Plate reinforcement for the bottom bracket frame union to join the bottom tube to the seat tube before putting the new bottom bracket in. Using a hole saw for the new bottom bracket took out a lot of material tht needed reinforcement. I eventually cut it shorter so I wouldn't have to weld at the edge of the bracket, and the joint would fillet smoothly.
I welded coin shaped pieces on the useless holes on the frame and welded bungs into the holes to be used for the engine mount, same as those used on the old "happy feet" engine mount. On the bottom I used rosette welds instead to fill the holes just to try out my new welder.
I'm confident that the welded area will be very strong. I had to clean up a touch of the threads inside by using a tap as a thread file scraper where I melted through a bit and the union hasn't hardened like the original brittle joint that killed my hole saw. TIG localizes the heat affected zone as you can see from the remaining paint on the frame unaffected, and anneals the area similar to rosebud torch annealment for chromoly joints.
The trick to keeping everything aligned and not stressed is working fast while its hot and moving back and forth and alternating your welds to move the heat all around the area.
It's not my prettiest work, but now my frame isn't swiss cheese!
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