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Old 01-13-2023, 10:56 AM
v8volvo v8volvo is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Montana, USA
Vehicle: '86 745, '83 764
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If you can get it to a skilled welder they should be able to fix it.

When reinstalling be sure to take extra care it is sitting square to the engine in all contact locations, and not bolted down under any kind of tension. They break if subjected to stress but that stress can be avoided. A good method is to tighten all 4 bolts gently, and then go through a patient process of loosening then retightening the upper 3 bolts, then loosening and retightening the one lower bolt at the water pump, then doing the upper ones again, then the lower one, again, and repeating this pattern back and forth until you do not see the bracket move at all when working with the bolts. That means it has found an unstressed position and won't be subjected to the excessive forces that would cause it to break again.

If welded successfully and then installed carefully, there's no reason a repaired bracket wouldn't last, so I would give that a try first. Finding an intact factory bracket will be difficult as people almost always break them! The most common cause for breakage is incorrect installation (or non-installation) at the lower bolt at the WP.
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86 745 D24T/ZF 345k lifted 2.5"
83 764 D24T/M46 155k
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