my poor snowblower has had a hard life. i just have too many dam* rocks at my place. they occasionally find their way into the blower. for the past 10 years its been getting worse and worse. finally this year it ate thru the metal in a few spots. all the steal is very thick on this blower EXCEPT for the fan shroud.
i cut some 8ga stock, put it thru the roller and relined the shroud. this should last a long time as it's nearly 2x as thick. also, the blades are closer, but not touching the new liner, so it should be more efficient. not sure why there was such a large gap. then again...i guess im glad there was so i could fit the liner in.
i just stitch welded it inplace just encase i ever have to replace it again. worse part was pulling the impeller fan. i thought i had a complete set of sockets and impact sockets. but noooooo, this one was a 1-7/16" castle nut. never even knew someone made a 1-7/16 nut. took some looking, but they were able to dust off one at Napa in town. the salesman was surprised that they had it.