I thought much the same about welding it when I first got mine... then well o'er a fifteen hundred miles later and still goin' strong with no ill effect I decided it's fine the way it is lol Besides, the spring retention system is great for reducing metal fatigue.
It's a lil odd that you've got melting issues, mine's been run hot & hard all day at WOT w/o that problem. There was just the tiniest smear at first, just once - when the pipes shifted just a little and settled into place. Do you have excessive movement in the system? Can you take some pics?
yeah, yeah... the Schwinn's gettin' crusty, I'm gonna pull it apart and replace/repaint as necessary when I get a mo' lol