Tonight I wanted to burn off some negative energy installing my new air dam.

I pull off the bumper to fit the spoiler, and noticed a bit of flex in the pass side fender.

Then, a LOT of flex. THEN I see that the entire fender (which was BRAZED on) was coming off. The entire fucking fender is starting to crack off alonf the brazed line on the nose of the car.

So, now I am furious. The fender had been solid when I painted it and put it together. 500 miles later the entire joint is cracked, and I would not have known if I had not pulled the bumper.

So I pull out the air grinder. HISSSSSSSSSSSS. WTF? Oh, great, my pressure regulator has gone tits up. No air tools.

So I go around the back of the car to get my angle grinder, and slip in a puddle of ATF leaking out of mikes transmission. Tumble. I get my feet back on the ground, get my grinder, and can't find the wrench to get the stone off and put a wire brush on. So I get mike's grinder and put a brush on it and start grinding down to bare metal to weld the fender up. But, there is still a ton of brass in there that I can't grind out. Whatever. I start welding. Everytime I hit a batch of brass it flares up. I think I have the fender welded, but it looks like shit, and I need to clean it up and weld more to make sure it is secure. Really frusterating.

Obviously, I did not get close to getting my air dam installed, and I have to buy a new regulator tomorrow as well.

If I ever catch anyone geting ready to braze one of these cars, I am going to kick them.

Zach

Errr, i mean, sorry man.

That sucks!
Andy

On the bright side you just might have one hell of a slip and fall suit. Howz yer neck ??????

I should point out that I was not the one that brazed this up to start with. I don't know when this car got hit, and I don't know who thought brazing would be a good idea. it isn't. It has been a thorn in my side since I started working on this car.

Weld, people. for the love of all thing decent, weld, don't braze.
Zach

Damn! After the slip and fall I would have called it a night and gone in and had a couple of beers. Sorry for your pain.

Brazing is when you use brass rod and a torch to put metal together. Stronger then solder, but not as strong as weld, and really buggers things up for the next owner of whatever it is you are brazing together. I am NOT a fan.

Zach

Thats a bit shitty. The PO should have learnt to weld, it's not tricky - probably easier than brazing and would have been a lot stronger if anything god forbid happened out on the road..

Your account made me laugh though, thanks for that

We'll stop brazing when you stop wishing for blizzards.

Actually, brazing worked pretty well on my '73 Celica. The radiator, that is.

You realize 97% of us would spend hours staring at the problem... period.... and then spend the next few weeks wondering how bad it will hit our wallet... years later off of jack stands... we'd end up where you'll likely be by Sunday...

I would never braze anything on my car. The heat would probably screw up my pop-rivet and bondo jobs.


There must have been a time when brazing was considered a good way to go because I have seen it on more than 1 car. Was it the jobbers solution before they started making cheap portable welders?

Exactly. I'd tell you more but I don't want to get kicked in the nads.

Brazing, done properly, is a good technique. However, it demands really clean base material and a good knowledge of the proper temperature and the way the brass flows. It cannot be accomplished with a propane torch. It's actually more difficult than gas welding, IMO, and it doesn't hold up well to vibration. There are a lot of brazed joints on your 914, 911, or other car.

The Cap'n

............You would be amazed at how many, exotic, name brand , and rare sports cars were constructed with brazing steel tubes, or panels together.....when restoring you gotta get them down to bare metal, and inspect every weld., then find a comparable brazing rod to make the repairs with.....a real P.I..T.A.

Oh dudes, you guys are gonna for sure get kicked in the NADS!

glad it's not my Nads on the line.

krusty is right, tho... IF you know all those variables brazing is good. I do not, therefore I MIG weld it or get a buddy to TIG weld it.

rear panel joints are all braised. Has be to done properly and, it's not a repair for a fender. Bummer.

Whoever did it to my car did not seem to know jack.

Overtime I have cut out and rewelded nearly all the brazed joints from the nose job my car got at some point in its past. I did not do this one, as the joint seemed solid, and was not in my way.

I am glad that i caught it when I did. It could have gotten very messy, fast.

Zach

It was probably done in the pre-$100.00 mig welder days. It used to be that an idiot with a torch could pull off a shitty repair, now it's an idiot with a mig welding panels together poorly without warping everything.
edit- I don't mean anyone in particular, just idiots in general.

If brazing didn't work it wasn't properly prepared. I've never used it for body panels. I would think they'd warp if you got 'em hot enough.

But I (like many manufacturers) have had lots of "brazable" applications over the years. Like bronze (rather than brass) rods on broken cast iron stuff. I don't know what their current process is, but Harley Davidson used it to build their motorcycle frames for many years with outstanding results.

But running into it when you don't expect it is not always a good thing.

Braze?

You got braze?

Frickin stuff is way stronger than silver solder.

Which is used to attach the doors on this Mercedes 190....

You might want to go to Radio Snak to buy some of that braided copper solder sucker on a roll. You heat up the braze to melting, apply the clean copper solder sucker to it, and the clean virgin copper might just suck up some braze.

Its all fixed now.

Got home a little early. Cleaned up the metal more, welded everything nice, sealed it. (happily, the bits that needed welding did not extend past where my bumpers cover).

I also got the air dam on, and the front of my car back together. It was not hard since I was not furious, and could therefor think clearly.

Zach

I never use heat on my car. It melts the duct tape.

I absolutely agree

and me do not happen