Hey, I tried searching but cant find alot of info on this.

I have a car that is made of 6061 Aluminum ( the frame of the car to be exact). One of the suspension mounts is broken. I have all the pieces and I want to reweld it. I found one source that says that aluminum loses 80% of strengh when welded, while another says that only 6061-T6 loses its properties.

Has anyone had direct expirience with 6061? How does it react to welding? How hard is to heat treat it?

And a pic or the damage

If it is a machined part thats bolted together then I'd machine a new part instead of welding it

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k24em2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If it is a machined part thats bolted together then I'd machine a new part instead of welding it</TD></TR></TABLE>

I wanted to do this but its not as easy as it sounds. Its bonded together with some sort of adhesive. So I cant just reaplace that part

Looks like that corner was involved in a crash. All of the mounting points that I can see are bent or distorted.

I wouldn't go near that without the proper aluminum welding and heat treating and composite adhesive experience / tools. You might be better off trying to find a local shop that performs work on formula-type vehicles or some aircraft repair company to handle this. Good luck!

I do not have much experience welding, although I can probably get my hands on some of the adhesive that holds this frame together and bond a "reinforcing" panel to each of the mounts.

The interesting thing about 6061 is that it can stretch a certain to a certain point before ultimate failure according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6061_aluminum
So does that mean even though in some places it looks like its been stretched, it still holds its strength?

The car in question is an 06 Lotus Elise.

Heat treating it is going to be difficult. When welding 6061 T6 it basically goes down to a T1 rating. In order to properly heat treat it you would put it in a kiln at 900 degrees for about 30 minutes, then quickly cool it in water. this will bring the temper back up to around a T4.

So is there any other way I can fabricate something to make this work? What would HT suggest?

it looks good

glue holding suspension parts? thats probably why it broke.... just weld that s%*t.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ROTARY &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">glue holding suspension parts? thats probably why it broke.... just weld that s%*t. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Please read. This is on a Lotus Elise. The whole chassis is bonded together with an adhesive. Thats not why it broke. It broke because some idiot drove into a ditch.

If I remember right Lotus provides for situations like this by adding bolt holes into the frame to allow a replacement part to be bolted in...since the chassis is glued together. You might try looking that direction first.

Lotus doesnt actually approve any repairs. Thats why Im trying to figure some way to do this

If you can get a better pic of the broken part I can give you a little better advice on what to do...Welding a part is perfectly acceptable depending on how it can be done

thats an 06 elise????

the welds on the control arm, although not structural...look like crap...

the general control arm looks kinda like a sand rail.....nothing fancy

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k24em2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you can get a better pic of the broken part I can give you a little better advice on what to do...Welding a part is perfectly acceptable depending on how it can be done</TD></TR></TABLE>

I will take some pics when I het home.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hootiehoo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thats an 06 elise????

the welds on the control arm, although not structural...look like crap...

the general control arm looks kinda like a sand rail.....nothing fancy</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, Thats an 06 Elise. There is nothing very fancy about the car except the alluminum chassis.

You will need to get it professionally solution heat treated back to a T6 after welding. If you do a search for cannondale bikes on google, they've got a factory tour that details their aluminum frame construction process. I would think that would be a good primer on detailing the heat treating and welding steps required to get an operable part.

I did not get a chance to get better pictures just yet. Hopefully later today.

Im thinking to weld that up, and leave it without heat treating it. Then fabricate some bracket to reinforce it. I have some adhesive left from a BMW 5 series. They use it to bond some parts on the frame of the BMW 5 Series. I could use that and some rivets/bolts to hold the bracket in there.

The aluminum looks like its 1/16" thick. So how much strenght does it really need?

the material is thin because it is bonded, not welded. the adhesive used is structurally stronger than the material itself

I got that part. Im just trying to figure out what is the best way to fix it so its safe. I can just weld it, but I dont want it to tear apart when cornering.

Click on images

can anyone help? Is anyone in the area that can weld that up with a TIG? I cant do TIG... Ill pay you or give you a 12 pack of beer

I just need it welded up. I can fabricate some reinforcements myself.

I would look into finding out what adhesive Lotus uses, bond it, then add some rivets for good measure

Well finding the adhesive is not the issue.

I want to weld the pieces in place. Then reinforce them. I plan to use the BMW adhesive. They use it to bond aluminum. Plus I already have it. Then bolt the reinforcement plates in place. Im kind of skeptical about using rivets.. Maybe some heavy duty rivets.

I have all the pieces that got ripped out. They can use a little grinding and they will fit in there

someone help this dude fix a cool car.

I cant see what he's suggesting being un-safe, so all i think he needs is someone to weld it up.

Just make sure that the person welding cant be held responsable if it breaks.