Bodge of the day....

[iansoady]

I have a couple of fins broken on the cast iron head of my 1952 Norton ES2. My brother kindly supplied a couple he'd chopped off a scrap barrel he had from his AJS. I was going to have them welded but welding cast iron is a rare skill and my usual welder isn't currently accessible.

So I decided to use JB Weld. Here is the first one:



The worst that can happen is that they fall off. I accept cooling will be compromised but it was running happily without the fins so it won't be much worse than that. They are next to the exhaust port however so I expect will get pretty warm. JB weld is supposed to be good for a constant 500F - say 270C but we will find out eventually.
Top

[JOOLZ]

That looks ok, JB weld is pretty good stuff I ofen use it

[Ian]

Let us know how you get on Ian. Sometimes these "reclamations" do better than expected. 👍

[iansoady]

Will do, when eventually I'm allowed back out. I've now done the other fin. I've reinforced both with a "splint" of 1/16" mild steel.

[CrazyFrog]

I have had good success with JB weld too. Fingers crossed it'll work fine!

[iansoady]

Yes.

Those with long memories may remember the Sunbeam I restored some years ago. It had a damaged crankcase which would have been very tricky to weld. JB weld made an excellent repair there although obviously didn't get as hot as a cylinder head.

Now finished and given a coat of high temperature black paint. Of course this makes the barrel look scruffy....

[iansoady]

Finished with a coat of engine lacquer. Not perfect but will stand all but the closest scrutiny. The 2 fins beneath the exhaust port to the right. I just hope they don't fall off.....

[mthee]

Nice work on what looked to me to be a pretty difficult job to pull off. Are you getting free image hosting, or does that not exist anymore?

[Ian]

An old quote......

"A coat of paint hides a thousand sins" 😉🙄

[iansoady]

Nice work on what looked to me to be a pretty difficult job to pull off. Are you getting free image hosting, or does that not exist anymore?

I actually bit the bullet a few years ago and started paying form my own web space and email domain etc. It means I can put the photos etc up on my own website and am not subject to the whims of some Silicon Glen entrepreneur. It does cost however - probably around £30 per year.

[mthee]

Who's that with, Ian?

[iansoady]

123-reg. https://www.123-reg.co.uk/email-hosting/

I have a slightly more comprehensive package but the basic one gives you a domain, and email address and 5GB of storage. There are tools to upload / download photos etc but I use WINSCP which is free and easy to use. https://winscp.net/download/WinSCP-5.17.3-Setup.exe

[mthee]

Thanks for this, Ian.