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praisethelowered
10-24-2003, 10:06 PM
I have a fulton visor(yeah I know you all hate visors. . but it is for a lowrider 54 chevy not a 65 galaxie)that has trim on the front edge and side brackets (dogbones) that are chrome plated and pitted. everything else appears to be aluminum, but since the cast pieces are pitting does that mean they are pot metal? is there such a thing as chromed aluminum anyway? and if there is would it pitt or just peel when it gets old?

how can i identify the metal here?
Tackett
10-24-2003, 10:26 PM
Yes, you can chrome aluminum. Lots of high-buck wheels are chromed aluminum.

Like the 22's on my Escalade...

Don't worry, it's trad. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
praisethelowered
10-24-2003, 10:30 PM
trad escalade? you mean no spinners?
praisethelowered
10-25-2003, 02:17 AM
real car question BTTT-

does it help if I tell you all that i am a 16 year old and this is my first car? and i'm tryin' real hard? i can pretend to be a girl if it helps

no really, is there a way to tell the diff between pot metal, aluminum. or zinc? please help me out smarter-than-me-guys
McGrath
10-25-2003, 02:38 AM
No, it doesn't help. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I can tell them apart by looking, but potmetal and cast aluminum look pretty close.Pot metal usually has some dull rainbow looking colors to it if its not corroded up, where cast aluminum usually looks just like aluminum in color, but with a sandy looking finish.

Plating over the top of it will make it hard to tell.aluminum oxide is white, while the corrosion of Pot Metal is usually a darker Gray with deep pitting.
Detonator
10-25-2003, 02:39 AM
use a magnet.
McGrath
10-25-2003, 02:44 AM
And as far as I know, Potmetal has Zinc in it.
RPW
10-25-2003, 02:59 AM
Its very uncommon with cromed aluminum from a manufacturer of of car parts. If they are real pitted you can assume that its pot metal, a great deal of the cromed car parts in the 50īs was that.
praisethelowered
10-25-2003, 12:40 PM
thanks-

it is pitted so i'll assume its potmetal. thats bad news b/c if it was aluminum i was just going to polish it. I looked through the ARCHIVES and restoring potmetal looks not fun. off to buy solder. . .
porknbeaner
10-25-2003, 12:54 PM
[ QUOTE ]
I have a fulton visor(yeah I know you all hate visors. . but it is for a lowrider 54 chevy not a 65 galaxie)that has trim on the front edge and side brackets (dogbones) that are chrome plated and pitted.

how can i identify the metal here?

[/ QUOTE ]

in the right neighborhood a visor on a Galaxie might be DA S..t. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If its pitted and the pits look like crators its most likely pot metal, that and it was the most popular metal to use way back when. Fill the pits file the devil out of it and send it to the platers.
CharlieLed
10-25-2003, 05:46 PM
[ QUOTE ]
thanks-
it is pitted so i'll assume its potmetal. thats bad news b/c if it was aluminum i was just going to polish it.

[/ QUOTE ]
What difference does it make if it's aluminum or pot metal, if you intend to polish it, then polish it. Pits in aluminum will show up just as much as pits in pot metal. Did you think that you could polish out pits in aluminum and not in pot metal? Pot metal looks beautiful when polished, and if you use Zoops or some other technique to preserve the polished finish, it will last a long time.
praisethelowered
10-25-2003, 06:19 PM
[ QUOTE ]
What difference does it make if it's aluminum or pot metal, if you intend to polish it, then polish it. Pits in aluminum will show up just as much as pits in pot metal. Did you think that you could polish out pits in aluminum and not in pot metal? Pot metal looks beautiful when polished, and if you use Zoops or some other technique to preserve the polished finish, it will last a long time.

[/ QUOTE ]

cool you just saved a bunch of time and $- i figured pot metal wouldn't polish up like aluminum- don't know why.the pits aren't deep so i plan to just reshape the parts a hair smaller and remove enough material to take out the pits and polish it back up. does zoops seal really work? i've heard mixed reviews.
CharlieLed
10-25-2003, 07:05 PM
Zoops isn't cheap but the reports I have seen on it are very favorable. Most times that I have seen negatives on a product are when the directions aren't followed. Zoops seems to have gone out of their way to do scientific testing on their product (which works for many other metals, not just aluminum), I can't say that I have first hand experience with it, but it is on my list to use as soon as my suspension parts are polished and ready to install. Good luck with your visor, post some pics...