Thin metal options

[richardma]

I'm restoring a late 60's Ford muscle car and there are 12-ish interior chromed trim pieces that have surface rust, pitting, and a few small (1/8) holes drilled. The pieces are 22 gauge. As much as reasonably possible I want to avoid buying aftermarket parts. I'd rather repair the originals as -reasonably- close to factory as I can, then re-chrome them.

Before I hear a cacophony of "hire a pro"... NO. I weld body panels, frames, fabricate jigs, etc. Many years ago I was a journeyman welder. I just never worked with thin metal. I'm just looking for some guidance to save me a lot of time researching.

I can lay down MIG/TIG tacks to fill holes, etc, but am worried about warping and burn-thru. I know people weld 22 gauge but I'm told it'll most likely warp and hence look terrible chromed. I can braze it, but am still worried about warping. I can solder it, but I don't like the idea of using lead solder because it's so dissimilar to the base metal i.e. not original and may not wear well. Higher temp solders may be an option, just don't know what are good options.

I'm wondering what's available that's more similar to the base metal that I can work with given the gauge. If it were thicker I could just lay down tacks with MIG and grind it smooth. It'd be time consuming, but worth it for me because it would be "restored", not "patched". I've seen people use JB Weld for this sort of thing... and that's not what I'm gonna do.


Thanks,
-Richard

[arco_iris]

Surely welding must be the way to go - get some scrap 22 gauge and practice, practice, practice before attempting the critical restoration piece.

[Grumps]

A slightly lower temperature option to Brazing is Silver Soldering. You can also get some low melting point fillers to join Aluminium although I've never found them particularly successful - strength wise.