[SEL] patching compounds

Rob Skinner rskinner at rustyiron.com
Thu Mar 27 20:57:32 PDT 2008


On Mar 27, 2008, at 7:10 PM, John Hall wrote:

> The next time you need something along the lines of JB-weld but prefer
> something more high-tech, you might want to check out some of the  
> products
> these guys carry. We recently used one at work to fill some voids  
> left from
> welding and then machined the part smooth. Seems to have worked well.
> www.belzona.com
>
> John Hall


I concur, John.
Years ago, Joe Prindle sent me some Belzona.  The intended project  
never materialized, but I ended up using it on another, much more  
serious project.

The problem was with a cylinder liner on a headless engine.  There are  
four "ears" on the outside of the cylinder.  Bolts attach to these  
ears and "pull" the liner into the cylinder.  Over-tightening caused  
one ear to crack all the way through the liner.  The result was that  
water from the jacket would enter the cylinder--bad news.

Brazing would have been appropriate, but I always try to take the  
least drastic avenue of repair.  No heat, no distortion.  Besides, I  
felt bad about not completing the other project and felt obligated to  
test the Belzona.

After bead blasting the area, I cut a sheet metal patch that would  
extend about two inches all the way around the crack.  I forced  
Belzona into the crack and painted it all over the area.  Then I laid  
the patch into place and completely covered it in Belzona.

A day later the Belzona was as hard as a rock and the engine was  
reassembled.  That was years ago and many hours have since been put on  
the engine.  It still runs flawlessly and there are no signs of  
leakage into the cylinder or gas bubbles in the cooling water.

Belzona is good stuff.

Rob







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