Repairing a Broken Stud - Not for the Squeamish

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Is it possible to weld new stud sections to a torque converter? The studs are where the converter mounts to the flex plate ... flywheel? Or would welding damage the converter?

Preparation could involve bevelling off the remainder of the studs and preparing a similar bevel on the replacement threaded sections of the new studs.

An aid to keeping things in alignment during welding could be using a small drill bit as pin that goes down the centre of the new stud and travels down into the stub.

Would this approach work - or is welding something that should not be performed on a torque converter?

I had to butcher two studs on a torque converter for an automatic gearbox to be able to mount the motor on an engine stand. I am now left with two stubs of the studs. One nut travelled so far and then stripped and it just kept turning without coming off. The second nut rounded off through a progression of a standard socket, a hex socket; vise-grips and to the final attempt of a small cold chisel and a hammer. All sockets were turned by hand without any impact drivers AKA "rattle guns" being used. After all other attempts failed I had to resort to an angle grinder.

I did not use heat on the nuts as I was unsure of how the torque converter would react to it.

The other two studs - I started off with a hex socket first and it worked a treat - lesson learnt! Even though using a hex socket would not have prevented the first nut stripping itself flush to the end of the stud.

A previous owner had fitted a Ford V8 302 engine with an automatic gearbox to a International four wheel drive ex-Australian government truck. I am bringing the truck back closer to its original driveline. This meant that the Ford engine and gearbox had to come out. I would like to have both the Ford engine and gearbox running so a potential buyer can see and hear both components running.

So where to from here?

Kind regards
Lionel