Old Fashioned Metalworking - Not in the USA

[Scottl]

There's just so much you can replace on a vehicle before it's ready for the junk yard.
Start video at the 2:30 mark.

Customer States: No! “Towed in and Towed Out” Compilation - YouTube

Enjoy!

Well, don't tell that to the Cubans. They have a lot of 1950s vintage USA made cars that are still running although so many odd parts have been substituted that mechanically they little resemble what was originally built. An article I read said most of them are now running used Korean made 4 cylinder engines that Castro made a bulk deal on years ago.

Technically, if you are willing to patch, weld, adapt and improvise you can keep a vehicle going virtually forever, especially with older simpler models.

 

[ratbldr427]

When I came to Jax in 65 I worked at a Chevy dealer. One of their side businesses was exporting parts to South America thru Miami. The SA's could only buy parts from a GM dealer. We sold a lot of trim parts and just about any thing for early Chev's until they went obsolete. I think the deal was 5% mark up.
I think that a new Chevy in SA at the time was about 8-9k, stateside less than 3k.

There were still a lot of old time body men that used lead. Watching one of them work lead I believe they were faster than 90% of the "bondo bandits". Of course they knew well how to use a vixen file and that's what they called them. I still have several.

 

[john.k]

I worked with a guy who had a mega rusty Toyota Landcruiser......every weekend on the beach ,and four weeks holidays.....all on the beach......one day the cops pulled him over and issued a defect notice that cancelled the rego......the guy simply wrote himself another Roadworthy Certificate and re registered the truck same day.........anyhoo,one day I saw him going out over the deep gutter in front of my shed,and the thing looked like it was about to break in half......which it did a few yards down the street......back into the yard with my forklift,he bought another Landcruiser ,swapped the plates,and back on the beach Friday afternoon.

 

[moonlight machine]

I was watching a video of some crushers and shredders making usable scrap out of everything from cell phones to whole cars and after it was done this video came up of a rim repair shop that was obviously not in the USA.

Pretty amazing the conundrum of watching shredders in the USA shredding what looked to be good aluminum auto wheels and then seeing the lengths that people will go through in some places to save a smashed wheel.

I could understand it if it was some rare Ferrari wheel but this wheel that they fixed didn't look like anything special. Maybe it was military grade aluminum allory.

Also of note was the confidence that the repair guy had in his repair. When he put a tire on and aired it up he kneeled right in front of it. I'm pretty sure that I'd be at least standing alongside of it if not back by the compressor turning the air valve on.

Hopefully a metal working thread will be OK in this section.

Amazing Technique of Repairing Broken Allory Rim | Restoration Old Alloy Rim of Car - YouTube

"Repaired" you betcha, Dead soft, totally annealed by all the heating and welding,

 

[Scottl]

When I came to Jax in 65 I worked at a Chevy dealer. One of their side businesses was exporting parts to South America thru Miami. The SA's could only buy parts from a GM dealer. We sold a lot of trim parts and just about any thing for early Chev's until they went obsolete. I think the deal was 5% mark up.
I think that a new Chevy in SA at the time was about 8-9k, stateside less than 3k.

There were still a lot of old time body men that used lead. Watching one of them work lead I believe they were faster than 90% of the "bondo bandits". Of course they knew well how to use a vixen file and that's what they called them. I still have several.

The factory used to use body solder (lead) on things like the seam where the roof met the side panels. Lasted for the life of the car.

One advantage of lead vs bondo is speed. No cure time, just time to cool. For a lasting job Bondo needs time for solvents to evaporate before paint and that takes longer than the cure time. I've done some minor leading on motorcycle parts and once painted you'd never know it's there where Bondo sometimes shows stress cracks after a few years.

 

[latheman78]

The factory used to use body solder (lead) on things like the seam where the roof met the side panels. Lasted for the life of the car.

One advantage of lead vs bondo is speed. No cure time, just time to cool. For a lasting job Bondo needs time for solvents to evaporate before paint and that takes longer than the cure time. I've done some minor leading on motorcycle parts and once painted you'd never know it's there where Bondo sometimes shows stress cracks after a few years.

When did they stop using lead on seams, I know they still used it in the 70's, no idea later on, those were the "newest" cars I did bodywork on.

 

[Thunderjet]

When did they stop using lead on seams, I know they still used it in the 70's, no idea later on, those were the "newest" cars I did bodywork on.

I'm pretty sure the go to method now is U.V. cured resin.

I have a good friend that is the final inspection dude for a high end repair shop in Overland Park Ks. Lots of REALLY expensive cars that need repairs. We're talking Maserati, Lombos, Porches, Ferraris, Astons and the like.

He's constantly telling me about the amount of bonded materials, and Glue that's used in the construction of these very expensive cars. From door panels that you have to destroy to access the inside mechanisms, to bumpers that are throw away items with the smallest incidental parking lot contact.

Some of them are carbon fiber chassis/tub construction, where you need a factory tech to inspect your repairs before it's deemed drivable.

 

[Scottl]

When did they stop using lead on seams, I know they still used it in the 70's, no idea later on, those were the "newest" cars I did bodywork on.

Not sure exactly when but they switched to polymer seam sealers at least by the early 80s if not sooner.

 

[yoyike]

I was watching a video of some crushers and shredders making usable scrap out of everything from cell phones to whole cars and after it was done this video came up of a rim repair shop that was obviously not in the USA.

Pretty amazing the conundrum of watching shredders in the USA shredding what looked to be good aluminum auto wheels and then seeing the lengths that people will go through in some places to save a smashed wheel.

I could understand it if it was some rare Ferrari wheel but this wheel that they fixed didn't look like anything special. Maybe it was military grade aluminum allory.

Also of note was the confidence that the repair guy had in his repair. When he put a tire on and aired it up he kneeled right in front of it. I'm pretty sure that I'd be at least standing alongside of it if not back by the compressor turning the air valve on.

Hopefully a metal working thread will be OK in this section.

Amazing Technique of Repairing Broken Allory Rim | Restoration Old Alloy Rim of Car - YouTube

Now vacuum welding, more suitable for Ferrari's contour production, he guarantees tightness

 

[DDoug]

Now vacuum welding, more suitable for Ferrari's contour production, he guarantees tightness

I like spam from a can, not from a forum.

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

Next time you buy some cheap brake drums, think of this vid, and check country of origin.....

 

[yoyike]

I like spam from cans, not from forums.

I don't understand what this means

 

[yoyike]

I like spam from a can, not from a forum.

I don't understand what this means

 

[john.k]

Its a quote from Lao Tse......"the journey of a thousand miles starts with a can of spam."

 

[Milland]

Skylar Roberts spam reported.​