AlanT Posted July 17, 2013 Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 Its too hot for heavy work like fitting gearboxes, so I looked for a nice easy job that can be done outside on my terrace, under the shade of a tree. The DPO had a habit of dropping the Surrey frame onto the alloy screen-capping and there were loads of dents around the two fixing holes. It had also met with a nasty accident of the denting kind right in the middle. Ages back I had my plating man strip off the anodise. The dents are almost harder to photograph than remove but the first pic shows the kind of thing. http://flickr.com/gp/90670218@N04/Z1e7f5/ I've had a bit of a go taking these out before stripping the anodise but now I decided to finish this off. Pic 2 shows the same area after I have worked it. From here I have three choices: 1. leave as is 2. chrome paint 3. bright anodise Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Harvey Posted July 17, 2013 Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 4. do mine please Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AlanT Posted July 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 I used nothing special and its not difficult. Except of course I have been working metal for 50 years. You have to hit it of course. But almost never with steel. Done with a few offcuts of nylon and a nylon-faced hammer. Small dings come out with a ring-file but you need to borrow a bit from the back face sometimes. 180 grit on a rubber-block to flat, 400 grit free-hand, used wet, to smooth. And my secret weapon in a hand-drill to finish. Oh and a Noga for the edges. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted July 18, 2013 Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 4. do mine please You dont need it, yours is better than about 95% of them out there anyway Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TRnorm Posted July 20, 2013 Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 Really inspirational Alan. I thought mine would be OK, at least for a while, but now I fear its another job to add to my endless re-build. My vote would be to bright anodize - think of the protection. Norman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AlanT Posted July 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 Thanks for your reply Norman. Often I post stuff like this on here and get 1000 views and no replies. They are a shy lot out there. I spent two pleasant afternoons messing with this capping which looked a bit wrecked before I started. Cost was virtually nothing. Got to be one of the quickest and biggest improvements I've done. I have a spare Tr4 one and will prep this up and try the bright anodise. i am a bit sceptical about this process. Chemical processes on aluminium are OK when the metal is new. Not so sure about old stuff. I originally intended to get this chrome-painted. This should give good protection but will make the item harder to maintain. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted July 20, 2013 Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 Hi Al, in a most pleasant way, replying to you is liking teaching granny to suck eggs - your ability and experience speaks volumes. I spoke to a big anodising concern down here in West London and they were not too enthusiastic about re-doing any anodising if there was any corrosion present. Apparently the acids required would attack the corroded areas to vigouroously. Not sure if any corroded areas could be cut out and weld repaired. Would the anodising make the r5epaired area stand out. The TR4A grille often corrodes badly around the botton of the indicator, which is out of sight. so probably would work. All of the capping is visible so any repairs need to be carefully thought about. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AlanT Posted July 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 Thanks for that Roger. i feel the same way about you. The info from the platers is pretty much what I thought. That why I had planned to do the chrome-paint thing. You can then fill or weld or whatever you like. Good grilles made £500 each recently. So painting tatty ones seems to be the future. I'll be trying this shortly. I have a few, including some wreckers to experiment with. MY LAST WEEK WORKING NEXT WEEK!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
peejay4A Posted July 20, 2013 Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 (edited) I had both my screen capping and grille powder coated. They're holding up nicely but the finish will crack if it flexes. Edited July 20, 2013 by peejay4A Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mjdearing Posted July 20, 2013 Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 Hi all i found a as new one many years ago on a autojumble stand at the peterborough IWE its solid brass chromed i dont know if its UK or USA or what its really, was it a test piece ? its certainly a perfect pressing/fit but never seen one like it anyone else. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted July 20, 2013 Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 Hi all i found a as new one many years ago on a autojumble stand at the peterborough IWE its solid brass chromed i dont know if its UK or USA or what its really, was it a test piece ? its certainly a perfect pressing/fit but never seen one like it anyone else. Very early TR4`s had chrome on brass cappings and windscreen/surrey window inserts as well. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TRnorm Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 Fascinating thread, but don't really understand the chrome paint option. Please enlighten, someone? Thanks. Norman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AlanT Posted July 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 (edited) This place is near me but others do this. http://www.kustomkoating.co.uk/ This option has become more readily available in recent years. If anyone wants to encourage me I will photo the fantastically complex equipment I used to get the dents out and resurface this. Edited July 21, 2013 by AlanT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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