I'm told that the trim on my buick is diecast not potmetal , like I had previously thought. The stuff is not magnetic, and its all pitted and nasty. I want to know what the hell is this stuff made of...aluminum? aluminum alloy? What????
It may be Zamac- used also in toy trains of the 30's for cast wheels, drivers, loco shells, etc. Not the greatest because of impurities. I have identical shells for locomotives where one is in great shape, but the other is twisted, pocked, and otherwise useless.
potmetal is a type of metal (they just throw all the scraps they swept off the floor, into the pot), while die casting is the method used to mold the parts from the metal. The parts are most likely made mostly of zinc. Zinc is not easy to repair, it cracks and breaks, and is very difficult to weld or braze. zamak: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZAMAK
"Diecast" is the process but the alloy is almost always an alloy of zinc. I think Mazac is another name for this stuff. You can make replicas using rubber molds that do not last long (this is how Brookline cars are made using "white metal") but I can't tell you how to do this as I'm not the expert here.
Zinc, huh.... Is there any scrap value in this stuff?? I'm replacing my electra diecast with wildcat stainless.
I am going to say zinc also. And also very little value. The center of pennies are all zinc. So I am guessing some trim would be worth pennies. Someone can certainly correct if I am wrong.
You didn't say what year your Buick is but a friend built a show stopper 54 Buick convertable and we used all Oldsmobile trim from a 55 as it is stainless steel. Even the wing windows can be traded out for stainless if you do a lot of work. Also, 53 Buick head lite rims are stainless and 54's are pot metal. The 53's are 1 1/4 inch shorter in overall height. Even the Olds dash will fit the 54 Buick.
Zinc alloy die casting has been a staple of manufacturing since the process was developed. A great material for duplicating complex designs and surfaces even in large or very small sizes. The pocking and blistering seen in most plated diecast is a result of gasses trapped in the material during the plating process. First a blister appears, then it breaks open and the base material begisn to degrade. Remember this. The stuff has been used for a century or two, and for consumer goods. Not bad if some survives intact and pristine after that period of time since the service life of cars etc. was meant to be 10-15 years, not the near 100 years that Model Ts will be celebrating next year. Ts were introduced in 1908 as 1909 model vehicles.
As many here have said, they are likely zinc. Zinc is what is often referred to as potmetal. Zamac is an aluminum-zinc alloy that is available in several different grades. I'm not sure if it was available when your pieces were cast or not. The blisters you typically see on plated cast parts can be somewhat attributedd to trapped air as another fellow had mentioned. However, it usually takes some pretty high heat to make the trapped air escape and cause blisters. However, blistering is usually a result of galvanic corrosion between the cast part and the plating layers. If the cast part was porous (pin-holes and voids) plating solutions can get tapped and will leach-out over time which only makes the galvanic issue accelerate.
The local scrap yard said $.25 cents a pound.. The car is a 65 electra. Maybe 100 pounds of diecast trim. Oh well.
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