I took my TR3 to a restoration shop a year ago and the owner lets me go over
every weekend to work on the car - I pay him for his time and materials and I
learn as I go. I asked him about this issue, so these comments are from a
professional:
- he's never heard of lead-free solder bodywork
- he says he never uses lead and doesn't know of anyone who does these days
- unlike filler, lead will not absorb water, but water will get in and rust
will eventually return
- the best remedy is to weld in a new patch
If a patch is not possible there is a gadget called a scatter-gun which fires
molten metal on to a surface. It is used when there is considerable pitting
and the surface is to be re-chromed. Hope this helps.
Andrew Uprichard
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Randall" <tr3driver@ca.rr.com>
> > Does anyone know if tin/copper lead free solder on a
> > roll (plumbing) with
> > no flux core is the same that is sold as lead free body
> > solder?
>
> I don't know (didn't even know there was such a thing as lead-free body
> solder), but I would be very surprised if it was the same. Ordinary body
> lead is a special alloy with a large plastic range (where it's not quite
> solid and not quite liquid) to facilitate working it into shape. Plumbing
> (and electronic) solder are generally alloys designed to harden quickly once
> heat is removed (to reduce chances of movement during the cooling process
> causing a "cold" joint that can fail later).
>
> > Body filller is not an acceptable soluton as there are pin
> > holes that need
> > to be filled and I do not like to fill holes with filler.
>
> FWIW, a friend of mine used POR-15 to fill a sea of pinholes in an
> inaccessible area; and reported being quite happy with the results. Haven't
> had the pleasure myself, but I'll definitely try it if the situation comes
> up.
>
> Also FWIW, I've found lead-free plumbing solder to be almost impossible to
> work with on steel. Possibly I need a different flux or something; but I
> wound up using more expensive electronics lead solder.
>
> Randall
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