Restore pot metal parts with Super Alloy 1 low temperature solder.  1966 Nova repair video, shot live.

This “how to restore pot metal” video was shot at the Portland Antique Car show several years ago.   Muggy Weld customer Sam purchased an irreplaceable pot metal trim piece for his 1966 Nova SS, and was searching for welding supplies to restore the rare classic car part.  Oftentimes, these broken antique auto pot metal parts are sold at a discount due to the owner’s inability to restore or repair the part (they mistakenly think it’s junk, because they haven’t discovered Super Alloy 1 yet).

Sam brought the part to our booth and asked us to restore the pot metal trim piece–we happily obliged and set up the video camera to capture the process for our website.

Before attempting to restore the pot metal, we used a Dremel tool to remove the oxidation on the part, then placed the two broken pieces together.  This step is vitally important, as the Super Alloy 1 filler rod will not adhere to oxidation.  Pot metal begins oxidizing as soon as you finish stripping it, so you must remove oxidation “just before” soldering.

Instructions:

  • Step 1:  Broadly heat the parent metal to bring the pot metal to Super Alloy 1’s 350°F working temperature
  • Step 2:  Dip the end of the Super Alloy 1 rod into the honey flux and apply it to the area to restore
  • Step 3:  Continue to broadly heat the pot metal part, watching the flux closely.  When the liquid flux changes color from honey to root beer brown, this is an indication it’s time to apply the rod.  Do not heat the flux directly.  If the flux is overheated, it will turn black.  If this happens, remove the flux with warm water and a wire brush and start over
  • Step 4:   Apply the Super Alloy 1 rod to the part and fill the gap between the two broken pieces.  Continue to broadly heat, and add more flux if you need to flow the solder out to restore the pot metal.

Conclusion

Within 5 minutes and with less than $5 of Super Alloy 1, this rare pot metal part was good as new.  Notice the low working temperature allowed the parts to be joined without even bubbling the chrome plating on the backside.  The resulting bond can be ground down and re-chromed before installing it on his 1966 Nova SS.

Disclaimers:

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Updated 12/2/25

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