pewter?

[Jake]

Here's my question: how do you get 2 pieces of pewter to stick together? my throttle body broke and i've tried everything. you can't weld it because the heat burns the metal up. jb weld didn't hold even though I cleaned it thoroughly and drilled tiny holes for it to "grab". I cleaned off all the jb weld tried super glue and put a bead around it just to be sure but it still has a small leak. does anyone know if it can be soldered? there's not much for salvage yards around here and a new one ain't cheap

[randy]

Yep, silver solder or lead tin solder.

[Bob]

Yep I'ed drill tiny holes and sew that thing togather with small wire and then solder over it with a soldering iron ( a hot one!) or do it real carefully with a propane torch...but don't get it too hot or it will desintragrate on ya !
...
how I like to SEW things with wire is make 2 holes  one on one side of the crack and one on the other and take my pocket knife or awl and cut a trench between the 2 holes on the inside where it needs to be flat put your wire through and then crimp it as tight as you can get it without sheering the wire in half... then solder up the holes and cover the wire with solder as well.
... it works great... really !... put about 4 or 6 "Stitches" in it and you should be good to go!...
if you can get your soldering iron hot enough to penertrate the surface on the crack you can stitch it togather with the tip while adding solder...
....
more than likely its not Pewter, but a cheepo alumimum aloy, if thats the case you can't solder it as the alumimum conducts the heat away too fast... so  you sew it togather so its good and solid and then coat the crack with RTV Silicone and then use it !
...
if you have to resort to the RTV Silicone , try to grind a grove in the crack and along the crack so the RTV will stick real good !
...
hope dat helps !
Bob.......

[Cowboy]

If you are going to solder, but don't have a solder gun, just an iron, heat the iron with a torch.  The iron by itself won't get hot enough to solder big items.  I've found that heating it with a torch works great.

[IronBear]

Alright. I have to ask...Pewter?

Is there something about pewter that makes it perfect for throttle bodys? Every throttle body I have ever worked with has been aluminum...

Just had to ask.

IronBear

[randy]

Yeah I was wondering that too, try to stick a magnet to it, if it's pewter it'll stick.

[Manta]

Randy,  you sure about that ?  Here is the wiki on pewter.

Pewter is a metal alloy, traditionally between 85 and 99 percent tin, with the remainder consisting of copper and antimony, acting as hardeners, with the addition of lead for the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. The word pewter is probably a variation of the word spelter, a non-scientific name for zinc.

Doesn't seem to be anything ferrous in it.  I wouldn't have expected that spec to be magnetic.

Manta

[Tink]

I gotta put my 2 cents in here:

I learned from my Reniasence fair friends that real honest Pewter is kinda scarce. There is a lot of stuff out there that is sold as Pewter and really isn't. All in all I can't believe Pewter was ever used as an ingredient in anything automotive. Cheap base metal is cheaper and stronger. I know a guy who collects pewter and the only way he can tell the real stuff from the fake is the mfg. markings on the bottom of the piece and he has pieces that are hundreds of years old. None of my 'pewter' is magnetic, I must have the fake stuff. No offence to anyone here. Just my 2 cents.

Tink

[randy]

OK; My bad.

[Bob]

your ingredients list said allot of tin.... a magnet will stick to tin !
tin cans are magnetic and have been for decades... (even OLD Old Beer cans were tin)
a magnet works on many types of metals, not just ferrous only... at least thats the way I understand it.
...about the only metal a magnet won't stick to is brass, copper,stainless steel,and alumimum
and I think bronze... ...
 but that only leaves a few other metals for it to work on I suppose
like steel(high carbon and mild)tin, iron (and all its forms)
...
well, tin should be magnetic lets put it that way !
...
Bob.......

[numberonekiwi]

well I remember dads old beer can were magnetic I was too young to dink then but also coke ( and various soft drinks ) were also tin and magnetic but there weight was also greater I suppose thats why they are now alumium

[Painless]

Yep I'ed drill tiny holes and sew that thing togather with small wire and then solder over it with a soldering iron ( a hot one!) or do it real carefully with a propane torch...but don't get it too hot or it will desintragrate on ya !
...
how I like to SEW things with wire is make 2 holes  one on one side of the crack and one on the other and take my pocket knife or awl and cut a trench between the 2 holes on the inside where it needs to be flat put your wire through and then crimp it as tight as you can get it without sheering the wire in half... then solder up the holes and cover the wire with solder as well.
... it works great... really !... put about 4 or 6 "Stitches" in it and you should be good to go!...
if you can get your soldering iron hot enough to penertrate the surface on the crack you can stitch it togather with the tip while adding solder...
....
more than likely its not Pewter, but a cheepo alumimum aloy, if thats the case you can't solder it as the alumimum conducts the heat away too fast... so  you sew it togather so its good and solid and then coat the crack with RTV Silicone and then use it !
...
if you have to resort to the RTV Silicone , try to grind a grove in the crack and along the crack so the RTV will stick real good !
...
hope dat helps !
Bob.......

If I ever cut myself badly and pass out.... please all promise that you'll keep bob away from playing doc with me?

[Bob]

Ahhh, Spoil Sport !
 Chicken !
Bob.....
HEHEHEHEHHE

[Jake]

thanks for all the input guys. Bob, you may be right about it being aluminum alloy. I'm not really sure but whatever it is its stubborn :-) if it is some sort of aluminum could it be tig welded? I could just break down and find a new throttle body but I broke this one as a result of playing with my hho booster and I hate to sink more money into a "money saver" project cause it'll take that much longer for the booster to pay for itself   

[Bob]

the possability of it being welded is very good some welder with years of experience will be able to Guess at the rod to use and weld it up like new I'm sure, and probly only charge ya $25.00 for the truble.
 but the real problem is WHERE is it broke ? if its a  flange where it bolts down, like the bolt hole snapped off (been there done that)  it just about Has to be welded or replaced.
if its a crack along the side, like a split that can be sewed up and sealed with little effort.
its amazeing how well the tubes of Aluma-weld and stuff actually work... the major problem people run into when useing this type of GLUE is they don't clean it good enough...
hitting it with a wire brush and then putting the glue on ain't enough ! you have to clean the pours of the metal as well... and I usually do that with quickstart and get ALL the oil off the thing...then take a die grinder and grind in the crack and give the Aluma-weld something to attach to thats FRESH! the wider the better , give the glue some traction! <GRIN>
...
but if its an ear broke off like the bolt hole flange you better have it welded.
although I have welded Pot-alumimum with my DC arc welder and alumimum rod  the results are some what IFFY... Alumimum likes to be pre heated to weld it and not pre heating it usually will mean a poor weld....
 there is a product that you can weld alum with a gas torch but its more like soldering with alumimum rod than it is welding...its available at Lowes hardware and comes in long pieces like brazeing rod... Read the instructions !
...You can alwayse reinforce the broken piece without welding by screwing on an new piece over the broken piece and hold the piece on... where there is a will there is a way !
...
I busted off a flange that was cast iron on my W1 Kawasaki 650 back in the 1970's and found it leaked oil all over the rear tire , so I had to fix it !
I couldn't weld it without tearing the cylinders off the bike  so I siliconed it real good and put a taller stud in the hole that allowed me to put a plate over the broken part to hold the cylinder down and hold the broken piece tight so it wouldn't leak... problem solved.
ran it for years like that ! till a 4x4 chevy turned infront of me and the bike and I went flying... sure screwed up my bike ! the impact was so hard that it busted the main roller berring cage !....  but that was probly the best handling bike I ever owned,  My 1100Honda shadow is a fat pig compaired to what it was <GRIN> its taken me years but I got the honda to handle a little... but its a long cry from the o'l BSA wann'a be ! (W1 Kaw.)
....
I gott'a get the Voltage regulator for that thing , I'm getting the rideing bug again ! HA!
...
Bob........