1969 exhaust tips

[Jeffrey S.]

Last week I posted that I am trying to repair some deep pits and re-chrome an exhaust tip for my '69. I have a mig welder and have started to weld the pits which seems to work but the welded area shows up on the inside. I would like to try melting lead and filling the areas but I have one concern. Will the lead areas expand and contract with the heat at a different rate than the steel areas and crack or otherwise damage the chrome? I am fairly certain that the tips won't reach the melting point of the lead (625 degrees?) but I don't want to take a chance on ruining new chrome. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Jeff

[Terry M.]

Re: 1969 exhaust tips

Jeff have you talked to your plater? Can he plate over lead without it being visible? I ask only because I am not sure that can be done. I don't know for sure though.

[Jim M.]

Re: 1969 exhaust tips

Jeff, I'm all for trying to do things myself just because I like learning new things however since you are going to take the final repaired tip to the plater, filling in those pits is something he can does easily and won't cost much at all. At least that's the experience I've had when I've taken parts into a plater.

[Steven B.]

Re: 1969 exhaust tips

Jeff, contact Paul's Chrome as they do this type of restoration and can answer your questions.

Good Luck!

Steve

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 exhaust tips

Last week I posted that I am trying to repair some deep pits and re-chrome an exhaust tip for my '69. I have a mig welder and have started to weld the pits which seems to work but the welded area shows up on the inside. I would like to try melting lead and filling the areas but I have one concern. Will the lead areas expand and contract with the heat at a different rate than the steel areas and crack or otherwise damage the chrome? I am fairly certain that the tips won't reach the melting point of the lead (625 degrees?) but I don't want to take a chance on ruining new chrome. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Jeff

Jeff------


I can tell you that you don't have to worry about the exhaust heat melting the lead, irregardless of whether lead is a proper way to repair the tips. If the exhaust tips get anywhere near 625 degrees F at any time, you'll have a LOT bigger problems than whether it melts the lead.

[Jack H.]

Re: 1969 exhaust tips

Platers out here who do chrome on delicate pot metal items (e.g. hood ornaments of early cars), resolve the problem of pitting by stripping the original part back to base metal, then filling the pit with 'appropriate' pot metal. Remember, pot metal is a generic term for anything that melts and stays liquid at rather low temp (retain the melted alloy in a heated 'pot').

Ordinary solder (lead-tin alloy) is pot metal. Cad-zinc alloy is pot metal. Lead-antimony alloy is pot metal. So, when they work on these scarce old items, they identify the composition of its base pot metal and fill the pit with a matching alloy before starting the chrome plating process.

The trick is finding a 'fill' material that will nicely bond to the underlying base metal. Both lead and lead-antimony WILL serve that objective on most steel items.

Then, for chrome plating, it's a matter of getting a good/solid 'strike' plating (initially copper) to uniformly coat the base item before moving on to the nickle and final chrome layers...

It can be done, mon! But, the final finished surface characteristics (invisible fill of underlying pit, flat/uniform chrome, Etc.) depend a LOT on the plater's experience and attention to detail...

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: 1969 exhaust tips

Thanks all for your responses. I will be talking to my plater tomorrow but in the meantime I have been welding the pits and it seems to be coming out beautifully but it is labor intensive.
Jeff

[Greg L.]

Re: 1969 exhaust tips

Have you tried brass? I'm pretty sure it can be plated over and if so, it will be much easier to work with than welding. Check with your plater first just to be sure though.