soldering door strikers?

R

Russ B

Well-known member
My cabriolet (68A) has one brass door striker that was severely worn. The repro part, supposedly for Briggs Body cars, has holes on wrong location and is apparently cast iron. So, I decided to try and save my originals.

I built up the face about 1/4" to match the other side. I used silver solder and filed the piece smooth as I built up the thickness.

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It is not perfect, but back close to correct shape. This pic is about midway through the job. It gets ugly as we proceed.

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Looks better now, just sitting in position, still far from perfect.
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Will this sort of repair likely hold up well? I was thinking of having it chrome plated, though the original pieces do not show any evidence of chrome. Will the chrome give it better durability?
 
Solder won't hold up well, but there is a Phosphor bronze rod for pluming that I have used to repair starter contacts and fill in "problems" in brass parts

Chrome is like paint---it's just a coating that relies on what's underneath for stability.
 
Silvabrite 100 is 95% tin, 4% copper, 0.4% silver ---not that much difference in "hardness" than Babbitt.
 
silver solder will never hold up, unless your trying to construct a 400 points car, you have two choices, one is to brase the holes shut on the reproduction and drill the holes in the right position, or go to a metal shop and buy a chunk of brass and use the original as a pattern and make one, brass is very easy to work with, for my self i work just rework the reproduction, the easiest way
 
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If you really want brass, find a local retired machinest who has a small mill, or know someone who does to make new copies for you. Maybe get a few extra for fellow barners.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions and comments. I think I am coming along toward a good solution:
IMG_2805-vi.jpg


the center two pieces are the reproduction strikers, one now with welded up holes and weld added to the bottom edge to bring it up to correct width, then ground and filed back to proper shape. Upon looking closer at the reproduction pieces, I found they were not the porous casting I initially presumed, and I proceeded to weld one up and grind it down. Just need to drill and countersink the holes now.
 
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