tjkubota93
Veteran Member
Haha. It was a u shaped piece made of laminated steel that had wire wrapped to make a magnet.
Home shop crack detection?
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Following the instructions, I then wiped the area down using the part 2 cleaner. Once that dried I then sprayed on the penetrant. The penetrant is like a very thin paint and it didn't take much. I had waited until the surface was dry, but should have waited a bit longer until the cracks had dried. The next step is to use the cleaner to wipe off the excess penetrant.
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The final step is to spray on the activator. This stuff sprays on like a talcum powder. I must have shook the can for 15 minutes before the mixing ball broke free. Even then, I had to keep shaking the can while spraying so the straw could clog. The cracks didn't show up right away, but 5 minutes later...
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...the cracks become pretty apparent. Not as crisp as magnaflux, but magnaflux only works under black light. With this process I can grind on the cracks and if I lose them, then I can reapply the product. I'm pretty satisfied. It saved me from having to grind out the center weld which was not cracked and I was able to find some additional cracks that I couldn't see before the process. If you compare this picture with the painted or wire brushed photo you can really see the hidden cracks that are now highlighted.
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Couple close up pictures showing the cracks. Some of these photos are rotated, I can't seem to get this corrected. My original approach to the repair was to grind out all of the existing welds. I'm now thinking of just opening up the cracks and welding just the cracks. I'm not looking for a structural repair; just a water tight one.
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TCJatko
Platinum Member
Any progress on repairs? Somewhat curious on what technique you'll be using.
Got around to grinding open some of the cracks. The welds were laid using a nickle rod and the stuff is so hard that I wasn't making much progress. Lots of sparks, but little material removed.
Ironically the iron is super soft and cuts easier than aluminum. I drilled a hole at the end of the one crack and the bit bite into the iron like it was oak.
In some spots the crack reached from one side of the weld, under it and back up the other side so once I ground the ends off the weld fell right out. Yea, I've got at least one 2" long weld bead laying on the floor like it was a bead of caulk that got ripped off. Unfortunately, some of the cracks reach under a horizontal surface so I can't grind it in place. I'll have to pull the engine and lay it on it's side. This isn't the end of the world because now I can weld on a horizontal surface instead of a vertical one. At the moment the project is on hold because I'm waiting for these sub-zero temps to pass. Was originally planning on using a Lincoln Ferroweld rod for the repair, but I think I should stick with a nickle rod as I won't be grinding all of the existing welds out due to them being so hard.
The white developer you see in the above photos melts once it gets hot enough. I could see the heat line slowly working it's way across the surface as the developer melted. It was kinda cool to watch.
Ironically the iron is super soft and cuts easier than aluminum. I drilled a hole at the end of the one crack and the bit bite into the iron like it was oak.
In some spots the crack reached from one side of the weld, under it and back up the other side so once I ground the ends off the weld fell right out. Yea, I've got at least one 2" long weld bead laying on the floor like it was a bead of caulk that got ripped off. Unfortunately, some of the cracks reach under a horizontal surface so I can't grind it in place. I'll have to pull the engine and lay it on it's side. This isn't the end of the world because now I can weld on a horizontal surface instead of a vertical one. At the moment the project is on hold because I'm waiting for these sub-zero temps to pass. Was originally planning on using a Lincoln Ferroweld rod for the repair, but I think I should stick with a nickle rod as I won't be grinding all of the existing welds out due to them being so hard.
The white developer you see in the above photos melts once it gets hot enough. I could see the heat line slowly working it's way across the surface as the developer melted. It was kinda cool to watch.
CincyFlyer
Veteran Member
I think that I would get some aluminum bronze filler and TIG braze it.
