Roland
The front shroud I got from you had some pretty serious problems in the
corners of the hood / bonnet, well beyond micro cracks. It was gas welded and
hammered back into shape. It only took a very thin coat of glazing putty to
block out a near perfect surface. I vote for the gas weld and hammer method
that way it's one solid piece of aluminum and the heat stress is relieved and
less likely to crack again in the future.
It will be interesting to see what other opinions are expressed.
Regards
Ray Juncal
--- On Wed, 1/27/10, Roland Wilhelmy <rwil@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
From: Roland Wilhelmy <rwil@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: [Healeys] a shroud repair question
To: "'Austin Healey list'" <healeys@autox.team.net>
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 9:23 PM
A dye chem test reveals tiny cracks in the corners of the deck lid
opening in the otherwise sound rear shroud of BN1 #724. If it were
steel, I know what to do: drill a hole at the end of the crack and
weld up the crack. But I do not have the skill to TIG weld aluminum
(I've tried). hence my question:
Do I get someone competent to TIG weld or gas weld this, or do I try
one of the "magic" aluminum solder/brazing rod recipes? The cracks
aren't visible to my eye without the dye and I am afraid that I can't
get them clean enough to 'wet' with solder, even if the solder was
strong enough to hold. I guess I could grind them open or file them
open with jewelers' files but that seems pretty crude and might not
strengthen the joint enough anyhow.
I could close my eyes and spray epoxy primer and top coat over the
cracks but I know I would get to see them again pretty soon if I did.
So what's the verdict? Get an expert to do the welds on my TIG (or
take it to his shop), or try the brazing rod route. Aluminum braze
gives me a fighting chance to get the area hot enough to melt the rod
without getting the shroud too hot and having metal drop out.
This question has been an obstacle to finishing the restoration of
#724 for some time.
-Roland
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