Can you weld a hole in lower unit casting pocket?

[Fishermark]

Re: Can you weld a hole in lower unit casting pocket?

wow - i have had this boat for 8 years and never seen water come out that pee hole

I know Ziggy has posted that a few times... but I don't believe it is a typical "pee hole" like you might see on an outboard - where it shows if the impeller is working or not. It is more of a drain hole for any water in this area.

I live in florida but this year and last year have been the coldest I have seen living here for over 20 years.

Lived here all my life - last winter was the worst ever. Period. Hopefully this year will be better!

 

[wire2]

Re: Can you weld a hole in lower unit casting pocket?

Been welding alumnuim for 26 years and that is totally fixable, any welder with a decent amount of experience should be able to fill that easily.

I have found the key to doing cast is using a really low heat and have it super clean, that is well away from any interals so I woudln't empty the case, the mass of metal and the oil will dissapate the heat pretty quickly.

I agree, although you need enough heat to form a puddle.

Cut a "plug" of ?" aluminum plate that fits the hole very close, chamfer the edges 1/8 or 3/16", tack a tig rod to the plug to hold it. Sand the paint off the drive ?" around the hole, hold the plug in place by the tig rod and tack it in 3-4 places, remove the tig rod handle.
Then weld a couple places ? or 3/8" at a time, let it cool, repeat until done, sand, prime, paint.