Need a lesson in pot metal/// Now with the after pictures !

[Tropicalcats]

I need a lesson in pot metal.
What is pot metal?
How easiliy is it repaired?
Is it repaired and Chromed like a bumper?

I have my tailight and back up light bezel stripped down but need some repair and than need to have them re-chromed. I have some pitting in the bezels and some cracks along with the need to be straightened
Does anybody have experience with someone who can do the repairs and get me a good quality finish?

[Wang]

richard, first of all,, have you looked into the repops from www.pgclassic.com? I know nothing of this company, but they do offer them.
Second, I do know a guy in Grafton Oh. that does this type of work, problem is ...IT ISNT cheap!!  Your parts have to be copper plated
and sanded (kinda like bondo) to fill in the pits.  It is alot of work, I actually did it once myself. After you have the pits all filled in, then
it's off to the plater for chrome.

Maybe consider tht guy that guy that sells the billet bezels.. around 800-900 for the set, but they are VERY sharp. I have seen these myself,
and can say they are top notch.

[Chryco Psycho]

I have a local guy that can repair it , again Not cheap though
 I bought a set of Billet repalcements for my car they are far stronger & more durable than pot metal
 Pot metal / die cast is just a cheap alum alloy , it is very cheap to buy & poor quality & hard to repair

[Tropicalcats]

richard, first of all,, have you looked into the repops from www.pgclassic.com? I know nothing of this company, but they do offer them.
Second, I do know a guy in Grafton Oh. that does this type of work, problem is ...IT ISNT cheap!!  Your parts have to be copper plated
and sanded (kinda like bondo) to fill in the pits.  It is alot of work, I actually did it once myself. After you have the pits all filled in, then
it's off to the plater for chrome.

Maybe consider tht guy that guy that sells the billet bezels.. around 800-900 for the set, but they are VERY sharp. I have seen these myself,
and can say they are top notch.

Dwayne.

If you could forward the guys contact info and I'll see what he can do for me. I would like to see it kept original if I could so I'll first get a price on the repairs and see how ai feel after that.

I have a local guy that can repair it , again Not cheap though
 I bought a set of Billet repalcements for my car they are far stronger & more durable than pot metal
 Pot metal / die cast is just a cheap alum alloy , it is very cheap to buy & poor quality & hard to repair

CP

 I would also appreciate if you could get me the info on the guy that you know of and I can compare. The Billet replacements sound good and I might end up going that route but want to check out the original route first.

Thanks

[Killer_Mopar]

richard, first of all,, have you looked into the repops from www.pgclassic.com? I know nothing of this company, but they do offer them.
Second, I do know a guy in Grafton Oh. that does this type of work, problem is ...IT ISNT cheap!! 

I am pretty sure I know what guy he is talking about in Grafton. I went up there to get an estimate on a bumper, bumperettes, and a passenger tail light bezel and he quoted me 1200......800 for the bumper, 200 for the bumpettes, and 200 for the bezel. The guy does amazing work....Im talking about the level of riddler award rods and custom bikes, but I didnt need anything like that for my car so I didnt bother. I recommend buying reproductions.....

[Tropicalcats]

i know repops would be the less expensive way to go but I want the car to be as original as I can get it and so far I have not needed to go down the reproduction road.


Do you have a name of this guys place?

[Chryco Psycho]

the guys name is Dave Stark@ westresto@telus.net or 403-617-3770

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Pot metal stinks. Unfortunately, that's what Chrysler used.  I bought after-market rear tailight bezels from a guy in Florida doing it on his own. Awesome stuff.    At least I know I won't have to worry about it pitting on me.    Let me know if you want contact info.



  Mike

[Lunchbox]

I had Pauls Chrome fix my originals. It wasn't cheap either. I don't have the figures in front of my but the total was around $1000. One of the bezels was less pitted then the other two (the other two were pretty bad looked like a teenager on prom night) and that made a $100 bucks different in the price. It was nice work and I wish I had know about the billet ones.

PG Classics has the Repops and I'm glad they are doing what they are doing from the community but they tend to have shody customer service if you read some of the ebay feedback threads.

[Tropicalcats]

Pot metal stinks. Unfortunately, that's what Chrysler used.  I bought after-market rear tailight bezels from a guy in Florida doing it on his own. Awesome stuff.    At least I know I won't have to worry about it pitting on me.    Let me know if you want contact info.



  Mike

 Mike

pass along the info  if you would and I'll check it out.

are theses the billet ones?

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Mike

pass along the info  if you would and I'll check it out.

are theses the billet ones?

Richard,

  This was about 5 years ago that I bought my tail light bezels. This guy also started reproducing the side marker bezels for 70-71 Challengers. I know I paid less than $1000 for the tail light bezels, but I really don't recall the price now. He is a machinist that spent over 100 hours in programming to get the bezels correct. He wanted to sell to Year One, but they wanted most of the pie.  Yes, they are billet. The guys name is David Seward. The last E-mail address I have for him is  TWOBLUEVETTES@aol.com



  Mike

[Tropicalcats]

I talked with this guy yesterday and he sure knows about pot metal. Anybody ever used his services?

http://www.iversonautomotive.com/index.html

[72hemi]

Pot metal is a real pain in the butt. I have done a lot of business with PG Classic in the last year while doing the restoration on my 71 and have had nothing but good dealings with them. My only complaint is it took a little longer for things to show up, probably because it was around the holidays and they are in Canada. I will continue to do business with them in the future. You might also try www.beaparts.com they are a new company and are releasing some really awesome parts. I just went to their web site and they have the 70 tail light chrome for $488.00 complete set. From talking to them Mopar has been ordering parts from them to put in the 2007 Mopar Authentic Parts catelog.

[MJS73]

Your parts have to be copper plated and sanded (kinda like bondo) to fill in the pits

When you copper-plate something it grows in size and you might find that it no longer fits in the opening.

Mike

[PLUM 70]

Does anyone know how if Dave Seward is still around?