Technical Aluminium putty. (Non Fiat/Seicento question).

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Technical Aluminium putty. (Non Fiat/Seicento question).

GrumpyOldMan

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Hello all,
just wondering if anyone on here has used Aluminium putty to do any repairs?

I have another car (Chevrolet) on which the timing belt tensioner seized in it's mounting hole, it's actually the cam on which the tensioner rotates. With patience I thought I had freed it off but the bloody thing had actually snapped off leaving me with a hardened steel stub in an aluminium crankcase. There is no way I can drill the hardened steel (partly due to terrible access) so I am going to drill around the stub and get it out that way. Then I will use aluminium putty to fill the hole and redrill.
I know it sounds a botch job but my neighbour is an aircraft engineer (BAE) and he assures me it will work. Problem is he's just gone off to Greece for two weeks!

Just wondering if anyone has any experience of the stuff and which one you reccomend. Sorry to be off topic but I value the opinion of the people on here.

Ian.
 
I have used jb weld and other similar products and they are no good for what you are doing.

If you use the more expensive industrial grade type stuff I'm sure it will be a lot better, but I wouldn't like to say as I've never used it myself.
 
Speaking from experience as a British airways engineer, unfortunately we would just change the broken part or remove other parts to get access and then drill out with a carbide drill that can cut through the hardened steel no problem. Obviously time is of the essence

How small is the stub? No chance of getting swannies on it I presume, then again that's Sod's law

If your friend from BAE says it will work then I'm pretty sure it will, people always use these kind of thought up techniques at work and may even be a standard practise, however it may be that he will might need to "ahem" acquire some for you to use as often aircraft grade stuff such as the glues and consumables are much stronger than off the shelf stuff from your local screwfix

A true engineering dilemma, good luck with it
 
Thank you all for your replies.
The stub is about 6 or 7mm in length but does not protrude at all so no chance of getting "swannies" on it (whatever they are). To remove the part would almost certainly mean removing the engine and I have neither time or resources for such a thing and to have it done at a garage would probably exceed the value of the car.
My neighbour can indeed, ahem, aquire me some good stuff but he has just gone away for two weeks and I had hoped to get to work on this sooner. I've looked at the Devcon stuff but it is mighty expensive for the very small amount I need.
After I got the car I learned that it had come from the north coast of scotland and I think that explains why I have had one or two incidents like this with the car. I once had a Peugeot 309 which came from Musselburgh and the brake pipes failed at under 3 years old. The mechanic said they were the most corroded brake pipes he'd ever seen.
A true dilema indeed!

Ian.
 
Timing belt tensioners are by definition under costant tension and im not sure if a putty repair drilled and tapped would leave me confident nothing was going to jump out in the future and wreck the cylinder head.
I have had a similar problem and i used a broaching bit to drill the aluminium out around the steel until it fell out. You then helicoil the hole and drill and tap the midddle of the stud you are plugging the hole with to the thread diameter you need to be protruding from the block and screw the whole lot in - result a solid repair.
Might be worth a try if you can get an angle grinder or even a die grinder/dremmel in - you could cut a slot in the protruding 6 or 7 mm, apply some heat and try getting it out with a decent screwdriver.
good luck with it
 
The problem is that there is nothing protruding. I wish there was. The pin is 5mm diameter and sits in a hole acting as a pivot. The tensioner is actually held on with a much larger nut which goes through a long hole acting as a cam. My problem started when the pin seized and stopped the tensioner moving which eventually caused the timing belt to jump a tooth. A bush inserted in would be a brilliant idea but access is terrible so would probably involve the engine coming out. At the moment I can gain some access by supporting the engine on a jack, removing the engine mount and lowering the engine.
I'm up the creek really.

Ian.
 
Can you get a flexible drill extension and use these
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0TS2NLjNuc

The micrograbit style stud removers are great, but you can't use them with most flexible drives. The micrograbit is left hand cutting / jamming so you have to use a drill in reverse. Most flexible drives have a wound steel cable core that can't be driven in reverse. A ninety degree geared drive might work though.

Robert G8RPI.
 
The micrograbit style stud removers are great, but you can't use them with most flexible drives. The micrograbit is left hand cutting / jamming so you have to use a drill in reverse. Most flexible drives have a wound steel cable core that can't be driven in reverse. A ninety degree geared drive might work though.

Robert G8RPI.

I forgot that detail :eek:

Agreed a 90deg may sort it
 
Can you borrow an angled drill. It would give you more control and will operate in a relatively confined area. Accuracy is going to be a problem as it would all have to be done freehand. Not saying it would be easy even if you had the engine out, but at least you could see what you are doing If you did remove it
 
Thanks for the recent replies and sorry it has taken me a couple of days to respond.
I took off one of the engine mounts to gain better access and using a Dremel type drill I managed to get in with a tool, not sure what it is exactly but I think it is some sort of rotary file. Using that I worked my way so far round the pin but I am worried that I will go through the block wall, there is very little metal to play with. Anyway I still can't budge the stub so for now I am going to SORN the car and forget about it for a while. I may even scrap the car as it has other issues and is not really worth the trouble. I bought it as a cheap runaround and have only done under 800 miles in it this last year so I can cope without it for now.
Thanks for all the help and interest though. If I do make progress I shall report back.
Ian.
 
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