One of the down tubes of the frame has a rust hole. I know the rust came from the inside but I will like to plug it for aparence. The hole is 4mm x 3mm after I grinded it. Will a torch and some bronze will fix it? It is a well kept bike and I bougthed new in 1992. It rusted when the fame come in contact with the skid plate.
Frame repair
- Thread starter CTurbo
- Start date
dirtbikingdad
Member
- Oct 25, 2005
- 161
- 0
Don't use a torch.
It's my opinion that if you want to repair it, you should use a mig or a tig. The reason why is to minimize the heat transferred to the surrounding frame area, which could weaken it. However, after re-reading your post, I noticed BRONZE. If you just want to plug the hole, that should be fine but keep the heat to a minimum. You may want to use some wet rags or "that heat sink play-dough compound stuff" to help maintain the heat in just the repair area.
It's my opinion that if you want to repair it, you should use a mig or a tig. The reason why is to minimize the heat transferred to the surrounding frame area, which could weaken it. However, after re-reading your post, I noticed BRONZE. If you just want to plug the hole, that should be fine but keep the heat to a minimum. You may want to use some wet rags or "that heat sink play-dough compound stuff" to help maintain the heat in just the repair area.
4mm x 3mm is pretty small. why not just drill and tap it and then just thread in a small bolt. With welding and/or brazing you will need to be pretty thourough about how clean it is. I agree with the previous comment about keeping heat to a minimum - in fact for a hole that small I would say the potential risk is too high given you have many other possible solutions including epoxy and some of the cold weld solutions. I've been surprised how many professional welders have advised me to stay away from welding for small repairs if I can just use JB Weld.
