Speaker A
I'm here with a legend, Freddy Tavarish, and I don't know about legend, but yeah, we got some parts, right?
Freddy Tavarish and THE-MACHINE-SHOP fix an intercooler bracket via TIG welding to save race weekend.
Key Takeaways
- Proper surface cleaning is essential for successful aluminum TIG welding.
- Aluminum oxide is a major welding challenge due to its hardness.
- Fabrication mistakes can be fixed quickly with the right skills and tools.
- Collaboration and resource sharing (like argon gas) help solve problems efficiently.
- Hands-on demonstrations provide valuable learning opportunities.
Summary
- Freddy Tavarish brings an aluminum air-to-water intercooler from his McLaren 675 LT for repair.
- The intercooler brackets were cut off during test fitting and need to be welded back on.
- THE-MACHINE-SHOP team prepares for TIG welding despite initially lacking argon gas.
- Cleaning the aluminum parts thoroughly is emphasized to remove aluminum oxide and contaminants.
- Aluminum oxide is hard and causes welding difficulties, so surface prep is critical.
- The brackets are straightened before welding to ensure proper fitment.
- The welding process is demonstrated and explained to an audience gathered during the job.
- The repair is completed successfully, enabling Freddy to race his car that weekend.
- The video showcases fabrication skills and problem-solving under time constraints.
- The event Freddy is preparing for is a quarter-mile import vs domestic race.
Chapters
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Yeah, this is an intercooler, and we need to put these brackets back on. Why'd you cut them off?
Speaker A
So, listen, don't come here and then just like ask me all these questions. I don't know. All these cars get in accidents.
Speaker A
Okay. I'll tell you why. Because I was doing some fabrication of my own. I was test fitting this piece because I had to move some stuff around. And in order for me to do that, I had to cut
Speaker A
the brackets off, but then I realized that I should probably not have done that, and now I have this aluminum, or aluminum, intercooler, air-to-water intercooler, and now it needs its brackets put back on. And boy, was I really relieved when
Speaker A
you said, "Hey, can I come by?" And I'm like, yes, you can.
Speaker A
For that bit of context, this is actually the intercooler from Freddy Tavarish's McLaren 675 LT thing.
Speaker A
Blue car. And he was actually racing that weekend, so he needed to get it done fast. It's a relatively simple job, but it gives us a chance to show off what we do best. So, before we get stuck in,
Speaker A
Freddy's got one important question. How are you at TIG welding? All right. You're all right?
Speaker A
You're okay? Yeah. Okay. I thought we had argon, we don't, but my friend across the street has argon, so we can just— Yeah. Like just do it now?
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, if you want to. Yeah, if you want. So, now that that's all cleared up, let's head over the road, get the welders turned on, and get the parts cleaned. Arguably, this is the most
Speaker A
important job when it comes to welding aluminum. So, oil is more of an issue than dirt.
Speaker A
Um, grinder discs as well, so if you use like a fiber disc, a normal angle grinder disc to cut them off, usually leaves a lot of crap on the surface, which makes it a little bit
Speaker A
difficult to weld from time to time. Yeah. And so, the surface where you've cut it, which is totally normal. See all the rough surface there? And see all those bits there that are like the emissions from it, the debris?
Speaker A
That's the stuff that really holds all the crap in it. So, the crap that we're trying to get rid of is the aluminum oxide. So, like steel has oxide, which is rust. Aluminum has the same, but it's white.
Speaker A
And as soon as you stop welding something, an oxide layer forms on top of it again.
Speaker A
And we need to try and get or make that as thin as possible. You can't ever get rid of it, but you just try and make it as thin as possible. When you cut it and you've got all those bits of
Speaker A
leftover stuff there, that's oxide. Yeah, and that causes a real big issue. So, the oxide causes an issue because the aluminum is quite soft, but aluminum oxide is super hard.
Speaker A
That's what they use to make sandpaper. That's how hard it is. That's why it's hard to weld.
Speaker A
Nerd. So, we give these parts a thorough clean so we can get these brackets welded back onto the core. But first, they need to be straight.
Speaker A
And while I was welding this, I gathered a bit of an audience. And of course, I started to teach them.
Speaker A
It's welded. We fixed it. We saved the weekend. When you say we, that's you, 'cause I stood around and did absolutely nothing.
Speaker A
Yeah, fair. Yeah.
Speaker A
Cool. I'll take all the credit.
Speaker A
Yeah. So, save the weekend. What are you doing the weekend?
Speaker A
Yes. So, on the weekend I'm going to race this at a quarter-mile event. So, it's going to be like an import versus domestic, and they have some fast cars, and this is going to make my car, well,
Topics:Freddy TavarishTHE-MACHINE-SHOPTIG weldingaluminum intercoolerMcLaren 675 LTfabricationauto repairquarter mile racingimport vs domesticwelding tips
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