Have any of you figured out a way to straighten the part of the fuel pump casting bent down by over tightening the bail wire that secures the glass bowl without breaking the casting? The casting of one fuel pump I saved for internal parts is already irreparably cracked so just to see what would happen I tried bending a part of the casting cold and it broke like a piece of glass. Ferrous metals go through color changes with increasing heat so there are no surprises when heating it to form or weld it. Aluminum, however, forms an oxide when heated that has a higher melting temperature than the aluminum itself, concealing what the aluminum under the oxide is doing. The metallurgy of a fuel pump is a mystery to me so I don't know if it will become malleable when heated or what.
An option is leaving it bent and truing the inner surface that the glass bowl seats on using the milling machine and rotary table.
I've figured out a simple modification to strengthen the bail attachment area of the casting to prevent further bending. It's a barely noticeable, simple piece of aluminum flat bar bridging across the casting giving solid support to the bail attachment areas. With that piece of flat bar in place tightening the bail will not bend the casting.
If any of you amateur engineers/machinists/welders out there have any suggestions I would appreciate hearing them,
Ray W
