History The Science behind winning Pebble Beach

I met a judge on the lawn last year that was having a problem finding vintage German Silver. He needed to repair the trim of a 1928 Mercedes 680S Mercedes. We obtained a sample of the metal and in our lab had a formula. Our first attempt was to cast a bar of metal to repair the trim on the car that had previously been repaired with the wrong metal. It was difficult to get he custom metal cast. The foundry was set up for short run but not 5 Lb ingots. After a 3 month wait we had the first pour. What the client needed was sheet material. After much more resarch the proper alloy was found it was on a 10 to roll and getting a small sheet cut was going to take much more time. I had to pull favors with people to get it to happen and the line had to be stopped to get what was to these people a trimming. With the proper metal in hand in March the metal was sent to the shop to get down to work. We at the Hub society and Macs lab are committed to Passing on the science of Vintage cars and are in the process of building a 1935 indy car to give rides to youth and get them involved in our hobby. Please feel free to check us out. I will be updating our website in the next week. James Long (530)575-1616

 

Sounds perfect. Can you smelt me some '51 Merc elephant ears?

 

Hmmm, '35?

Are you doing a Miller-Ford (please, please, please)?

Sounds like a great plan- looking forward to hearing more!

 

Nice work. This shows how serious some people are about winning trophys.

 

James
I recently had to make parts from German Silver for a Rolls Royce radiator. The material was difficult to get. I was told it was about $100 a sq in. not sure if that's accurate, but it made me sweat. On a different car, but one I worked on just took 2nd place in it's class at Pebble Beach.

J. Clear

 

Interesting. Will check out your venture.
All the best,
Dale
Cleveland OH

 

I use old tags and roofing pitch to repair rusted floorboards.

 

What Is German Silver ?

The name German silver or nickel silver is misleading since it has no silver con­tent, but is an alloy of 60 per cent copper, 20 per cent nickel and 20 per cent zinc. It resembles silver but instead of the soft white colour it has a yellow-grey tinge.

German silver is used exten­sively in the hollow-ware and flatware industries as E.P.N.S. (electro-plated nickel silver), which is a nickel silver item with a plating of silver. Nickel silver is slightly more difficult to work for jewelry purpose, than copper and other metals, since it is a harder alloy. Again it is prone to tarnish on exposure to air and will turn the skin green with prolonged contact.
​

 

On my Impala I had a trim peice around the headlights I could not find. What I used to fix the one I had was JB Weld, it set me back $4.87 then had it powder coated a metalic silver.

 

Other than the fact that the high brows at pebble beach have recently allowed a few rods and race cars I don't see that the lab or restoration services have much relevance to this particular board.

The true science to winning at Pebble Beach is like the science of winning Top Fuel, if you through enough money at it you will win.

 

So, you got any pics of the 680S Merc doing burnouts for the crowd?
Please, please, please?
I'd like to see that!!!!

 

FWIW:

German Silver, as noted, isn't silver (thanks nickleone, for the info. ). One place it is used in sheet form (& sometimes wire form), is in replicating, or on occasion - restoring, flintlock & caplock firearms.

I never looked for bar form (to make trigger guards), or for home casting. That too, should be out there. Now, I'm curious...

A couple of places it can be found at:

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Search.aspx?search=german silver sheet

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/advanc...2c0c17c0&keywords=german+silver+sheet&x=5&y=8

I'd guess some really decent hobby shops would carry it also.

Marcus...

 

Ha we drove a boat tail speedster from Burlingame down in the early '80s and they were not going to let the owner show because the owner drove it in. I didn't see the problem I was following with the truck and trailer. I think things have lightened up a bit since then.

You don't drive Pebble Beach contenders you look at them and polish them.

 

If one wanted to obtain a quantity of German(or nickel)silver,all they would have to do is contact one of the many companies who make knifemaking supplies. It is still widely used in making bolsters(the end caps of a pocket knife)and guards for fixed blade knives. I don't think the judges at Pebble Beach use a mass spectrometer to analyze the metal content of trim pieces on vintage cars YET.

 

while the info on German silver is interesting , it probably won't apply to me

but i would like to know more about the 1935 Indy car

 

Guess I'm glad someone is doing it, but find it hard to take thse rich bufoons too seriously. Certainly aren't hands on hotrodders.

 

now that's funny..

 

I go broke looking at Tracks catalog. I used to live 10 minutes from their old store

 

James,

I gotta say, your post is lacking any real detailed context. Your one sentence statement of meeting a judge who was looking for a material didn't really lend itself to opening a thread. Maybe a couple photos of what you're talking about... or maybe better descriptions of what it is your talking about would have been better. It seems the replies have given more info then you had. It seems you have a lot to share. Don't stop.

As for all the Hamb snobbery about Pebble Beach guys... You guys are the new gold chainers... hahahaha! The guy could have just swapped in an incorrect metal, but he went factory (and period) correct. I would have thought Hambers would have appreciated that. Go figure!

 

This one does Hyfire but there is a cadre here that thinks you can't be a serous traditional hot rodder if you let anyone you have more than two quarters in your pocket to rub together or if you don't show show disdain for anything that they don't consider to be "serious" hot rod material.
Learning that someone will take the time and effort to come up with the correct metal to repair someone else's car to perfect shape is uplifting. That might come in handy when a guy finds an instrument cluster of dash panel out of some rare exotic car that would be perfect for his rod if it wasn't for that damaged rim on a gauge or damage on the instrument panel.

 

Wow. You are really insecure. Have you actually been to this event? Also, are you aware that proceeds of this high ticket price are given to charity? Not just personal pet charities, but really good ones.
If rich people want to invest money in the auto hobby, preserve automotive heritage, support restorers, encourage their kids into old cars AND support needy people with charity events at the same time... who does that hurt? Really?

 

well then..

 

Wow. What's with the disdain for people that have the means to do whatever they want? Did they piss in your Cheerios or something?

There are people living in cardboard boxes that can't afford a meal, let alone spend thousands on hot rods. They feel that WE are rich. What do you say to THEM?

Bizarre thread. Quite the opposite of the Pebble Beach Photo thread in this forum!

 

Pebble Beach is a "Bucket List" goal for me, I'd really like to walk around the finest restored cars in the country. Cars that were restored by owners that emploied hundereds maybe THOUSANDS of people who were able to feed their family and pay their bills for a few years. It would make for an interesting thread to know how many HAMB members like myself that have worked on a "Pebble Beach" restoration. It was the highlight or my restoration days. Bob

 

When was the last time anyone got a job from someone that makes less than they do? Fix the guys car, house, whatever, thank him/her, take the money and go to the next job. Bob

 

C.F, I work harder.......take more risks......I invest......I make more money.....I also think you're pretty funny.....

 

German silver should be fairly easy to find. It's used in mid to upper end French horns made in Elkhart Indiana by Conn.

 

Amazing, the Op didn't drop any names or blast anyone. If this thread had been about Leno looking for the correct material to fix a piece of trim everyone would have been calling him a hero. I certainly can't afford to do a car like a PB car, but appreciate the effort of those that can afford it and pull it off by winning. Thanks for the education, I was never sure what german silver was.

 

Also, Grey Poopon very seldom contains real Poop, AND is NOT really Grey!