Is there a fix for cracks in brass taillights ?

walt jones

walt jones

Senior Member
I recently aquired a tail light at a swap meet. The tail light is the Teacup version made of brass, it will need to be replated. The brass has some small cracks that extend back into the body from the rim. I belive that they have been caused by the brass becoming brittle. FordBarners, does anyone know of a way to fix these cracks and prevent any further cracks from developing? Thanks
 
Yep, use silver solder. If you feel like that is out of your capabilties, find a Music Store that repairs band instruments and see if they will do it for you.

BTW, Ken Ehrenhofer recently authored a nice article in the Model A News if you would like to learn more about this technique of Silver Soldering.

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It has been my experience that it helps to first anneal the brass. Brass does age harden and, although silver soldering without annealing will work, it does a better job to anneal the part first. It also helps to taper the edge of the material to give a stronger joint. Silver solder does copper plate well. Gar Williams
 
Thanks Brent and Gar for your response. Gar mentioned annealing the part before silver soldering. What would be a good process to do this ? I know that annealing is done by heating but for brass how much heat for how long ? Thanks Again
 
I have welded brass. You can gas weld brass with a brass rod without flux just as you would gas weld steel with a steel rod. It would take pretty good skill to weld brass as thin as the tail light body. I personally don't think that it would be worth the trouble or expense. Brass tail lamp bodies are very common. If you need one I think that I have one for a nominal price. If interested send me a personal E mail.
 
Walt:

I place the part on my welding table. After dark, I turn the shop lights off and use a gas welding torch to (slowly) provide the heat. In the dark, you can see the brass just begin to color which is when I stop. If the table is drawing too much heat out of the part, I place it on a piece of plywood. I had to use plywood with a brass cowl band since it is larger than my table.

It has been my experience that the toughest Model A brass part to repair is the brass cowl band used on the '29 Town Sedans and Cabriolets. They become quite brittle from age and are much easier to work with once annealed. Once plated, all the repairs disappear.

Gar Williams
 
14 year old post but have a few additional questions:

Should you drill a small hole at start of crack to stop from propagating?
Should you use narrow die grinder to open up crack for soldering?
How does nickel plating nickel plating take to silver solder?
Like to use original parts within reason, this teacup has 8 fractures, worth the effort?
John
 

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The unit you have is from a 29 four door. I have a couple of the brass units that could be had real cheap. Give me a call if you are interested. 740 658 3495
 
AYooperA said:
14 year old post but have a few additional questions:

Should you drill a small hole at start of crack to stop from propagating?
Should you use narrow die grinder to open up crack for soldering?
How does nickel plating nickel plating take to silver solder?
Like to use original parts within reason, this teacup has 8 fractures, worth the effort?
John
Click to expand...

When I was an electroplater a long time ago, we would use a copper cyanide strike, then a build of acid copper. Into the polishing shop, polish, then nickel, and finally chrome if required. The cyanide copper acts like an etch primer, and the acid copper acts like a high fill primer. Acid copper doesn't adhere to some base metals and will peel of straight away, what we would call an immersion coat. Another first plating process could also be a nickel chloride strike.
 
Purdy Swoft said:
I have welded brass. You can gas weld brass with a brass rod without flux just as you would gas weld steel with a steel rod. It would take pretty good skill to weld brass as thin as the tail light body. I personally don't think that it would be worth the trouble or expense. Brass tail lamp bodies are very common. If you need one I think that I have one for a nominal price. If interested send me a personal E mail.
Click to expand...
You braze brass. Radiators are thin brass and generally repaired with lead solder 350 melt point. Silver Solder is harder and has a higher melting point 850 but still lower than brass 1650.
I have a little oxy/acc torch I use for radiators and other thin fixes.



https://weldfabulous.com/miller-smi...I5YiQGLIf_7OqFyTE1D5Wi0oF46SVCjtCD80u23rhAziV


BTW: You cannot braze brass without flux because flux is essential to remove oxides from the brass surface and prevent new ones from forming during the heating process. Without flux, the brazing filler metal will not be able to bond properly to the brass, resulting in a weak and unreliable joint
 
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