Die cast repair/restoration

[Moparmat2000]

Hi y'all,

I am starting this thread as a way to repair die cast chrome plated parts that you either cannot replace, or cannot afford to replace. Once you do these repairs the part cannot be rechromed it however can be spray plated with spectra chrome, or alsa chrome etc. Basically a spray on silver nitrate with a clearcoat finish.

The part i am going to repair here is reproduced however these taillight housings go as repops for $399 a pair. Now for the guy thats bucks down the method i have works, and will cost you way more time than money. If you got the time, and not the money then this is a way to go. Also if your part is not reproduced and is either slightly dented or severely pitted but can be filled and shaped it can be fixed.

The taillight housing i am using has slight pitting, and typical wear and dull spots on the chrome. I taped off the chrome with aluminum tape prior to a dunk in the blast cabinet to remove all the corrosion from the pitting, as i didnt want to get it spectrachromed just yet, and just wanted to leave it alone and fix the severe pitting. As you can see i have holes where there shouldent be any. Anybody in their right mind would look for better or just buy new, but i am not in my right mind, and cannot seem to find decent used housings. They are either cracked, or bent, or corroded. The good thing is the corroded housings did come with a bonus, perfect crack free lenses.

 

[Moparmat2000]

With the part stripped clean and the corrosion blasted off to clean metal, its time to mix up some JB weld, fill in the defects, sand smooth and apply some epoxy primer

 

[Moparmat2000]

Last but not least i taped off the chrome and applied krylon bright aluminum over the primer, and when dry, i reassembled w new gaskets. Had i sent this part out for silver nitrate plating i would have reworked the chrome areas and epoxy primered these as well, then not bothered with the krylon silver. Now its useable until i either find better ones or decide to pony up the $$$s for new ones.

 

[Big_John]

That really looks good.

I'm really curious about the Spectra Chrome. Have you seen any of it yourself? From what I've read, it all looks good in pictures and not quite as good in person. The biggest gripe I've read about is its lack of longevity.

Don't get me wrong, I'm trying to keep an open mind about it, I would just like to hear some first hand experiences. I have a bunch of diecast grille parts on my '53 that would cost thousands of dollars to rechrome and I would love to be able to do this. So far, I haven't read any first hand, real world experiences.

 

[Moparmat2000]

I have seen samples of it, and it looks good, however its only as good as whoevers behind the equipment applying the base, silver nitrate, and clear. These may end up getting painted body color for that monochromatic look.

 

[live4theking]

Them look just fine to my eyes. I'd be very pleased if I did them and they turned out like that.

Most of the guys in the shop where I work are knuckle busters. They've talked about getting some chrome powder coat, because we've got the equipment to apply it. They haven't tried it yet though.

 

[commando1]

That is a great solution.

 

[Fury440]

A great solution! I've been a long time user and great fan of JB Weld but never considered using it that way. Well done.

 

[Moparmat2000]

A great solution! I've been a long time user and great fan of JB Weld but never considered using it that way. Well done.

During my resto, I converted the manual 3 speed column shift to floor shift also using JB weld. I whacked off the shifter arm nub on the shift collar with a cutoff wheel, cleaned out the grease inside, and ground the diecast slightly concave. Then i took a rotary file and roughened up the hole, then temporarily put aluminum tape on the inside the collar to hold the JB weld in place after i packed it into the hole till it dried. Then i sanded it down and applied a skim coat of evercoat polyester pinhole filler, primer and paint. Results are below.

 

[Big_John]

JB Weld is pretty good stuff.

I used to use something a little better at an old job I had. It was still a two part industrial epoxy, but it had aluminum powder in it. You could get it to flow with a heat gun and then force it to cure with a little more heat. We could machine it, grind it, whatever, within minutes. Amazingly strong too. I haven't found it anywhere since...

 

[Moparmat2000]

The stuff i use is an industrial version of JB weld. Araldite AV/HV 1258. Comes in 2 toothpaste sized tubes. Its liquidy enough that it can be spread with a bondo spreader, or with a razor blade.

 

[Fury440]

Out of curiosity I figured to spend 5 minutes with Google to look into the world of epoxy glues and machinable fillers - Wow, nearly and hour later I can't believe all the truly neat products out there and how the world of "glue" has changed. It used to be a well equipped shop had a tub of hide glue, some white glue, an A and B tube of generic epoxy and if lucky a small vial of super glue that hadn't hardened to a rock.

 

[Moparmat2000]

The other thing i do is keep the tubes of epoxy and JB weld in my shop fridge. It tends to last longer if you keep it cool. Of course you have to thaw it out to room temp to use. This is still much better than having to chuck it out when its only a couple months old after opening it especially in the summer months.

 

[Big_John]

If you ever want a really good super glue, hit a well stocked hobby shop. They will have it in different viscosity. There's a thick gap filling glue that can be real handy.

 

[Moparmat2000]

Found a new product that i could have used on some cracked and bent die cast parts that i ended up throwing away.

Www.muggyweld.com

I think i will order the 1/8" rod small pack, and try it out on some castings that are rough and see how well it does. The good thing is this product can be chromed over.

This is kinda too late to do this to the housing i just repaired, unless i want to sand blast everything back off and weld it up which i dont, however i have another pair that are not pitted, but one is cracked, and the other one is cracked and slightly dented. Both can be repaired this way and sent for rechroming.

 

[Big_John]

I've heard that Muggyweld is OK with some practice. Everything I've read says to not try it first on good parts.

Go to here and do a forum search on the topic.
The H.A.M.B.

The guys on there have tried everything and anything. Lot's of good info in general and I think muggyweld has been discussed quite a bit.