I have several inside door handles and window cranks with fractures. Can these be "fixed" so they can be re-plated?
Thanks, frank
Hi Frank !
I asked a similar question at the platers that I used they told me that pot metal is not the best material to plate and it's worse when it's old ,it also gets brittle with time !
Cheers Tony.
Thank you, Tony. I did not think to ask when the nickel was re-plated on my good hardware. It sounds like my other stuff really has gone to pot!
frank
The only way that pot metal can be fixed is to plate it with copper, then solder it together then re copper it, fine sand it, then plate it. These are the basic steps of repairing pot metal. It is a very timely process an requires a plater to do copper process. rem this is the bacis process and I would cast door handles before repairing old ones much cheaper in long run. Only rare pot metal should be repaired for cost reasons. Good luck Craig
Thanks, Craig. If casting saves a dollar with good results, I'm for that. frank
I remember that '28 and '29 and possibly '30 handles had no steel core and broke easily. Closing a door hard on one of these cars today can result in the 'paddle' end or 'knob' end of the handle breaking off. In 1931 they put a steel in most of the handles on the Plymouths but not all. Now with cracks in these old pot metal handles slamming a door can result in the door handle ,inside or outside, breaking in half. I was in a movie shoot when they called 'Action' and I closed my driver's door,it was hot high summer, and the handle broke off in my hand. You should 'push' the door closed and keep the dovetail and latches well lubed to make the closing easier. The outside door handles on '28/'29 Plymouths are the same as Durants of the same years and the rear tailight bucket and arm are also the same. I believe someone in the Durant club used to recast the outside door handles. Maybe still does.
Good info, OM, thanks. From now on I'll definitely be more gentle when closing and keep latches, etc lubed. frank