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 Cold Metal Stitching Current Charges ?
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sam christie

United Kingdom
3041 Posts

Posted - 04/06/2019 :  22:42:17  Show Profile
Does anyone have a rough idea of present day charges for cold metal stitching per inch?

I ask because I might have a chance to purchase a bell housing which looks OK except for a crack between the corner of the inspection cover opening and the outside edge. The crack is about two inches long and I need to take into account the likely cost of a good quality repair.

The crack is roughly as indicated.





Sam

Westbury

United Kingdom
1940 Posts

Posted - 05/06/2019 :  01:35:01  Show Profile
Sam.

I had an engine front housing for a K type stitch repaired about 9 years ago. Crack was about 4-5” long across a complicated section and cost me approximately £500 ! It was still worth doing as housings then were very difficult to replace, the reason I asked Ron Grant to make some new ones subsequently taken up by Andy King.

Your job looks a lot simpler and should be a lot cheaper I would hope !

Best of luck,

Chris
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Blue M

United Kingdom
1455 Posts

Posted - 05/06/2019 :  05:25:17  Show Profile
Don't let the crack put you off. You could bolt a plate across it.
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Oz34

United Kingdom
2483 Posts

Posted - 05/06/2019 :  08:42:52  Show Profile
Looking at Chris' £500, I read recently somewhere about laser welding as a means of recovering cracked blocks. Seems no distortion so no re-machining. I know nothing about it though, particularly cost.

Might be worth investigating?

Dave
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Colin Butchers

United Kingdom
1475 Posts

Posted - 05/06/2019 :  09:54:33  Show Profile
Sam. If you send a copy of your picture to someone such as Surelock of Unit 3, Pillings Road, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6QF (telephone 01572 722051) they will be able give you an accurate estimate. I have no experience of them myself but I keep their card in my files "just in case".

Also like Dave Oz I have heard good reports of laser welding, which sounds very interesting.

Colin B.

Edited by - Colin Butchers on 05/06/2019 09:56:08
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coracle

United Kingdom
1849 Posts

Posted - 05/06/2019 :  11:01:59  Show Profile
I am interested in laser welding myself having a block that I "retired" many years ago as it had been bored out excessively and developed a crack down one bore. I have considered the possibility of repair over the years but have been informed that liners down a cracked bore don't last long and that it was not practical to weld due to the potential distortion.

Subsequently laser welding has come to light and I am wondering if this might be possible? I have also been encoraged by the information on PB0355 in the 2018 yearbook (Page 27) where the existing cylinders were completely bored away and new wet liners welded in place.

Does anybody have experience or comment to make on such a possibility rather that continuing to store an unused lump of cast iron?
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sam christie

United Kingdom
3041 Posts

Posted - 05/06/2019 :  12:12:20  Show Profile
Thanks for all the comments.

I am sure Ian's solution would work and you do see ancient repairs like this which have lasted really well.

Chris's experience from about nine years ago suggests repair of this bell housing is likely to be more than £200. The cost of getting it to the repairer and back must be considered too. In the last couple of years I have seen intact examples sell for between £100 and £300.

How does the cost of laser welding compare?



Sam
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chapelfarmer

United Kingdom
241 Posts

Posted - 05/06/2019 :  12:50:41  Show Profile


Re Coracle's block, here's something I found on the Riley Register forum which seemed relevant when I was looking into repairing a sidevalve Riley block which had a similar crack-behind-liner issue.
I spoke to Lasertech and they were really helpful but in the end I have gone down a different route with that particular engine. Beyond relaying this info I can't / don't claim any association.
QUOTE:
I would get it chemically cleaned (head and block) as this clears out all of the oil ways and impossible to clean areas. Then get it pressure tested. I have recently rebuilt a 12/4 engine which was a spare that I hadn’t run before. I failed to get it crack tested and it turned out to have a corrosion hole vertically above the inlet camshaft rear bearing, which was invisible when the bearing was in place. I had to strip the entire engine down again, but was in a quandary about what to do as it was very inaccessible and I didn’t want the heat of welding to risk distorting the expensively re-machined block (relined, mains remetalled and machined, top planed etc.
I eventually found Harrison’s Lasertech near Doncaster (other laser welders are probably available). They had a window cut in the rear of the block, welded the hole, had a piece of cast iron machined to fit the window and welded it in, then pressure tested. All for £400.00 I can’t remember if that was plus VAT. It is now fully continent. Harrison’s were extremely helpful and had a lot of expensive vintage bits awaiting their attention The paint on the block was undamaged right up to within a few millimetres of the weld.
I would also urge a pressure test even if all of the visual tests etc have failed to spot a leak, as I had a Merlin engined Kestrel which routinely produced oil emulsion, and it eventually proved to have a crack half way up one of the lag tappet bores, so that the tappet was actually producing the emulsion quite efficiently by the shearing action in the bore. A stainless sleeve in the bore sorted it. QUOTE ENDS

john

john
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tholden

United Kingdom
1623 Posts

Posted - 05/06/2019 :  13:05:41  Show Profile
Sam I have had quite a number of things repaired by laser welding and the result has been superb. Your crack would be very easy for a skilled operator to repair by this method. If you give me a call I can tell you more.

TH
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