In my opinion.........
only welding - to repair the hole where the bushings mount.
epoxy can not begin to hold. There's a lot of force  going on that hole.

I'd probably weld a plate on one side. Not too thick, eight inch is too
thick I think,
about half that.
weld on a plate with the right inside diameter,
then fill in where the two holes meet, the new correct size one- leave that
as is, and fill in the original material to the right size hole.
then grind and file to the correct dimensions.
I use a tapered bit ......cone shaped thing, and put it on a die
grinder..........my Makita one does up to 14,000 rpm.....
little pointy cone shaped hardened steel cutting bit........works great.

this group is FOR asking questions, so don't hold back !~
the rod...........I had one that was pretty trashed up .......
that part I wouldn't weld on .....
I put on a good used one.

( but the body part...........repair that very solidly.
if using arc welding rod.......
what I use, and it only works well with a DC arc welder.....
is 7014
and 7018.
'7014' is described as 'smooth fast easy '.......and it is. the arc is
harder to get started than with 6011 and 6013........but it makes a very
nice weld.
7018..........the '70' means 70,000 lbs tensile strength I believe.......
I use that for things I absolutely never want to see come apart.
I usually tack things in 7014, and finish weld them in 7018. )

, or use wire feed.
Scott
www.turbovans.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "neil N" <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 6:34 PM
Subject: Enlarged (ovaled) Radius Arm Hole Fix? PICS

> Hi all.
>
> Sadly between myself and the PO, we let the radius arm bushings get
> too worn out. ( I choose to lay most of the blame on the PO <grin>)
>
> Worn bushings caused this:   http://tinyurl.com/buwusy
>
> Which ovaled radius arm hole in subframe:  http://tinyurl.com/csv5l3
>
> I think I need to bring this hole back to it's original ID. If so......
>
> Weld or bolt a steel plate on? Or.....
>
> Shape a piece of steel to fit, epoxy it to sit on edge of hole where
> ovaled? Would it stay in place considering it's sandwiched between
> bushings etc. ?
>
> Thanks guys. Really appreciate the help. Hopefully I'm not wearing out
> my "welcome" here with so many questions. :)  The good news is that I
> photo this stuff to help or warn others of what NOT to do!
>
> Neil.
>
> --
> Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta "Jaco
> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines
> http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/