I’ve owned this frame since it was new in the mid 80s. A broken dropout was replaced some time the in early 90s. It’s been painted twice, once to match club colors, once as a rattle can job after the drop out repair.
A few years ago, sick of the rattle can job and having some money at hand, I was going to get it powder coated. The coater removed the old paint and then called me, telling me that they couldn’t paint a frame with pinholes. And there they were. Holes in the drive side seat stay.
So I took it home and put it away, only using it for checking hub widths, or other tasks where it’s useful to have a bare frame. But now, it mostly just hangs on the wall taking up space.
I don’t really need another frame now, so here’s the question: do I build it up, use it as grocery store rider until it breaks, then pitch it? Do I have the stay replaced, knowing that then I’ll have to have it painted, which could be the price of another frame? It’s not going to turn into yard art, and it’s not going to go back on the wall, to mock me as it’s done for years. Suggestions?
Photo of stay follows. Two holes below seat stay cap, under the line of discoloration.

Pinholes can be filled with braze but my first question would be the cause.
I would boroscope all frame tubes to check for internal corrosion. That will indicate if you should be replacing the stay entirely or if filling would be sufficient.

Any idea what caused the holes? Like is there more rust hiding inside? Those holes wouldn't concern me, but the prospect of additional rust, especially in other tubes would.

Edit: TenGrain beat me two it. That's just what I was thinking.

Ask bulgie if he will warranty it. 🙂

Shinibop? Had similar with a Colnago but the tube failure was near the dropout.
he had the stay replaced.

makes one wonder how it was long term stored?
rear wheel up?
unheated space?

This region is not a highly stressed zone, but is concerning.

assuming no chrome? Currently it prior?

Looks like the SS caps were done with cast plugs (where the DAVIDSON logo is). Worthy of saving and it would be a fairly straightforward repair job to entirely unbraze the pinhole SS and refit a new SS (via brazing). The end cap plug would be easy to transfer between the old/new SS, probably biggest hassle would be the delicate brake bridge fitting. Only concern is if the pinhole SS is just "tip of the iceberg" of other internal corrosion on other tubes or if it was just limited to this one SS tube (possibly got filled with rainwater and sat for extended time)??

Thanks. Pretty sure it’s that stay only. I can hear thing rattling inside that tube, and not a peep from the others. But where would I find a boroscope?

I’d say the rust came from the time I lived close enough to hot springs to smell the sulfur but any of the all of the rattles come from that one tube.

nice thought but this frame actually came to me as a warranty in the 80s for a frame built in the 70s. And when the dropout broke, I had a local builder fix it as Davidson’s backlog was 6 months. Local firm got it done in a week. Which is not a criticism of Davidson. I had one road bike at the time, and getting back on the bike was what mattered most.

Go see Dave at TiCycles for some of the best input in the business.

Storage was heated: sometimes in house, sometimes in garage.
Position varied: wheels up, wheels down, one wheel up, depending on available storage space.
No chrome ever.

Replacement is the option I thought of first. Rain water infiltration is a possibility, but it seems odd that it would be just one tube.

I have one (endoscope), you can pick up a cheap USB one on the interwebs.

It's worked for to inspect seat and down tubes, but the vent hole for top tubes is typically too small to fit. Of course, getting it up into a seat stay would be impossible, as the head of the boroscope is 5-6mm in diameter.

Replacement of a seat stay isn't too difficult, I've done it before.

Thanks for that clarification. A camera small enough to fit sear stays seemed pretty specialized. A camera for main tubes is something I can find. Checking them seems like a good first step. If there’s issues with the main tubes, the stay doesn’t really matter.

If one has rusted through, what are the chances the others are in similarly bad shape?

My guess is it is nearly 100% they are all pretty bad.

What are the consequences of a structural failure?

This is usually BAD!

When is a structural failure most likely?

Most likely when you put the frame under heavy load (are hammering your guts out). This failure scenario exacerbates the consequences of the failure.

Throw it in the trash, You got your moneys worth out of it.

Throw it away? No, even if I never ride it again, it’s an excellent, if hard to store, dishing tool.

[MENTION=339767]majmt[/MENTION] has a scope and the set up allows images

Any idea how to get that scope up in the seat stays? Vent holes are pretty tiny.

Totally easy, just a minute or two with a hacksaw make access to the inside a piece of cake.

I'm with SurferRosa , just ride it. There's a decent chance of it going many miles without drama, and all the likely failure scenarios I can think of are slow with lots of warning.
I probably wouldn't hide it under a decal though, I'd be interested in watching it to see if a crack developes.

I can see not wanting to invest in an expensive paint job though. And maybe your lifestyle doesn't have room for a rattle-canned rat-rod in your stable, fully understandable. Just spitballin'.

If the scope finds some rust, you can always flood the tubes with evaporust to stem the tide to get more life out of it!

Then rattle can to protect it and make it the grocery getter you suggested.

Thanks for all the input. The fate of the frame has been decided. Got a quote on the stay which was enough that I would feel obligated to get a good paint job done. At that point, I could buy a decent used frame, then I’d have to find the right parts. And then I’d need, and so on…..

So, frame is getting evaporust , a coat of clear rust oleum as I have some on hand and people should see the excellent work that was done by the person who wielded the torch, and then something removable, like putty or caulk stuck in the holes to prevent water entry but allow easy inspection of area. And then it will be built up and it will get ridden for a while longer.

How many bikes do you own [MENTION=396868]Mr. Spadoni[/MENTION] ?? A bunch? I would try to find a trade for something I wanted on another bike. Lots of people out there who love to resolve frame problems. Some for no other reason than to justify a hacksaw and endoscope. I find it funny, for some = a challenge.

It's a Davidson, it is certainly worth fixing/restoring. Especially if it is a "Signature" model which I heard was more of a custom build than a production line bike.
frameset built by "artisanal" American builders from that era will just increase in value in the future.

If that were mine I would attempt to fill the holes with a mig welder. If it blows through while hitting it with the welder then you will know how bad the damage is. If you get a good tack weld on it then you can file it down and ride it.