I have a chainstay with a small crack in it and I'm wondering if it's worth trying to get it repaired.
There's a vintage car restorer nearby who will do it but asked what sort of alu it is as he needs to know if it needs a special welding rod.... I have no idea.
It's an Orange ST4 which has a chainstay that is machined at one end for the main pivot bearing and then what looks like box folded and welded down the chainstay length (like a small version of a 5 swingarm I guess. I know they use 6061 tubing but there's no mention on the website what the other bits are and they are closed for the day.
Does anyone know what variety of alu Orange use in their own fabrications and if a standard tig welder can repair it?
Oh yes and in STW tradition...will I die horribly.....
where in the country are you?
Worcestershire
in that case you are allready dead :wink
I would imagine Orange can advise you on this
I have TIG welded in the past (I am not a good welder though but have had frames repaired by a guy at work). You need to be careful, if the tubing is 6061 then the likely hood is that the chain stays will be 6061 as well (but check again with orange!). It is a very very common alloy so they should have the bits in the shop to weld it up (although vintage cars use steel a lot more so they may have to order in aluminium!) and if they don't they are incredibly easy to get hold of!
Once it has been welded the problem that you then have is that the frame really should be heat treated to take the stresses out of the frame and if you don't it is just going to crack in the exact same place again and again. Heat treating is difficult and will require paint stripping etc. If you don't heat treat it you can just re-weld it up every time it cracks but I wouldn't go thrashing it down double black routes.
Thanks MM
Sounds like true to form I may have over-simplified the whole idea of getting a man in a shed to fix it...
