JW, your welder must have been having a poor day….. 🙄 I have welded lots of lower unit cases. The case on my "Johnny Cash" Mk-25 had the gear sticking out the side of the case. It runs great now!
These all have a lot of oil soaked into the aluminum. Also, I think a lot of our post war motors were melted down B-17’s and etc. They were not the best castings, and when you weld, the impurities will boil out. You have to just grind it off and try again. That may be what he was trying to do with the rose bud, burn out the oils etc., but he got carried away.
What is that Elgin case off of anyway?
Steve