I did a search on here and came up with nada. I have some pot metal part, namely taillight bezels, that are solid, but pitted. I know a chrome shop will repair the pits, but I could probably save myself a few bucks if i did it myself and then had them plated. What is involved in reapiring pot metal? How is it done? I'd love to learn this skill.
'57 Joe, I don't think that you want to try to restore pot metal. It is a very unforgiving metal for the amateur to try and work with. Many times the pitting you see on the surface is just the beginning of the craters that lay under the surface. That is why it is so expensive to get pot metal replated. The work is just so time consuming and there is no room for error. Just my 2 cents worth.
Yeah, I figured that it would be a****** to try to repair, but the taillights I have are a set of '58 Edsel wagon****emblies for my '57 Ford. They're rare and i got em at a real good price. I figure even if I pay big money to have them repaired, i could probably recoup that and then some if i ever decide to sell them. I know it's a******, but how do you do it?
I've never done it, but this is what I've heard. Each pit has to be drilled out individually, this removes the rust/oxidation, whatever, and stops the pit from coming right back. Then each pit has to be filled with solder and filed smooth.
I have used something called Muggy Weld with success. A small torch or a hot enough soldering iron can be used to apply it. http://www.muggyweld.com/potmetal.html
i busted the advance ear off of my orginal aftermarket Bosch Distributor for my T and cried . The who set up is pot metal. i ended up drilling a mounting a new tab. working w/ pot metal*****s. it is very porous and cracks and explodes if not treated well. you need to be really careful, you might want to make a mold out of the bezels if they are unobtanium so you can have them cast if one breaks.
The Muggy weld stuff looks very interesting,watch a couple of the vids. Some practice would be advised but a good idea.
All I can tell you is that I saw some pot metal pieces brought back to life by a master craftsman named "Elrod" at "Polishing Plus" in Maumee, Ohio He cited the Federal and State restrictions bearing down on chromers at the time (maybe 2 years ago), but was trying to stay in business. He didn't think he could. I saw some early-50s Oldsmobile pot metal tailights he brought back that you wouldn't believe. What I'm tryin' to say is -- He's one of us. He charges reasonable prices, so he's probably out of business, but here's a possible ddress -- http://listings.allpages.com/oh-0089748165-maumee.html
I've watched a pro do this, and did a couple articles with him. I'll start and end his references by saying he does concours restoration work for some of the best shops in the country, and has had his parts on several factory Super Stock Mopars and factory light-weight cars, among others. Here's what I learned: First, the piece is sent to the chrome shop and DE-CHROMED. NOT glass bead or sand blasted. Electro-chemically rechromed; the reverse of chrome plating. Then each and every pit is drilled completely through: the chemical reaction that caused the blister in the metal will keep blistering unless it's totally removed. Then the whole thing is sent back out and copper plated. Then each hole is filled with silver soldier. The soldier won't adhere to pot metal, but it will stick to copper. Then each one is ground down. The whole piece is polished, then copper plated again. Then it's chome plated. One vitally important thing: if you get the pot metal too hot while torching in the soldier, it'll melt away. He said it goes from solid to gas in almost no time at all. You don't want to be experimenting on your dear pieces. Find something junky made of pot metal, and experiment to learn its melting point. George Iverson of Iverson Automotive does it, in Minnetonka, MN. And like an idiot, I can't find his number. But do a websearch for him, and it'll come up. The really picky guys on the Buick Club of America forum recently talked about him, and raved about his work. Said he was spendy, but not that much more than other quotes they'd gotten, said he's honest and delivers what and when he says he will, and they were extremely happy with the results. Even though it was spendy, none of them had that raw feeling after. -Brad
I just had my 55 Ply horn ring done by a chrome restoration shop. It was dechromed and treated as in the above method. Took 5 hours of buffing alone, so it cost me near $300NZ!!
Thanks guys. This sounds*********, but I'm up for it. I have an old set of '57 Chevy headlight trims that i can practice on. If it comes out decent, I'll do a tech post on it. This seems to be a lost art, but with the availablity of people who know how to do it so minimal, price to have it done is really high. I'll keep yous posted
Brad54 has the process right. When Best plating was still good, in Newark, I did a few pieces of mine like that, working with the plater is a prerequisite. If you can find a plater that will work with you, give it a shot. If fact, when I did my pieces, I used regular solder, not silver solder. The only problem with that is, if your polisher doesn't know there's solder underneath the last copper strike, he may put too much pressure on the piece when sanding. or polishing, and re-melt the solder. Makes for a wavy repair. Other than that, I have found that Frankford in Philly, does the best repair work in our area. He did the grill for my 46 Chevy...50 Chrysler bars cut down, repaired a few cracks, and a broken off piece, and "perfected" the sheet metal ends I made for the grill. Came out perfect, but pricey! I'm going out there in a few weeks (middle of Nov.) to bring some parts to be plated. If you want me to drop them off for you, give me a shout. Be forewarned...it will take a long time! He's good, but SLOW! Coming to the top-chopping party this weekend?
to remove the chrome needs high amperage and sulphuric acid. The waste, of course, is very controlled. Part of what you pay for when you go to a chrome shop. It takes a lot of attention when stripping pot metal. Let a chrome shop do it. There is a pot metal solder, that can be used directly on pot metal from solder it. Pot metal parts are normally pre-heated to around 160 degrees before soldering. The guy's were almost right on the proceedure, except that it is normally nickeled, brassed or coppered with what is called a strike bath, which normally contains cyanide, before soldering. It's the cyanide that is the problem for pot metal shops. Nothing will stick to chrome, not even chrome. Except overspray, bird***** and tar, that kind of rubbish. solder should be a pure silver solder. You can't plate lead. Don't use '57 parts to practice on. I've got some potmetal pieces you can have if you want to pay shipping. Nothing quite as old.
just as a ballpark figure, how much do you think those Edsel boomerangs woul cost to get repaired and chromed? I'm not looking for a bargain, but a realistic number for quality work. I figured that it would take a long time, which is why I'm trying to get the ball rolling on this now so they'll be ready for January when I'm actually doing the work (I've got plenty of other body work to do to keep me busy in the mean time). Who's top is getting chopped? Wish i could make it, but school works beckons. Mark, Poliher, Brad...thanks for the info, very useful
I worked at a chrome plating shop for a few years, and I tell everyone that asks the same thing. First off, whatever you do to your pieces will most likely only increase the cost of the chrome plating. It takes experience and the proper equipment to prep parts. Let the chromer do your prep work. You cannot effectively strip chrome plating off of your own parts without an electro-strip tank. Sandblasting it will only make it worse. And even if you had it stripped, and then tried to prep the stuff yourself, most chromers won't touch it after you've messed with it, or if they will, they're going to charge you twice what it would have cost, then carefully undo whatever you have done and re-do it in the method they use. We did lots of pot metal repair at the shop I worked at, it was kind of a specialty. Everything was disassembled, electro-stripped, then glass bead blasted clean. As far as drilling out pits goes, after stripping there's going to be some black specks inside each pit, which we called "dead metal" That's what needs to be removed before you can fill the pit, otherwise the pitting is going to come back. Sometimes a good blasting will take it off, if it's on the surface, it could be removed with grinding, I suppose you could drill it out in a certain situation. But you certainly DO NOT want to drill the piece all the way through to remove the dead metal. You'll end up with a swiss cheese of holes that will be nearly impossible to fill properly. Long story short, you ain't gonna save a penny trying to prep this stuff yourself. You're much better off to bring your parts into your plater as-is and have the expert repair them. If you like, give Terry a call at (920)756-3284 and tell him what you got. He does fantastic work and I'm sure he'd be able to explain the process to you.
Ok, a newbie here, and i hope i dont get sacrificed for this question. my 50 olds 4 door potmetal trim pieces and chrome are isound but in rough shape. i was thinking since im not restoring this car but a making it a tail dragger, that i would maybe paint all the trim and pot metal a contrasting color. then if i ever want to restore the car i would have it and then plate it then. my question is this what type of prep can i do on the trim to get the sealer/paint to adhere to it? or am i gonna get killed for thinking such thoughts. i am thinking of doing all exterior chrome in either paint or maybe powder coating it, or even anodizing it. any thoughts? Egg
Anodizing all the trim (properly) will cost as much as, if not more than, replating it. All the same prep work is involved. Powdercoating it will make it very costly to replate in the future, because the plating shop has to strip the powdercoating off, and that can be difficult on fragile pieces and parts that have recesses in them. I personally hate the look of painted trim, always looks cheap to me, and I think many people here have the same opinion. My suggestion to you is this. I bet your stainless trim is still very nice. Keep that just the way it is. French your headlights, taillights, and shave your hood ornaments, trunk trim, door handles, and other non-essential plated pieces. Now, all you have left for trim are the bumpers and the grille. If you can clean up the grille even half-ass decent, keep it, as that's the prettiest part of the car. If it's too rough, watch eBay for a decent one. ****uming your bumpers are rusted to*****, go on eBay or place a wanted ad here on the HAMB for some 50's bumpers with driver-quality chrome on them. Any early 50's bumper could be made to work on your car as long as the width is close. Minor bumper bracket mods will get them mounted to the car. Voila. You now have a smooth custom with respectable chrome. And if you ever do decide to restore the car, you can keep all the unused trim pieces and re-drill the car to make the parts fit again, so you could always go back to stock. Taildraggers look best with chrome on them, or chrome shaved off. Painted stuff looks cheap and there's no reason that you have to have painted trim. Even on a shoestring budget. PS, if you need some skirts for your car, I think I got an extra set around.
the trim isnt that bad (see pics) i was just thinking of something different. a metallic bronze paint job with black trim or even red or yellow, something nobody would normally do. see im not a purist, but im not a ratrodder either, i guess im stuck in my own little limbo world...........
Stainless looks like**** painted. Nothing cheapens the look of the car more. If the trim is that bad, it'd look better to just take it off and fill the holes and go with out it. The thing about stainless is that it can be welded on, and therefore manipulated and customoized with skill and with conventional tools, ie a TIG welder, sander, polisher, and can be straightened. No such luck with pot metal, and when you're talking about rare parts, like a set of 58 Edsel Bermuda taillights, that you can't just order a new set, then you gotta restore em.
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