I got an intake for a good price for a project I am working on. It is a v style intake. Anyway it had a broken fin. Here is how I did it to fix it. You pro’s out there may have a different way but I used my milling machine to indicate the fin as straight as possible. The intake is not in the boat yet. Hopefully I will do it this fall/winter and set it back.

Here we go.

What ever the boat drive hit must of felt this one, or got attacked by Jaws.



Got it on the mill and cut it down in steps, kind of Zing it out to create more surface area for the welds.



More pics. I have a JIG I made up with some specific holes for intakes now. Hopefully this will enable me to mill for a shoe and rideplate later on.



Cut out some 6061 plate on my 45 year old atlas band saw.

Building up.



Back on the jig. Indicated and checked the straightness of the fin. I got it near perfect. Ball milled in the inside corner to match the radius of the good side.



Done.

Bringing this back up for others to see how I fixed a fin.
T.J.

Looks good, mine looks like your before pic.

I have a chip that is not as bad as this. Can this be repaired/welded while still on the boat?

Yes. I have tigged overhead/upside down. Not fun tigging out of shape though. Depending on who your welder is though. I mostly do bench work stuff. It is the prep that takes the time, not the weld itself.
T.J.