451 housing question
 

I finally got around to taking my 451 thrower apart for rebuilding. There is a large gap on the bottom between the skin of the housing and the thicker bottom plate. I think these are supposed to be together with no gap. Or is there some sort of filler in there? I am not sure how to proceed. Fill the gap with something like caulk and then bolt it together or ??

I don't think my #450 has any noticeable gap between the shave plate and blower.

if you are talking about the "shave plate" (40) attaching to the "housing"(24)...there should be no gap. Perhaps you have the shave plate on upside down? the profile looks like an "L" the "L" should be concave down towards the ground. Long part of the "L" towards the forward direction. it is a little counter intuitive but that is how it mounts. you can kind of tell that from the attached image from the parts list. if you want an actual picture I can upload one tomorrow. my spare blower is in the barn - no real lights, the other is on the tractor waiting for snow.

I do not have the separate shave plate on the housing in the picture. There is a plate welded to the bottom of the housing. I assumed this is normal.

Sorry I cannot tell you what’s normal! Haha I can tell you what is on both my 451’s which matches what is on the parts breakdown

Any chance you’re missing the shave plate completely? I think the housing has square holes punched through it for the carriage bolts.

That gap is caused by "rust jacking"
Same thing happens with the cutting edges on our snow plows and brake shoes.
Buddy of mine just spent $38K replacing the frame on his '06 Pete due to issues like that.
The brine solution the DOT sprays on the roads in winter is the culprit here. It gets everywhere and really raises he!! with metal.