subtleluck

A question about frame preparation for welding. I know that I should sand the paint off the area to be welded. I will also strip the frame of all parts, and was wondering if I need to remove the headset? I can do it if necessary, but would rather not.

canopus 

if this is at the bb only then you should be good. but remember they may get banged up while in the shop so if you care about keeping them as is you might go ahead and remove them. At the very least i would get an old axle and bolt it in to protect the drop outs if you leave it in. Most shops are really good about these things but sometimes things happen.

tommymc

A couple years ago my Motobecane Vitus frame cracked and separated completely around the seat tube on top of the bottom bracket lug. It was not from any accident or abuse but only apparent when the ride went south. I found an old steel seat post that fit the tube perfectly and inserted a 4-inch piece to rest in the bottom bracket. The old fillet was ground off and a new TIG done around the full circumference to penetrate the insert. An inch of burned paint was sanded off and redone in flat black to hide the repair a little. Like the surgeon told me after putting a steel plate in my broken wrist - "don't worry, it will be stronger now that before".

WizardOfBoz

If you want to strip the area around the weld of paint that would probably help, but the welder will likely strip and wire brush the area around the weld themselves anyway.

You don't have to remove the fork but it might make it easier for a welder to have easy access. That said, it looks like the cracks are on the side and back and not the bottom, so there may be no problem with access.

Plan on what you want to do about paint: there will be an area that was either stripped and is now bare metal, or that was not stripped but had the paint bubbled. You'll have to remove any damaged paint, remove oxidation, prime, and paint the area. Might be easiest if you strip the paint off the BB and a few inches up the tubes, then wire brush the weld to shiny metal. Then have the welding done ASAP, and prime soon after.

There is a world of difference between a fellow running a MIG (where the wire is fed into the weld automatically) welder or a stick welder (where the welding rod is the electrode and is consumed) 8 hours a day and someone who does TIG 8 hours a day. Doing good TIG work takes more training and experience. My next-door neighbor owns a welding supply and repair shop and used to be a dreadnought TIG welder. He's told me about welding jet engine test probes for GE, where he'd have to hold is breath for like a minute and a half so that his breathing didn't scotch the weld. So I'd ask what kind of TIG work the shop does, and ask them to tell you about some typical jobs. Upshot: Make sure you get an experienced TIG hand to do the welding. One reason is structural strength and durability. The other is aesthetics.

HillRider

I also have a Pacer and, believe me, it's not light! Lighter than other Surlys? Sure, but not compared to other good quality steel frames I've owned. It's also not at all delicate.

Yours had a manufacturing flaw. I expect it's rare but that's what it is.

subtleluck

Thanks for your input everyone.

Definitely getting it TIG welded by a reputable source. Unfortunately, it might be a while before I have the chance to do it. All the good welding shops around here require I drive there, and I have no access to a car at the moment.

subtleluck

Finally got it welded. Local welder agreed to TIG weld it for $100. He said it'll take a week. A month later he says he can't TIG weld it after all as he's missing some adapter. He kept trying to talk me into doing MIG, even though I specifically asked for TIG. I kept saying MIG is not the right method for thin walled chromoly but he insisted otherwise. I said no thanks. The mom and pop welders (around here) don't do TIG it seems. I finally found a fabrication shop an hour drive away that was willing to do it. They wanted $70 per hour. It was ready a week later at a total cost of $43. Welds look great. It's not perfect as there is a small spot at the edge where the weld isn't smooth with the frame (see picture), and it looks like there's a tiny weld tack mark on the chainstays for what I'm assuming was used to stabilize the frame during welding. Overall I'm happy with the outcome. Frame is now primed and painted and I will soon put the bike back together.

veganbikes

Obviously you got it fixed. However for future peoples it never hurts to reach out to the manufacturer on something like this. Certain things, yeah it's done but a steel frame that failed at a weld certainly well worth it.

The silver lining to this story is after 13 years you can refresh it with a new paint job and decals (of your choosing or not) and make sure everything is nice and clean and properly greased again. You can also decide to upgrade parts you hadn't before because they were ok and you didn't want to take them off.

subtleluck

veganbikes: I did reach out to the manufacturer, and posted about it in the thread. I updated the thread, as you say for future peoples, with the info that I had problems with a mom and pop welder, and it was cheaper and quicker to go to a small fabricator.

FastJake

I realize I'm late to this party, but $43 is a good price for this repair and I hope you get some more use out of it. At even $100 the money would've been better spent on a different used frame. There are (maybe) literally millions of steel road frames out there better than the Pacer. Lighter, with more thin-walled and therefore more flexible tubing (frame flex is good.)

Surly's advantage comes from their new, unique, and experimental ideas like the first production fat bike and heavy duty bikes with huge tire clearance. For some reason, a marketing drone must've insisted they needed a traditional road frame in their lineup and they released the most uninspired one possible (sorry.) I'm not saying it's a bad bike, but if it breaks again, I would kindly suggest something else.

veganbikes

I know I did see that going through everything but saw a lot of confusing remarks and arguing and figured best to just make sure. Get to know your welder or fabricator first and make sure they are up to snuff. Maybe see if they have samples of their work.

Glad you got it fixed though.