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Old 30 Jan 2008, 09:03 (Ref:2116864)   #8
SidewaysFeltham
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Join Date: Jun 2007
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SidewaysFeltham should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridSidewaysFeltham should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridSidewaysFeltham should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
I would never ever weld for structural modifications.

The core problem with welding is that since the bead has to achieve full penetration, you are in fact re-smelting the added part and the original structure. Which causes crystalline metal either side of the bead.

Always use brazing: for difficult and heavily loaded items (wishbones; locating arms/rods) we always used Manganese Bronze, since its melting point was very low and its tensile strength very high.

For everything else such as seaming saloons body shells, we used a special Eutectic Silicon bronze rod which was used by Fords at Boreham and Avely to build their rally car shells.

Can't remember the spec but it was tested to warranted to circa 42 tonnes tensile strength.

Of course, if you have the skill and the kit, then you can nowadays use TIG; however bad TIG welds would be inferior to good bronze.

MIG will still create weak points of crystalline structures either side of the weld.
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