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Cold spray keeps vintage vehicle on the road

Maintaining vintage cars is a real labour of love. But after 20 years of temporary fixes to an ageing rear wheel bearing carrier, vintage race car driver Adam Berryman needed a more permanent solution. He found it with Titomic’s D523 cold spray system.

It isn’t easy to keep vintage cars track-ready – especially when dealing with decades-old parts. Just ask vintage race car driver Adam Berryman, who spent the last two decades relying on fast fixes like adhesives, putty, and sleeving to maintain a 90-year-old wheel bearing carrier.
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“The bearing carrier had become worn, which left the bearing inside it loose. It was a very difficult thing to repair,”

While welding might seem like an obvious solution, it’s a slow process that comes with the significant risk of heat damage and distortion – which would have left the vehicle unserviceable in the future.

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A winning solution

Titomic proposed its low-pressure D523 cold spray system as a simpler, superior solution to get Adam back on the road sooner.

The bearing housing was repaired rapidly in just 5 steps:

  1.  Surface blemishes were removed during pre-machining.
  2.  A thin coat of cold spray was applied with a gun.
  3.  The part was machined back to its original tolerance.
  4.  The bearing was pressed back into the surface.
  5.  The housing was refitted to the vehicle.

 

Back on track

Following the fast repair, Adam drove away with a permanent, proper solution that didn’t compromise the classic car’s heritage.

“We’re repairing real components, rather than just having new components made or machined for it. And with a car like this, originality is such a big part of maintaining the integrity of the vehicle,” Adam said.

Case study snapshot

What:

Repair wheel bearing carrier

Where:

Vintage vehicle

How:

D523 low-pressure cold spray system

Outcome:

Original bearing carrier rapidly repaired without damage

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