Ripped idle wheel lug
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 10:00 am
Late last year I ripped one of the idle wheel lugs out of the plastic hull. Rather than replacing the hull for metal, thought i would have a go at fixing it first and it seems like a good repair.
I've taken some plate steel, shaped it to the inside of the tank. Drilled the screw hole out to 3mm and drilled through the metal.
I then took the metal to one side, put an m3 bolt through, screwed a m3 threaded tube/threaded rivet to the bolt on the opposite side of the metal. With the mig welder on a low setting, I tack welded the tube/rivet in place and took the bolt out again. This gave the tube near perfect alignment.
I then scored the side of the metal that faced outwards from the tank and epoxy resined the sheet in place. I put a bolt though the new hole to make sure it was aligned for the first 5 min of the glue setting, then took the bolt out. Got a fresh bolt and screwed it back in and out a few times to clear the threaded of any excess epoxy. If you have a tap and die set, you can wait until totally dry to do this.
Once dry, you can reassemble idle adjuster and tracks. Its stronger than the original part and I doubt will ever be an issue again.
I've taken some plate steel, shaped it to the inside of the tank. Drilled the screw hole out to 3mm and drilled through the metal.
I then took the metal to one side, put an m3 bolt through, screwed a m3 threaded tube/threaded rivet to the bolt on the opposite side of the metal. With the mig welder on a low setting, I tack welded the tube/rivet in place and took the bolt out again. This gave the tube near perfect alignment.
I then scored the side of the metal that faced outwards from the tank and epoxy resined the sheet in place. I put a bolt though the new hole to make sure it was aligned for the first 5 min of the glue setting, then took the bolt out. Got a fresh bolt and screwed it back in and out a few times to clear the threaded of any excess epoxy. If you have a tap and die set, you can wait until totally dry to do this.
Once dry, you can reassemble idle adjuster and tracks. Its stronger than the original part and I doubt will ever be an issue again.