can the kdp just be welded on? I know the kit is cheap (seeing them around $100), but free is better than cheap.

 

Not unless you can weld aluminum. I've considered different approaches to this issue because I don't like the idea of just bolting another piece of metal in there. Seems kludgy to me. Of course just about anything would be better than dropping the KDP into the spinning gears.

What I'm going to do is remove the KDP, tap the hole, loctite and thread in a tapered allen bolt to down below the case surface and peen the case hole around it. No extra parts and no way that sucker's coming out unless I deliberately remove it myself.

 

all u have to do is make a tab....FREE

 

E bay stainless steal tab 8 bucks shipped get a longer bolt and NAPA gasket kit 25 bucks. Should take about 1 or 2 hours.

 

Did the tab about 130k ago. It's a done deal.

 

If the gear housing is still installed you can remove the dowel pin, but if you ever have to replace the gear housing for some other reason, you will not be able to get a front seal to keep from leaking because that dowel actually locates the housing and seal to the crank, without it the seal could be offset and fail prematurely, the trimmed washer under the bolt is the easiest fix i have seen so far, all you need is something to keep it from falling out it doesnt have any pressure on it, so it doesnt take much to hold it in place.

 

just find a piece of metal, doesn't matter the thickness, and drill a hole in it the right size, or find one with a hole in it, grind it down on a bench grinder, to fit the slot, and slap it in, free. I didn't use the gasket, I used RTV on my cover, and haven't had a drop since then. I didn't replace the crank seal like I probably should have, seeing as how the shops were all closed when I did mine, and I needed to get it back together by the next day to get to work. Don't buy the kits, I think they're overpriced for what they are.
Also, what a lot of people forget to do, or at least mention, is when you get in there to replace the KDP, also check the rest of your timing case bolts, as my KDP was good at 243k, but every one of my timing case bolts were loose enough I was able to back most of them out by hand. I just took all of them out, put some high temp loctite on them, and put them back in and torqued them down. There's one or two that are behind the cam gear, that you need to rotate the engine in order to get to, so don't forget about them when you do it.