Frame crack - 1939 Viking (Columbia / Westfield) - Least bad solution?

[cbustapeck]

I appreciate all of this information. I took my Dremel and a wire brush to investigate the situation. Definitely brazing, and definitely needs to be repaired.
Thank you all!

 

[Free Wheel]

yeah braze that. your prep needs to be good, really clean. wire wheel the paint and all the rust around it. get down to shining metal. assess what you have and do the brazing. it is not hard, just needs good prep and a careful hand. if you are good with paint then you can match and cover the repair and blend it. fix it and ride on another 80 years.

 

[ricobike]

I have a Columbia Newsboy Special that had a crack like that on the lower tube that attaches to the seat mast. No pictures of the repair, but I had someone braze it and it's been holding fine for years now. At first as it was hard to get paint to stick, but it's black and I used some black lacquer marked "Industrial" and it's been holding up just fine. Here's a picture of the bike before the crack and repair. It was the tube next to the sticker on the seat mast.

 

[1motime]

View attachment 1218646
I appreciate all of this information. I took my Dremel and a wire brush to investigate the situation. Definitely brazing, and definitely needs to be repaired.
Thank you all!

Yes. Brass. The joint was leaded on top of the brass. All of that has to be removed. Wire wheel, lightly grind and sand until lead is ALL gone or the brazing will be a battle. Probably have to work the paint edge back about an inch or the burning paint will affect the torch flame. Or the person doing the repair will have to do it for you and will charge.
WEAR A MASK WITH THE LEAD DUST!