How to patch aluminum

Let's say my oil pan, transmission or both had been punctured by a piece of road debris. Is there a way to patch them? I'm thinking of trying a material such as JB Weld. Would that hold up for a long term repair?

The oilpan as well as the trans housing is structural, so it'll depend on the size of the damage, a large chunk missing might flex enough to crack out any repair, not to mention that it might act as a stress riser to allow cracking to spread further. I'm not sure what these castings are made of, most grades of aluminum are TIG weldable, but for the oilpan it may be cheaper and easier just to replace it, at least for peace of mind that you're not going to suddenly lose all your oil.:eek:

anyone seen that new alumaloy stuff, saw an infomertial about it, supposedly by the specs the alumaloy weld was stronger than the aluminum, and all's you need is a propane tourch.

I don't think structural integrity or flex will be an issue with either spot. The bottom front passenger side of the oil pan's damage is kinda like a swipe was taken out of it. More like a grind than an impact. The transmission has more of a puncture where it got hit. But it's very small and just barely leaking. I really don't feel like dropping the K member and removing the tranny from the motor to replace the oil pan. If I do that, I'll replace the entire K member since it got hit too.

Tell me more about this alumaloy stuff.

Couple of links which may help...

http://www.alumaloy.net/

http://www.tinmantech.com/html/faq__alumaloy_vs__rods_and_flu.html

what did you run over dude?

My wife ran over a large electric motor in the middle of the highway. Pictures can be found in the Florida Forum (post name - Oh what luck)

I've already slapped some JB Weld on there. It seems to have done the trick. I was seriously considering the alumaloy but found out I'd have to heat up the oil pan to over 700 degrees with a torch to melt the stuff. Not needing to add fire to my car's list of recently inflicted damage, I decided against it.

I'm still gonna have to replace the Y pipe and possibly the K member. If I have to replace the K member, I'll put a set of long tubes and ORY pipe on at the same time.

:D

My wife ran over a large electric motor in the middle of the highway. Pictures can be found in the Florida Forum (post name - Oh what luck)


ok, good! thought maybe you found my missing cat or something... lol j/k :D

Loctite makes some suff now that is epoxy based I believe that would work as well, call 18005628483 and their tech will tell you what product to use. Devcon is another company that makes even better stuff and their number is 18009338266. We use bothe products at work and perform miracles with it.
A note to the post stating that the oil pan provides structural integrity, are you sure of that ? Not to argue but I cannot see how much it would provide but then again I have never droped mine to see if there are stiffeners running inside. Is that something GM stated ?

On an LS1 the transmission is bolted to the pan as well as the block. But my damage was very small and at the front of the pan's sump. So not an issue.