Chevy bellhousing help

We have a chevy 454 mid 90s. The bell housing is a OSCO CD starter mounts underneath . And has legs that mount onto the motor mounts. One leg broke. There is no place in the USA to buy one Osco stopped making them years ago. Barr who bought the pattern hasnt made them in 15 years... I have spent over 100 hours making phone calls As have numerous marine parts stores also tried.
The only possibility would be purchasing a used one. Thats also proved impossible to find...
This is our livelihood lobster boat. Peak season. What can be done? Any thoughts. No room to move motor mounts stringers ect Welding wasnt recommended.

 

Weld it.

 

Its aluminium welders say it wont have the strength . This is horrible

 

Beeing a certified Alu-welder since decades, so far I have not seen an alu bellhousing that couldn't be welded one way or another.

 

Thank you

 

Some pictures would help for a complete answer

Should be no problem welding but the location of the break is important as you may want to reinforce the leg/legs properly

Some hints
Oil or other surface contaminants can cause welding issues, ie dirty weld areas particularly oil and water can expand explosively and blow a hole in the casting.
Degrease it in a SOLVENT to get rid of most of the oil then spray it with a Brakeclean product. Brakeclean is an extremely fast drying solvent that will rid the surface of most of the oil out of an aerosol can. Read the instructions, while I think they discontinued using tricholoethylene III which can cause a toxic gas if burned, you still need to do this in an outside well ventilated space.
So first wash a toluene or lacquer thinner wash, outside well ventilated, then spray the surfaces with Brakeclean about 5 bucks a can and let it dry thoroughly, keep the cans away from the welding arc

Open up the weld joint, V each side, I would only Tig it but a good welder will be able to use Mig

The heat will induce distortion of the housing/leg. So I would Tig no more than an inch at a time and let it cool between welds

When we repaired aluminum manifolds and heads, we would take a 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch thick plate of steel and bolt the housing/ head/ manifold to it to reduce distortion

After all the welding is done, ( and if you decide to reinforce the area if you are concerned) let it cool and unbolt the housing from the plate.

I think I mentioned send some more picts???

 

We have found a machine shop with a excellant welder. Hes doung it this morning and plans on using a plate welded on fingers crossed it works i attached a file of the bell housing

 

Not sure if your repair is holding up, if you make your living doing this id get a spare!


There is a place near Atlanta ga called lanier marine liquidators. They have 15 acres of boat yard and have bought tons of NOS over the years. Might be worth a call? They are pricey but might be worth a call.