Cracks.

[carl0s]

One of the guys from another forum that I go on, did a bit of welding on his wheels. What do you think? I was quite impressed!
I realise this is quite different to crack repair.

There are a couple of youtube videos near the end.

So next step was to widen my wheels. I needed to make a fixture to hold the wheel in the lathe while it was being cut. So I designed and built this little guy. Its two pieces, pressed together, then welded, then machined after welding to ensure concentricity even if it warped from the heat.

Finished up my fixture to mount a wheel on the lathe. Just need to get some quality bolts to thread through as wheel studs and it will be complete and ready for use.

I talked to a materials engineer where I work, and a weld engineer as well about welding these wheels. I was able to determine the casting alloy and go the right filler rod, and right material for the add in strip. I ended up using a 6061T6 strip, adn 4043 filler. Pretty standard. I also purchased a junk Enkei wheel that was curbed for cheap to practice on.

I just cut my practice wheel. Went pretty well. Cut an overall of 1/4" of material away. I'm gonna add a 1" strip here soon, as soon as I get it rolled up. The thickness is 1/8".

Got the strip cut to length and rolled up.

Enough of that foolishness.....

I finished up my practice wheel today. Got the strip tacked on with a super high tech jig. Then put the other half on using a framing square on a flat cast iron surface and feeler gauges.

And the pics...

Method to hold the strip centered up on the wheel as I tack it into place.

Both sides of strip tacked into place, ready to fully weld. (I double checked alignment again at this point).

Fully welded on the inside and outside.

Weld consistency closeup.

Thanks guys!

I welded my good wheels. I measured runout before and after welding. I also mounted a race tire on one and balanced it out. It balanced out to 3 lbs of road force and 1/2 oz. Perfecto.

Here is my backpurge setup for welding the outside of the wheel.

Here is some welding videos I took with my camera. Those of you interested in the welder settings they were as follows: Dynasty 200DX. 3/32" ceriated tungsten. #12 cup, 125A, 80 balance, 150 Hz freq, 4043 filler, 1/8" diameter filler, A356 to 6061-T6 both 1/8" thick.

Welding Wheels.AVI

Welding wheels closeup.AVI

No real finished welded pictures yet. I forgot to take pics before i mounted the tire and put it on the car. Here are some pics on the car. It won't tuck the tires in the quarters, I need to do some more fender rolling. Its close so I don't think I'll have any issue making it work.

I'll call this "hellafunctional" just to spite all the hellaflush dweebs.

Here are some pics of the good wheel welded up, outside only for this one.

Closeup of the beads

And full penetrated, back purged inside. Probably a bit too much penetration, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to be running a bead on the inside as well.

Thanks!.

 

[hotrodder]

Ignoring the weld defects Enkei claim to heat treat their wheels (about half way down)... http://www.themanufacturer.com/us/profile/3484/Enkei_America. Weld a heat treated aluminium alloy and the result is a HAZ typically containing annealed, partially annealed and overaged zones. More detail here... http://www.esabna.com/us/en/education/knowledge/qa/i-have-problems-passing-the-tensile-test-requirements-with-6061-t6.cfm

 

[carl0s]

Ignoring the weld defects Enkei claim to heat treat their wheels (about half way down)... http://www.themanufacturer.com/us/profile/3484/Enkei_America. Weld a heat treated aluminium alloy and the result is a HAZ typically containing annealed, partially annealed and overaged zones. More detail here... http://www.esabna.com/us/en/education/knowledge/qa/i-have-problems-passing-the-tensile-test-requirements-with-6061-t6.cfm

I thought he did pretty well, but I don't really know about these things.

The article you linked to was an interesting read, thanks.

I want to learn to weld, and I'd be wanting to do stainless exhaust mid pipes, and bits of aluminium. I'm just finding the price of AC inverter TIGs to be a little too hard to swallow right now though.

 

[Engineer]

Looks a nice job, and certainly a lot less costly than 2 new wheels! Strange that wheel manufacturers come out with all sorts of things designed to suggest buying a new replacement is the only possible option.

 

[FranV8]

Know the feeling carlOs - although I have to confess I saved for the set up you mentioned. What's your budget? Worth saving the extra (and having the wait) in my opinion - opens up many more avenues with aluminium if you're doing car related stuff.

Only thing that partially annoys me (just a timing thing) - they reduced the set I bought by £170 a month or two after I bought it!

Alloy wheel mods, lovely looking job, I'd be worried about the metallurgy changes though, and of course the wheel was built to be the width it was, so banding it may mean the way the forces are distributed too are different (hub offset different) and loads being increased mean it's be a bit risky to use it anywhere but the track... I may be wrong and perhaps wheel banding is something that is an established practice. It used to be common on steel wheels, but I think fell out of fashion partly around the integrity issues....

 

[Garreth]

so banding it may mean the way the forces are distributed too are different (hub offset different) and loads being increased mean it's be a bit risky to use it anywhere but the track...

I'm not clever enought to say wether the wheel is safe or not - personally I'd be saving up and buying a new set !

I would say though if you're not sure it's right then it's not safe for the track either ! I'm not sure you'd get a car with those wheel past an MSA scrutineer if you were open about what you'd done. Also bear in mind that you're not alone - other cars, mechanics, marshalls, recovery teams etc etc are also potential targets. Race tracks are dangerous enough as they are !

Garreth

 

[TechnicAl]

You have to be impressed by the lengths some people go to. To have the determination to work through that just to make a fatter wheel is incredible. I know I wouldnt do it (and Im not rich).

I must admit though to having concerns about the strength etc of the "new" wheel.

If this car was to be used on the road how would you fare with insurance

 

[carl0s]

Know the feeling carlOs - although I have to confess I saved for the set up you mentioned. What's your budget? Worth saving the extra (and having the wait) in my opinion - opens up many more avenues with aluminium if you're doing car related stuff.

My budget is, erm, well I didn't know how much these things were at first. I started looking, and I saw the Inverter Fusion 200PHF for ~£695 and thought I'd obsess over that for a month or two, then end up buying it to stop the obsessive reading and what not.

Then I learnt that I need AC for aluminium, and the whole idea has ground to a halt now. I want something as portable as possible, something like a 200 amp unit that weighs between 10 and 20 kg and looks a bit like a properly manufactured product rather than an anonymous Chinese metal box with knobs on it

Only thing that partially annoys me (just a timing thing) - they reduced the set I bought by £170 a month or two after I bought it!

Alloy wheel mods, lovely looking job, I'd be worried about the metallurgy changes though, and of course the wheel was built to be the width it was, so banding it may mean the way the forces are distributed too are different (hub offset different) and loads being increased mean it's be a bit risky to use it anywhere but the track... I may be wrong and perhaps wheel banding is something that is an established practice. It used to be common on steel wheels, but I think fell out of fashion partly around the integrity issues....

That's an interesting point regarding the offset. It hadn't crossed my mind.