't pretty, but it looks and feels pretty solid. After a few quarts of Oil, the thing runs pretty well. I'm still encouraging my room mate to have it looked at, just to see if anything is wrong with it. Never know with things you get off of craigslist.

SCCA huh AirHawk? That's awesome. I live in Norman, just south of OKC. Finishing up the last year of my bachelors degree at OU.

I used to work down in Tulsa quite a bit back in the day.

[ranchwrench]

Originally Posted by xeven

Well, he went ahead and did the JB Weld for now. We'll see how it works after it sets.

Any idea on how much this particular job might cost? I realize it's a variable depending on the welder, but what's a ballpark?

He definitely wants to investigate getting it permanently fixed later on.

I doubt he'll be taking the bike out on the hiway for sometime, anyways.

You're talking about ordering matched case halves and rebuilding the engine from the ground up. The bike isn't worth the money it would cost to tear it DOWN, let alone rebuild. You'd be better off buying a new used engine and switching it out or just finding another bike.

Something I used to do occasionally...(and I know I'm branding myself as a consumate jerry-rigger here.) When out in the middle of nowhere, I've had the scenery punch holes in my crankcase and out of sheer desperation, found a piece of wood and carved it to fit into the hole with some pounding. If you shape it right and can apply enough force to keep it in, the oil seeps into the wood on the inside, the wood expands and unless you kick it out somehow, it actually becomes a permanent fix, even to the point of being hard to remove later! I found this out by sheer dumb luck so don't call the dealer looking for wooden parts.

If you try this, you should take out that bolt and make a clean space. It's probably not holding anything anyway. You could even paint the wood black!

P.S Welding is a poor choice here. (for all the reasons given) but also because the heat from trying it will cause you other problems. Just to clean the area will require taking it all apart. Also, JB Weld will plug oil supply passages. Don't ask me how I know that.