65-66 Headlight bucket repair?

[AzPete]

My Dad was a pro at welding pot metal. I never developed the touch for it.... He always had a special rod and used an old arc welder. I saw tools he repaired last better than 10 years so I know it can be done.

 

[Tony R]

When I pulled mine apart it had a screw installed like ryanG85 talked about. I haven't tried to fix mine yet but couldn't you TIG weld them. I have TIG welded cast aluminum many times with good results.

 

[daveSanborn]

I believe that TIG welding is your best option.

 

[guruatbol]

I've heard that it don't weld worth a darn, but what about brazing using like a brass rod or even doing some silver soldering to fix 'em? both my headlight buckets have had that piece totally broken off, so I'm stuck with either the jb weld solution or new re-poop pieces.

I got some good ones from ebay for the 67. I found that trying to fix the pot metal was not happening.

I looked into the repops, but then I found some good ones on VMF and they had them on ebay too, so I got them from the ebay add.

Mel

 

[napaguy]

There is alos a product called muggyweld that welds pot metal...expensive though

 

[Dennis Harrelson]

I'm leery of trying to weld; not only is it pot metal, but it's pretty thin, too. Sounds like a good way to ruin what's left. I'm kinda iffy about pop rivets, too, thinking there may be a dissimilar metal reaction between the pot metal and the aluminium rivet. I think I'm gonna make a piece like in the kits, use a few 8-32 bolts and nuts and panel adhesive. I have one extra extension that has the entire thin piece missing, so I can experiment without worrying about ruining it.
Ryan shows the place everyone runs the sheet screw in well; just make sure the screw's short enough that it doesn't go up through the top of the fender

 

[jims6t6]

Ryan and others,
The mans name is Harland Lippold and his business is horse heaven. His email adress is HorseHeavn@aol.com

He can be slow but will get back to you via email. He should be able to give you a more thorough description of what they do.

I also got to thinking that sluggo should have something to add to this being that hes a body guy and has probably faaced this before. HTH

If anyone can do it Harland can.

 

[Indycanard]

I bought repops for my 65 Conv (from NPD). Absolute crap fit for both. By the time I slotted the attach holes (wallered-out for you mid-Westerners) to get the buckets aligned with my fenders, very little metal remained around a couple of the holes. In the end they did fit, but I had to use washers and other tricks to make it look descent.

 

[janschutz]

Anyone know the quality of the 67-68 buckets? I need a passenger side.

 

[daveSanborn]

I have a set of '68 OE fenders complete with buckets up in the attic of the shop.

I hate going up in the attic though.... access is through a pull-down.

Fortunately for you, our Christmas tree is sitting in the shop waiting to go back up in the attic storage. When I store the xmas tree I'll checkout that fender and bucket for you. Anything else you need? Grille? Grille surrounds? Pretty sure they're all up there.

 

[Sluggo]

I used panel bond on a couple of cracks in my headlight buckets. It worked very well and can be sanded smooth.

I've also used it to glue side scoops on a 67. Awesome results. Two years out and no cracks.

 

[daveSanborn]

All of this talk of "fixing cars" finally got me off my butt. I fired up the heat in the shop this morning and decided to once again attempt to align my headlight doors/buckets. Both of my buckets are broken in the (typical) top inboard area.

Not wanting to get too involved (NFL gametime was 1PM), I decided to try the "screw trick". After removing both buckets to finally install the new headlight adjuster screws/anchors (they've been sitting on my workbench for almost 2 years), I got the buckets back in place, drilled a hole and then inserted a screw. I am very happy with the results and it took me only an hour or so.


Notice that the inboard edge of the headlight door is much lower than the leading edge of the fender. The driver's side has always been worse than the passenger side, so I only took photo's of this side.

Before......

Hole drilled and screw installed......

After photo. The fit is not "perfect", but it's pretty darn close as the door fits a helluva lot better than it ever did before.

 

[RyanG85]

Good write up Dave! Visuals appreciated as well! bj

I should be fitting my buckets this week and that is my plan for dealing with the cracks.

 

[LiLRdWgn]

I bought repops for my 65 Conv (from NPD). Absolute crap fit for both. By the time I slotted the attach holes (wallered-out for you mid-Westerners) to get the buckets aligned with my fenders, very little metal remained around a couple of the holes. In the end they did fit, but I had to use washers and other tricks to make it look descent.

Hello Indycanard, Us southern boys also call it wallered-out, LOL, be it with a drill bit or a torch, being a farm boy you do what it takes, baling wire works too, LOL. I had to repair both of the buckets on my 66. And I used the repair patches with JB weld stuff, they came out good. They were both the original buckets and they never did line up with the fenders like I thought they should, so out came the drill and bits. I just keep stepping up until I got was a good fit. Off and on a dozen times. And yes it takes washers and other tricks. You have a Good Day.

 

[Tims65]

Tagging for future reference.

Tim