Coley Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Some original aluminum nameplates and trim are good, but the pins are bad.Anyone know how they spotwelded the pins on originally?I have spotwelded pins on steel and stainless steel, but not aluminum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Without seeing the part it's hard to say. It should be possible to TIG them by a pretty experianced TIG guy................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coley Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 On 1955/57 Chevies, (and others) the nameplates, bowtie emblems etc, have spotwelded studs on them.Trying to find out how the factory did them.Any replacement parts that I cast, have them cast right on the back so it is not a problem.Just wondering.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Commodore Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 This ehow article gives some infomation on spotwelding aluminum.How to Spot-Weld Aluminum | eHow.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coley Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Thanks, I guess I will have to experiment with it a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Bond Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I just happen to have someone here at home to can add some info - our son is visiting from the Coast Guard (we forced him to come with us to the show in Melborne Fla last weekend). Anyway, he has plenty of welding backgound so I'll let him borrow the keyboard for a few mns-Terry's son here. Picturing an embossed aluminum plate with studs on the back of it that need to be replaced, I'd recommend steering clear of any welding process. Due to the thermal qualities of Al. you'll need enough heat input for the weld that anything on the other side of the plate will be severely distorted if not destroyed. Aluminum conducts heat 10x faster than steel, and as such needs a much higher heat input to weld. The downside to this is that pure aluminum melts at 1250 degrees where steel melts at 2600 (give or take for each). That kind of heat input with a much lower melting temp is going to have an adverse effect on any printing or embossing that you want to save on the plate. A much safer bet aultho not correct as far as restoration would be to epoxy the plate in place. As long as the outward facing surface is unblemished no one will be the wiser.Hope this helps a bit. Dad can forward any questions to me if there are any and I'll try to help.Not sue how the original was made - but this seems a reasonable alternative.Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coley Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 Thanks for the info. Much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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