To close out the thread drift to the GT Edge DT replacement- I did the finishing work, going back with the torch to neaten up the joint's seam. On both joints one side had turned out well with very even transition from tube to tube. But on the other sides the tube surfaces didn't quite lay flat/even and some filler fill in and filing were needed to get a smooth transition. This was easily seen if one looked at the lines of reflected light along the length of the tube. You can see a slight wiggle or dog leg in the reflected streak at the seam. Here's a shot of one of the good sides.



What did I learn from this exercise? First is to not do this type of replacement (sectioning the tube and sleeving in a new one) if best looking results is job 1. If one must then use an outside sleeve (scalloped like a lug?) as the obvious boarder will hide the almost but not quite transition between the original and new portions of the tube.



Well I did say that this frame wasn't going to see the road again I didn't take a shot of the internal sleeves after cutting then out. My flow was pretty good on most of the sleeves but a few edge gaps remained. This is another reason to use an outside sleeve, it's easier to insure complete flow if you can see the shorelines. One tidbit I did learn was this frame wasn't quite so unique in it's construction. What I thought was a completely tigged joint then fillet brazed over turned out to be a Tig tacked one. The tacks were about 1/4" long and ran across the miter's ears. I suspect the builder filed a flat across the thin ear first. Oh well. learn and live some more. Andy