Sill Plate Repair

[Akstraw]

The cast aluminum sill plates on my Detroit Electric project have several deep gouges in them.  Is there anybody out there who can repair such damage?  The worst is just after the word Detroit on the one on the left.

 

Edited May 30, 2020 by Akstraw (see edit history)

[John_Mereness]

My advice is to leave them without repair - clean the sill plates up best you can - a fine wire toothbrush may work in all the corners and I am a fan of mag wheel polish and a lot of elbow grease.  You can perhaps get the soldering iron out and melt some solder into the hole.   If you are going for your Grand National AACA Prize then you probably need to reproduce them, but I would just loose a point or two points and leave them alone for the most part. 

[JFranklin]

I agree they are only original once. Maybe a bit of solder and a Dremel tool could make them acceptable. usually that type of damage is caused by a sagging door or loose nail in the bottom of the door, so check before remounting the sills.

[54vicky]

if you try solder let us know how that did not work being as you said they are aluminum

Edited June 2, 2020 by 54vicky (see edit history)

[JFranklin]

Maybe Muggyweld filler if they actually are AL.

[nickelroadster]

I have had no luck getting old aluminum built up by welding.  The old material seems to have something in it that is not compatible with today's aluminum welding. I would leave them as they are.

[Oregon Desert model 45]

Looks like etched aluminum.  These can be reproduced by making a template of the raised area using a graphic art program and then printed onto a resist material, which is then applied to the aluminim blank, and submerged in acid etch solution.  There are do it yourself videos on u-tube for this process. 

Do some googling to find someone that can make reproductions of your originals.

whatever you do, don't mess with those originals. When those were made, aluminum alloying was in its infancy, and whatever alloy they used is not in use today.

 

[John_Mereness]

Where you have the really bad spot perhaps try some All-Metal to fill the little hole - it is a body filler that has a heavy aluminum content (you could even add aluminum powder or aluminum paint metallic).  

There may also be some sort of miracle product on shelf at Auto Parts Store in the adhesives or filler sections that is a bright silver. 

[jan arnett (2)]

Our local library has a laser etching printer that I am going to try and use for my MOON sill plates.  https://glowforge.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=brand&source=bing&medium=cpc&campaign=Search-Brand_Prospecting-All-Hear-GP&adgroup=glowforge&keyword=glowforge&msclkid=46ab404088ae1d75f7871ea2a355c925  

[Gary_Ash]

Fill the defects and mounting holes with wax (like bees wax) and have a good aluminum foundry use your originals as patterns for a new pair - or two.  Talk to the foundry about what you want to do.  An art foundry may be a good match, rather than a big industrial foundry.  Due to shrinkage during casting, the new parts will be about 5/32" shorter overall than the originals, assuming your parts are about 12" long.  You can dissolve the wax away and still have your original parts undamaged.  If you spot and drill the middle four holes first, you can probably cheat a bit and drill the outer four holes without getting too far off the bosses.  Adding a layer of wax about 0.090" thick to the outer ends of your parts before casting can make up for the shrinkage and make more room for the outer holes.  You'll need to hand polish the tops of the lettering on the new parts using a hard rubber backer for sandpaper and work your way from 50-80 grit to 1200-1500 grit in a number of steps.  Go very easy if you feel you need machine buffing for the recessed areas as the top edges of the lettering will be attacked first..

[MochetVelo]

On 6/11/2020 at 9:11 AM, jan arnett (2) said:

Our local library has a laser etching printer that I am going to try and use for my MOON sill plates.  https://glowforge.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=brand&source=bing&medium=cpc&campaign=Search-Brand_Prospecting-All-Hear-GP&adgroup=glowforge&keyword=glowforge&msclkid=46ab404088ae1d75f7871ea2a355c925  

It would be nice if this machine could engrave brass. They say you can engrave metals if they are "coated," suggesting a material called "Cermark." However, their web site also says: "Unfortunately, soft metals like gold, silver, brass, copper and the like don't cut or engrave well." 

 

 

Phil

 

 

Edited June 14, 2020 by MochetVelo (see edit history)

[Gary_Ash]

Of course, we could always 3D print a new pattern and parts could be cast in aluminum from those...

 

Edited June 16, 2020 by Gary_Ash (see edit history)

[Akstraw]

Wow!  That's pretty cool!