Hi, Bob,
Sure don't remember seeing any replies to your email. Unfortunately I
can only hazard the opinion that this would be a bad idea. That old
dissimilar metals issue sprang to mind when I read your email. Is there any
corrosion on the steel? Does it look like it had some sort of corrosion
protection on it? Could you use a high temperature finish on the steel to
protect it if you do end up welding it? Eastwood has:
http://www.eastwood.com/ew-silver-hi-temp-paint-pint.html though it's "only"
good to 1200 deg F while pure AL has a melting point of around 1220 deg F
(according to Wikipedia). For some reason I seem to remember that aluminum
alloys tend to have a higher melting point than pure AL though some web
searching shows, if anything, the opposite.
My guess is that the original manufacturer rolled the aluminum around
the steel stiffening wire. Any chance you could simulate the same thing?
Curiosity compels me to ask: What vehicle is this a fender for?
Good luck!
Mark Watson
1956 Daimler Regency Mk II '104' <-- long term resto project
1965 Ford Falcon <-- shorter term (I hope!) repair project
various other transportation pods
----- Original Message -----
From: <nogera2@att.net>
To: "Shop Talk" <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 4:34 PM
Subject: [Shop-talk] Welding Aluminum
> I'm doing some repairs on an aluminum fender. The edge of the fender is
> finished with a rolled wire edge. A couple of the cracks in the aluminum
> are
> at the wire edge. I will be taking the fender to a shop to be welded. What
> I
> would like to know is can the aluminum be welded with the wire in place or
> will the steel wire cause problems with welding the aluminum which is
> wrapped around the steel wire?
>
> Thanks
>
> Bob
_______________________________________________
Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
Suggested annual donation $12.96
Shop-talk mailing list
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/shop-talk
http://www.team.net/archive
|