Oil pickup tube

Pat

George Willer

The silver solder I have is from a variety of sources, and has a range of melting points, but I don't know what silver content any of them have. I'll have to clip a small sample of each one to heat on a steel plate (all at the same time) so I'll be able to mark them again for the order they melt in. I've lost my records.

George Willer

Like BUBBA though I ain't guarenteeing it!

The way I set it up so it would be about right over the drain plug screen. was that I clamped the oil pump/main cap on a level surface as determined with a sprit level and then turned the cup so that it was also level with a sprit level and then sweat soldered it good. I did clean both surfaces by sandblasting and has already pre-tinned both surfaces.

I'm like Llamas on the material that was originally used to do this. I don't think it was just plain old lead/tin solder but I don't know.

I was under the impression it was silver solder until I got to the one I am working on now and went back and checked a couple of old ones and all of them had leak/tin solder on them????? ?????

I doubt that the original solder was something as simple as 60/40 tin-lead plumbing solder. That's just not meant for that kind of application. At the same time, I doubt it was one of the high silver-solders or brazing metals, because those need an oxy-torch to use and that's just too hot for those parts. It may be one of the alloys known today by the generic name of "copper braze" metals. These are usually put up in a paste form and can be set off very nicely with a hot gas-air torch or a MAPP gas torch. The pump body is some sort of forged steel, the tube is a drawn steel part. The parts were likely originally sweated together in an oven or a gas-air rigging. One of your problems may be getting both parts clean enough for a good wetted joint - vapour-degreasing followed by something like soda-blasting may be needed to get to clean base metal.

HTH

llater,

llamas