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snow trac body body crack repair

JimVT

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
been hesitant to post 'cause I usually screw things up .
My trac came with those cracks up near the hood. Cowl crack,fender cracks no sure what you call them. I'll only show the left side but I had them on both sides.
leftcrack.jpg

First I had some good help. Lyndon lives not far away and he was more than helpful in answering every question I had and gave me lots of good advice. Sometimes I thought I was borderline harassing him. It made me feel better when he brought his buddy Earl buy to show him.
I tightened and replaced the source of the cracks. All those bolts that hold the sheet metal down each side. About every third one was loose from a rusted out lock washer.
sheetmetalbolts.jpg


The weld. Please. The only training I had was in school back in 1970. Other than that it was trial and error on the dairy. I cut some reinforcement straps of aluminum and bolted it over . You can see I also added some red silicone to fill any gaps.

leftcowlweld.jpg


traclcowlfinished.jpg

Front view . I am Not sure if I'll paint the aluminum cover straps or not.
DSC03455.jpg
 
Snowtrac Nome

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
jim i have the same cracks and a few more floating around after i bring my rig in to town for winter i will be getting an aviation sheat metal worker to help me repair my cracks with rivits the way they would on an aircraft.
 
Alaska Snow Cat

Alaska Snow Cat

Member
dds said:
jim i have the same cracks and a few more floating around after i bring my rig in to town for winter I will be getting an aviation sheat metal worker to help me repair my cracks with rivits the way they would on an aircraft.
Click to expand...

Welding of cracks is an approved and common repair on aircraft aluminum too. Don you should try the riveting yourself as it is very easy and the tools aren't very expensive either. If you need some advice from an A&P, I are one.:biggrin:

A fine looking repair on the Green Machine Jim.
 
Snowtrac Nome

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
Alaska Snow Cat said:
Welding of cracks is an approved and common repair on aircraft aluminum too. Don you should try the riveting yourself as it is very easy and the tools aren't very expensive either. If you need some advice from an A&P, I are one.:biggrin:

A fine looking repair on the Green Machine Jim.
Click to expand...
i could do it my self the reason for getting a sheet metal worker is he has all the tools to properly space and pattern the rivits and the tools i plan on doing it under his guidence the guy is a sheet metal artist so for a case of beer i can't think of better instruction on how to do it right. also most sheet metal used on aircrafts is made up of an alloy that won't weld well wich is why rivited patches is the prefered method.
 
JimVT

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Getting professional help for beer is always good. I always thought of patches as a temporary fix.
Jim
 
Snowtrac Nome

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
JimVT said:
Getting professional help for beer is always good. I always thought of patches as a temporary fix.
Jim
Click to expand...
there are guidelines that have to be used such as rivit patterns and the type of material and surface aera being covered if done right it will be stronger than origional.
 
Alaska Snow Cat

Alaska Snow Cat

Member
Both welding and patching are proper repairs to aluminum sheet metal and almost all aluminum is an alloy and not pure aluminum as it has almost no structural strength with out other metals mixed in to the batch. Welding is used in many different applications including aircraft sheet metal if the alloy is of the type that allows welding. Some alloys such as 7075 T6 are difficult to weld and are better patched and in most cases can only be patched. This type is used primarily in high stress areas such as wings and fuselages. There are several companies that specialize in only welding aircraft aluminum sheet metal although for a case of beer you might get one to weld on a Sno Trac?

I would guess the Snow Trac aluminum is a 5052, 5083, 6061 or something that can be welded or it would have not welded easily for Jim. Even street signs and beer cans are an alloy or they wouldn't be strong enough to do their job. Maybe Snow Tracs are made of Beer cans?:yum::poke:

Another good way to patch non critical places like your hoods is to make a patch and after cleaning the surfaces real well, bond the two together with a thin coat of RTV silicone. It is almost impossible to get apart and holds up to vibration very well. Easy and cheap. Sometimes patches interfere with the original fit of the parts or if you are wanting an "invisible " repair welding and grinding produce the best results.

Sometimes you just use what you got or makes you happy.:mrgreen:
 
Snowtrac Nome

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
Alaska Snow Cat said:
Both welding and patching are proper repairs to aluminum sheet metal and almost all aluminum is an alloy and not pure aluminum as it has almost no structural strength with out other metals mixed in to the batch. Welding is used in many different applications including aircraft sheet metal if the alloy is of the type that allows welding. Some alloys such as 7075 T6 are difficult to weld and are better patched and in most cases can only be patched. This type is used primarily in high stress areas such as wings and fuselages. There are several companies that specialize in only welding aircraft aluminum sheet metal although for a case of beer you might get one to weld on a Sno Trac?

I would guess the Snow Trac aluminum is a 5052, 5083, 6061 or something that can be welded or it would have not welded easily for Jim. Even street signs and beer cans are an alloy or they wouldn't be strong enough to do their job. Maybe Snow Tracs are made of Beer cans?:yum::poke:

Another good way to patch non critical places like your hoods is to make a patch and after cleaning the surfaces real well, bond the two together with a thin coat of RTV silicone. It is almost impossible to get apart and holds up to vibration very well. Easy and cheap. Sometimes patches interfere with the original fit of the parts or if you are wanting an "invisible " repair welding and grinding produce the best results.

Sometimes you just use what you got or makes you happy.:mrgreen:
Click to expand...
i might have mis stated some thing you are right only some alloys don't like to be weldedas i have done sluce boxes tanks boats and lots of other stuff i have never put a tig to my st so i can't speak for it though it appears quite soft my guess it's good to weld i just wanted the doubbler plates where it cracked to strengthen the aera.
 
O

old yeller

New member
Looks like you did a fine job there JimVT . A little fill and some paint and yer good to go by the looks of it. Probably more the steel screws in the aluminum giving you the problems. Probably why the lock washers vanished.
 
JimVT

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I almost forgot about that electrolysis untill I started on it. I just finished putting an aluminum sheet for the roof this week. thanks
 
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