How to bond aluminium without welding

Can anyone advise me on the best way to bond 2 pieces of aluminium together. I don't have access / experience to weld.

It's to fix some tabs on the underside of my FMIC which will be used to support the ducting I've made & also to pull the ducting against the FMIC. The ducting isn't very heavy, but if I can get "weld" like strength that'd be good.

There are some suggestions in this thread, can anyone confirm which is best or offer an alternative?

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=179818

a suitable epoxy would do for what your asking, i can vouch for JB weld i stuck all my bonnet together with it due to the ally being so thin welding would have destroyed it, when using structural adhesives surface area is everything, the more surface area glued the stronger the joint will be, go for a slow curing adhesive and clamp the items well, the fast set stuff usually compromises a bit of strength for the cure time, roughen the surfaces and clean with celulose thinners, oh and follow the instructions

Many thanks Paul, so the original JB Weld would be best, thanks for the tips

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/J-B-Weld-Industrial-Strength-Adhesive-JB-Cold-Auto-Weld_W0QQitemZ110424358621QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Body_Shop_Supplies_Paint?hash=item19b5cdfedd&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

any expoxy would do, Araldite etc, make sure it will do aluminium, handle a bit of temperature and the inevitable hydrocarbon exposure, i picked up a decent one recently from Halfords for my throttle body project, Unibond Repair Power Epoxy Metal it ticks all the right boxes

Cheers bud, will pick some up when I'm passing

Surface prep and cleanliness are EVERYTHING when gluing metals to each other, or to other substances. You can buy high end Ciba Geigy airframe epoxy and it will still fail if the substrates are greasy, damp or not prepped well. USUALLY Acetone is a good choice for cleaning, but refer to the makers for the final choice. Many (most?) cheap two piece alloy wheels are glued together, rim to centre section, so these adhesives can be pretty impressive, used correctly.

I can get you several types of aircraft grade structural adhesives from at work but I wouldn't use it. I'd use some A/C grade self sealing cherry-max blind rivets. Doddle to fit and I'm fairly sure a set of tucker pop pliers will pull them up. Guarantee they won't come off as opposed to adhesives that might get impregnated by water and slowly detach

3M 9323 A:B

Will stick sh.. well you know what I mean.

Seriously though, I know of a race team in a junior formula who use it to bond their steering rack together!

Mix it with some black pigment unless you're into pink....

http://www.rwgreeff.co.uk/3m-scotchweld-epoxy-adhesive-9323-ba-1-ltr-610601260

Many thanks for all the tips guys, I'm going to try some JB weld original first, and follow the instructions to the letter. It's not a high risk area I'm sticking (just pulling my ducting to the cooler, so it's not like any damage can be done). Think I'll leave it till the weekend when I can really take my time with it though

i wouldnt join metal using and epoxys, resins fabrics etc RIVETS;)

This thread make riveting reading :-) but really, I've always found rivets to be a fit and forget item. They're cheap, easy to fit and minimum hassle. Epoxys are great if you know what youre doing.

http://www.consumablesexpress.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_ADHESIVES.html?gclid=COHe5tzWhZ0CFVtm4wodylk9bw

This stuff is good.

Do you have a local engineering place or car repair garage who may only charge you a few £ to weld it propperly.

I had a 3 inch stainless pipe cut perfectly to size with two different diameter feeds cut and welded in and another hole cut for a temp bung for £20

I guess I could rivet it, I don't really want to drill into the top plate of the intercooler though, and I can't be bothered to take the cooler off, epoxy should be fine for this as there's virtually no weight hanging off the brackets

Edit, thinking about it, I might give rivets a shot, thanks 130tc