Potmetal repair?

[Charger1973]

What can you do as far as repairing potmetal goes?  Im not a body man but I know this stuff seems to be a pain to find peices that are still in good shape. 

From my experience, the hideaway grilles, front and rear corner trim peices and "boomerang" trim always seem to have some problems.  Brackets break, they get pitted, or they just crack.   What can be done with this stuff if anything?   

[hemihead]

There are companies that offer potmetal repair and I have seen kits to do it yourself.I have also seen guys use solder to fix potmetal.

[Charger1973]

If it is possible to repair something like a corner trim peice that has been pitted, by filling/sanding.  Can it still be rechromed?   

[Ghoste]

It can be done but it is extremely painstaking work to do it properly.  Each pit and a little bit surrounding it must be drilled out like a dentist on a cavity.  Then it is filled in with a special plumbers solder and sanded to to shape.  Takes a LOOOONG time!  And then yes, it can be replated.

[plum500]

There's lots of these types of solutions out there too...http://durafix.com/

I got some stuff locally (not the dura fix), and it worked great once I got the hang of it (air was blue from me cursing) -- stuff is *real* tricky though -- need to get the right spot *just* to melting point so you can bridge gaps, fill holes, etc. I fixed a surround, and once I ground things down -- the repair was seamless, and strong as hell.

But ... given the option for further repairs, I chose to source more parts rather than repair...well, almost, one of the grill pieces I'll be using, I reattached one of the "eyes" for the mounting screw.

I'd be interested to know how to do it with solder -- I tried it straight up and it seemed to bead right off and not stick to anything, but a friend of mine was telling me that's what he uses.

[hemihead]

It's not that difficult to me but I know how to do Lead Body work too so maybe that has something to do with it.