Originally Posted by
Buellster
So wait...
am I filing the brass down to make it aesthetically pleasing or am I filling all of it off to find a crack?
if I expose the crack under the brass arnt I just undoing the repair?
sorry I am very new to dealing these kinds of ad hoc repairs
The stay cap only needs a thin line of brass between it and the stay. It's like glue. The blobs on the surface don't do anything but look ugly, so yeah, it's partly aesthetics.
You do want to be careful not to file off any more steel. I can see you ground into the steel a bit on the lower corner of the stay cap. Avoid this area.
The inside blob between the stay and the seat lug is structural. Do not remove it. File the brass there a bit smoother only. The lower edge that's concealed by crud should be filed to clean it up. You need to make sure there are no cracks and the joint is solid. A small rat tail and some emery cloth cut into thin strips will work for this.