'47 Chief Oil Cap- Repair?

[TH47Indy]

I have an original oil cap that has a small dent in the top. Is it possible to take the cap apart to fix the dent without destroying it? And if so, how?
Thanks.
Terry

[Yellow53Chief]

Hi,
If the oil cap is chromed, it might be possible to strip the chrome, solder-in the dent and then replate the cap. Solder repairs can sometimes leave a 'circle' in the plating, so a plater who has done this kind of repair work before would be the one to have do it. I seriously doubt that taking the cap apart is an option.

[TH47Indy]

Hi,
If the oil cap is chromed, it might be possible to strip the chrome, solder-in the dent and then replate the cap. Solder repairs can sometimes leave a 'circle' in the plating, so a plater who has done this kind of repair work before would be the one to have do it. I seriously doubt that taking the cap apart is an option.

Thanks for the advice. The dent takes in the area where the "Oil" emboss is, so a solder repair may not be an option.

[pisten-bully]

Thanks for the advice. The dent takes in the area where the "Oil" emboss is, so a solder repair may not be an option.

I've never done this, but doesn't it appear that there's an outer chrome cap that's crimped over an interior cap ? I do wonder if you could dissaemble the cap and push out your dent, then reassemble. I did have a chromer give me pricing to re-chrome a cap....big $$$ due to the hand work needed to keep the knurling along the edges and the OIL sharp and crisp...think it was well over $200!

[tfburke3]

Thanks for the advice. The dent takes in the area where the "Oil" emboss is, so a solder repair may not be an option.

Maybe you could glue a small dowel to the dent with some silicone adhesive and attach the dowel to a slide hammer or lock in vise to try and pull out .Silicone wont harm chrome and is easy to get off.
Tom

[TH47Indy]

I've never done this, but doesn't it appear that there's an outer chrome cap that's crimped over an interior cap ? I do wonder if you could dissaemble the cap and push out your dent, then reassemble. I did have a chromer give me pricing to re-chrome a cap....big $$$ due to the hand work needed to keep the knurling along the edges and the OIL sharp and crisp...think it was well over $200!

It does appear that there's an inner cap under the chrome cap, but not sure if or how to separate them without doing more damage. Was hoping there was a trick out there to pull the top cap off.
It's in really good shape other then the dent, so I'd be willing to pay more to keep the original.

[pisten-bully]

Terry, I knew I had seen something before where a fellow took apart his gas cap to clean it, well here it is:



He doesn't go into any detail about how he took it apart, but at least we know it's possible! Here's a link to his story on Caimag:

http://www.caimag.com/forum/showthre...Running/page37

[jim d]

Maybe you could drill or cut a hole in the inner cap underneath the dented area to push the dent out. I would use a wood or soft plastic punch of the proper shape and size to match the damaged area making sure to have them smooth with no sharp edges before tapping on it. The hole could be repaired with a patch of steel or copper that has been annealed to contour to shape and soldered in place. It would be nice to have a junk one to check out first.

[TH47Indy]

Terry, I knew I had seen something before where a fellow took apart his gas cap to clean it, well here it is:



He doesn't go into any detail about how he took it apart, but at least we know it's possible! Here's a link to his story on Caimag:

http://www.caimag.com/forum/showthre...Running/page37
Pisten Bulley is Harry Roberts in Vermont.


Thanks Harry. This is exactly what I'm trying to do. I send a PM to Fabe over at Caimag and I'll post an update once I hear back from him.

[TH47Indy]

Maybe you could drill or cut a hole in the inner cap underneath the dented area to push the dent out. I would use a wood or soft plastic punch of the proper shape and size to match the damaged area making sure to have them smooth with no sharp edges before tapping on it. The hole could be repaired with a patch of steel or copper that has been annealed to contour to shape and soldered in place. It would be nice to have a junk one to check out first.

Thanks Jim. Good suggestion and trying it out first on a junk cap is also a great idea. May need to go this route if I can't get instructions from the guy that posted the pictures of his cap apart.