Feasability of repairing '70s-era welded-steel luggage rack I've got a '70s Motoconfort (Motobecane) with the original "French randonneur-style" front luggage rack (it looks like a very small porteur rack):



In the photo above, the rack is mounted to the bike frame via a bracket which sits between the front brake and the frame on the brake mounting bolt (highlighted in red). However, this mounting plate has sadly cracked with use:



Although this isn't exactly a "Welding Stack Exchange", perhaps someone here has experience in (trying to) repair this sort of metalwork?-- Is it possible and feasible from an economic and/or usage perspective, and if so, how can it be done? Of course, such a small front rack would never need to carry a truly heavy load, but it should be strong enough to hold a significant amount of weight without bending or breaking (again). It would be a shame to throw it away, since it seems that Motoconfort/Motobecane luggage racks aren't all that common any more.
That looks as though it was chrome plated after it was welded together, which means cleaning it up so you can safely weld it again is going to be tedious. You'll need to clean the chrome off anything that will get hot, and afterwards painting it will not look that great. It would probably be cheaper to build a new rack.

One repair option that occurs to me is to cut a T shaped piece of steel to fit on the bike side of the bracket, bending the bottom of the T out to support the lower part of the rack. Then make a second piece of steel for the other wide, probably rectangular, to actually hold everything in place. Drill holes in both parts to allow the mounting bolt to go through.

If you made that out of ~2mm thick steel, then painted it, you should get another year or so out of the rack. Assuming to can resist the urge to overload it.

A rack like that with one bolt really isn't designed to take much more than a journal and a baguette.