This is an exhaust pipe from a 2 stroke dirt bike, it appears as if the previous owner cut a section out of it which he tried to weld back on by uncontrollably squirting some mig wire on the metal.
The pipe looks really bad and leaks in a couple of places.
Can I use a tig torch to wash over and melt down these "welds" to make them look better and tie in to the metal? I don't have a big boy tig machine so it's scratch start only. Mild steel, around 1mm thickness.
Here's the thing anon, washing over a weld is a shitty job trying to fix a shitty job. If you want to actually fix it then you get a grider or dremel and take out most of the weld before redoing it, you probably already understand this.
For sure you could just do what you suggested but you're just doing surface level fixes.
I'm pretty sure I'll increase the chances of screwing it up if I grind it down, washing it seems safer and good enough for this job, I can add filler when needed. What are the details? Amperage, grind angle and technique that works best for small welds?
You don't have to go all the way right down to the base metal, you said it was just an exhaust pipe afterall. Your call dude. Just make sure if you're removing and redoing welds that you're leaving spots still holding the workpieces together as you're working on other areas. If you can, just lean the bike to make a flat position for welding.
OP: can I do this thing which I admit is a stupid idea?
Anon: no, that is stupid, don't do it.
OP: but I can do it, right?
There's no fixing you, anon. Don't ask a question when you won't accept an answer.
You'll probably have a hard time getting it clean enough without some serious grinding first. Otherwise yeah.
Grind down the weld and it should be fine it’s a piss poor weld and probably lotus but all it is is an exhaust
Factory Hondas ship with worse welds
ive tried that before and you have to have a good hand to make it work, best use at least a little filler and make your life easier.
>Factory Hondas ship with worse welds
yaint kidding, i put a bigger sway bar from a sportier model of my gay honda, and ive snapped and had to reweld factory welds on the rear subframe multiple times cus shitty gay ass honda makes shitty cars
Alright point taken, washing a weld is dumb.
I have the bullet shaped grinding stones for a drill and die grinder, not sure if they're safer than using s cutting wheel to grind this crap off
the weld looks fine, if it doesnt have a hole who cares. are you some kinda homosexual?
As I said other than looking terrible, it leaks on a few places
>it leaks on a few places
I would just find the leaks and weld them up, unless your good at tig, you're more than likely to blow through the exhaust multiple times trying to get it to look good.
This. You can hit some of the uglier sections or even the whole weld with a flap disk to clean it up some and take out the worst lumps. Fix the leaking sections first before deciding to tackle the entire weld. Seems to me if you have to ask about it on 4 chan then you are not the man to re-weld the entire thing and make it look any better...
>Seems to me if you have to ask about it on 4 chan then you are not the man to re-weld the entire thing and make it look any better...
Are welders the worst gatekeepers? <- that's a rhetorical question, meaning we all know the answer.
NTA but you'd get about the same response if somebody made a thread like this (instead of asking /sqtddtot/ or whatever) about fixing a leaking water heater and OP was like 'so can just put flex seal on it?'
Seriously if he was capable of welding it up and making it look pretty it would have already been done and he would have moved onto the next project. He sure as hell wouldn't have started a thread on this god forsaken site...
But yeah, some noob could totally drop less than a hundred bucks on the cheapest welder and immediately pick it up with zero practice and start laying down gorgeous beads on a thin as hell motorcycle exhaust.