Hi All,

What is a good way mend a hole in an aluminum muffler? Any ideas are welcome.

It's the hole opposite the pressure nipple. It used to be closed with a small screw, but the screw has disappeared (along with the threads of the hole). I have tried using a larger screw, but it didn't hold. The aluminum is too thin to thread in a larger screw properly.

Thanks

/Lars

Best way is to find someone who can use a TIG welder to repair the pipe. Second best is what I did with a hole in a seam on my Nitro Pipe. Get some of the Epoxy Metal Repair putty. I used this and the repair has lasted 5 months so far, including one rather major crash.

What is a TIG welder?

They do sell brazing rods that you can use to repair aluminum.. I bought a couple from Ebay. You use a wire brush to clean the surface and to rough it up, use a regular torch and heat the metal till it's very hot but not melting, and rub this thing on the heated spot till it melts.. it's kinda like soldering, but MUCH hotter. I repaired a hole in a plank muffler with it, and also re-attached a tube on a Pitts muffler before... works pretty good Once it's cooled off, you can file it down and polish it so it is not as much of an eye sore. I'll try to get some info for ya!!

Deck

Here it is.. it really does work well.. check it out!!

http://durafix.com/

A TIG welder is a "tungsten inert gas" welder. You have a tungsten filament shrouded in a gas (typically an Argon mix so that you can weld aluminum, but CO2 mixes work ok for just steel) that you strike an arc between the metal and the filament with. You can then control that electric arc's position and intensity. You have the option of feeding new metal in with a filler rod, or using the arc like a torch, and smoothing out the metal. TIG welding aluminum isn't easy, and requires skill and practice to get a good looking product. My initial suggestion would be to get some JB weld, and glue a screw into the aluminum. I've JB welded mufflers, as well as TIG welded a weston pipe, and they both held up just fine.

Thanks, John Cadwell

I don't think I can get JB Weld here. Is it the same as 2 part epoxy?

Will it stand up to the heat? Or do I risk having small bits polluting the fuel through the pressure tube or getting in the engine itself?

That stuff I posted about does seem to ship overseas too... just a thought

deckerv: That stuff I posted about does seem to ship overseas too... just a thought

I checked it out. Looks good, simple and easy. Not much point in me ordering it though for so little. By the time I get it, I would have spent almost as much as the cost of a new muffler (this is a cheap one).

Thanks for the suggestion though.

/Lars

I have a similar product to the Durafix one, called Techno-Weld.
More info on :

www.techno-weld.com

Hope this helps,
Michel-Henri

No problemo I bought the 1 pound kit.. used it on several projects. Saved some money in the long run though

Thanks!!
deck