Mike,
I used the vise grips. I made sure to squeese just enough to close the gap.
I still flattened the tube a bit. I tried to round it out again, by
hammering a tapered socket in the flattened opening. It would probably work
OK, but I bought another arm anyway. See,
http://www.ljvaughan.homestead.com/lowercontrolarms.html
Larry
----- Original Message -----
From: "mikeross" <mikeross@prodigy.net>
To: <spitfires@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2003 6:24 PM
Subject: Re: welding tricks
> Larry,
>
> If possible, try to find a copper pipe or brass punch that will fit in the
> good arm tube tightly, but allow you to rotate it. Then you can insert it
in
> the broken tube, squeeze the cracked edges of the tube together and tack
> weld. The molted metal will not stick to the copper or brass.
>
> If your can't get a copper or brass pipe or dowel to fit the opening, your
> can just close the gap with a pair of vise gripes and weld the crack.
Then
> you'll have to dress the hole with an appropriate sized drill bit.
>
> I made a similar repair on my control arm a couple years ago:
> http://pages.prodigy.net/mikeross/WsbRpr.html
>
>
> Good luck,
>
> Mike
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