[av8bpilot]

I was able to find a good ole boy to help with my last weld repair, so crisis averted there.

Now I'm trying to source a delicate spot weld on a crankshaft for the same motor build (595cc for a 66 Fiat 500F). Back in the day, Fiat staked in the core plugs on their crankshaft for the 500 (see 1st/2nd pics). With age and revs, these have a habit of separating, killing all oil pressure to the rear main bearing. The most common fix is a couple TIG spot welds to keep them in place (example welds on a later crank version in the third pic).

I'm told TIG is required due to the size and desire to keep too much heat out of the crankshaft to prevent deforming. I've called a couple shops around and haven't gotten anyone who feels comfortable with the task. It's a pretty common fix in the UK and Italy (even done in-situ), so I don't understand the hesitancy, but I'm not a welder. Usually, they don't even rebalance the crank afterwards due to the small size and difficulty in balancing twins like this anyhow.

There seem to be a fair number of really savvy welders on here, so I was hoping I could get your thoughts and, if you're comfortable, maybe see if you're interested in the job. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

[Vicegrip]

Cast steel and thin soft steel plug need puddle and heat control. You have to dump enough heat into the crank to melt it a bit then pull the puddle over onto/into the plug. This is Not a hard or delicate process for anyone with reasonable Tig skills and the amount of heat is not enough to do any damage to the crank. Very little filler rod would have to be added so rebalance seems unnecessary. Once clean and setup this would be about 30 seconds per plug

[av8bpilot]

Just wanted to close the loop and provide a shop rec for anyone in a similar situation. Heard Precision Machine in Callaway did a great job on this for a great price. I would highly recommend talking with Johnny there for any machine work needs in the St Mary's or Calvert County areas.