Cracked engine tab

[MrMayor]

An observation that I have not seen discussed:  On my 1957 Automatic,  I noticed a hairline crack in the inside corner of the right rear engine tab near the bolt hole for the where the engine bolts down to the motor mount plate.  It seems like this might be a common problem.  When the bracket is missing that bolts the head stud up to the frame, (like mine was), the engine is being forced upwards when the kickstarter is used.  And with a missing top-of-engine bracket, the aluminum case becomes the weak point and cracks as a result. 
Just welding the cracked case won't fix the problem.  The top bracket on the engine head was there for a reason - to hold the engine down to the frame.  Good design after all.

[Ricks]

Agreed!  I have seen many with cracks there, and even with broken off tabs.  Why people don't put the upper brace on is beyond me.  Simplex would not have spent the money on the part if it wasn't needed.

[David Stinson]

Sounds like I need to check mine out to confirm if it has the upper bracket.

[relic]

I had one that was broke in the same place when i got it...welded it and never had a problem-this one had the bracket but the engine and bracket were loose when i originally got it.

[MrMayor]

When I got my cycle, the tab was already welded by the previous owner.  But mine was already cracked next to the repair weld.  (The heat from a heliarc weld will weaken metal next to a weld).

BTW, Wayne Mahaffey sells a repop bracket.  I bought one but fabricated a new bracket myself that fit my cycle better.  His has 2 holes for the spark plug wires to pass through and is a nice heavy-duty piece.