Follow up on repair- cracked bellhousing

[Kevin Trent <trentkc@domain.elided>]

A week ago I asked the digest for advice on the repair of my '73 spider's 
cracked bellhousing at the starter mount.  Got a half dozen or more 
responses covering:
- drill a hole at the end of the crack to relieve stress & prevent 
continuation;
- the need to adequately preheat the bellhousing before welding;
- the need for the proper shoulder bolt;
- several suggestions that I not only had the wrong starter (the 
later/larger 1.1hp model) but also without its rear mount which attaches to 
the motor mount.

Despite the fact that I have been well aware of the last item above, I was 
amazed to find that the spider actually did have the larger starter and 
without its rear mount!  I had installed this engine in the spider back in 
1990, with 34k on a rebuild done a few years earlier when the engine was in 
a Berlina.  I believe that the large starter had been in the Berlina too, 
and I've put on another 50k miles since it was installed in the spider. 
Wonder how long the bellhousing has been cracked??

Back to the repair.  I've decided it cannot be done with the bellhousing in 
the car.  I tried some practice welds on a broken transmission mount, 
figuring the cast aluminum would be about the same as the bellhousing.  I 
used a propane torch to preheat the weld area, and then used a 110volt MIG 
welder, but just could not get any penetration with this setup.  Jim Steck 
had send a picture of what happens when a bellhousing fails, and it wasn't 
pretty.  Clearly my amateur skills and hobbyist tools are not up to this 
repair.

I have a spare bellhousing, and now I've about resigned myself to removing 
the engine and transmission and doing a proper fix.  Of course, this means 
that I'll end up with another scope creep repair - new transmission seals, 
and I might as well replace the front and rear crank seals while the engine 
is out, and while the clutch is off, get the clutch disk refaced, and with 
the engine out it would also be a ideal opportunity to rebush or replace 
that worn steering idler, oh yeah, and refurbish a spare starter that is 
the proper for the engine...
Wonder if I can get it all done before next spring?

//kct
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