Welding to a tranny pan?

[afroman006]

I bought a brand new TH400 pan on ebay and was wondering if I could weld a piece of 1/4" or 3/8" plate to the bottom of the pan for a little extra beef. It seems to be steel but in all honesty I'm not positive. Can anyone think of a reason not to?

 

[Corey 78K5]

It could be done, but I see two problems.
1) You would only gain strength on the bottom and in the case of an impact the side's of the pan would crush. Think of it like an aluminium can, the bottom is strong but if you apply to much force to it the sides will collapes.

2) with a thick plate on the bottom it would probably retain heat which is not good for a auto tranny.

 

[cybrfire]

Sometime ago there was a tech article in one of the rags where they did this with an oil pan. They went to the extreme and cut the bottom of the pan out if memory serves. Sort of meant as a light duty skid not necessarily a battering ram. Anything would be better than what is thier currently.