i was told by my freinds father, a reputable 29 chevy restorer and all around old car guy, that you cant fix potmetal parts. i ask my buddy who is a welder by proffession, and he told me that you can tig weld potmetal if you use the right welding rod. i know nothing.
Some chrome shops also do pot metal repair. Our local place "Spacecoast Plating" in Melbourne, FL does pot metal repairs, but they don't warrantee the chrome plated pot metal parts. I have not yet done pot metal parts with them but their chrome is very good.
If you are any good at welding with a torch at all, or if you can solder with a lower temparature torch you can repair pot metal yourself using Alladin 3 in one rod. http://www.aladdin3in1.com/
Welco part # 5260 zinc alloy rod. This is an old label, # might have been updated. It comes in 1/8" X 18" stick. Grind a V and heat very carefully with a small tip in torch. The die cast will absorb a lot of heat & then melt all at once. It does not change color, then BAM, you've got a puddle of zinc on the floor. Very touchy and frustrating, but doable. If it is a mechanical part, like '49 ford 'vert top iron brackets, it will probably break again. Worst problem with welding trim pieces, is during the casting process there is usually porosity and air trapped in the casting. When you heat to melting point the air bubbles to the surface causing more pits. It is best to polish & prep the part for plating and solder the flaws after copper plating.
Jim ,I think there is still a place in yuma colorado . check the directory they have done many parts for me including pot metal with very good results. mark
dont they deliver the mail, get UPS or FedEx out there? muggy weld can work. its the same shit as the aladin and any one of a thousand other names for the stuff, but its a bitch to get the potmetal hot enough to make the alloy rod to flow and yet not turn the part into a puddle of silvery goo on the bench
I could use this also, thanks for the tip. I have a 41 grille with some cracks. Yes, I could UPS this hard to replace part somewhere else, but I have seen UPS destroy much less valuable parts. I'd rather drive there and then pick it up later.
I repair pot metal almost every day I work. I also guarantee the repair; i don't know why a plater wouldn't, honestly. If you want to do the repair yourself, the muggy weld will work, and I know at least I can plate over it succesfully. We bought some of that muggy weld over 10 years ago and still have most of it left. It worked, but the solder-over-copper palte method works too much better to give up for the muggy weld , which can be very fickle. One thing you should never do is use aluminum rod to weld pot metal. I've seen it work, but to get the plating to adhere to both metals is a real PITA, expect to pay up $. Plating aluminum is not a problem, plating pot metal is not a problem, however they each require a very different prep. process; neither works for the other material. I have my ways, in fact just this week I have been working on a pot metal vent window frame that was welded up with aluminm rod in a bad way.
Are they working on your Plymouth License plate light? If it turns out pretty good I may have another that could use some repair.
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