Advice needed on correct Caswell product

[pniemandt]

I am busy with a concourse restoration of a '75 Kawasaki KH250 triple and have left the most difficult problem till last: Exhaust pipes. New ones are out of the question so I will have to restore the originals - a real challenge.

The pipes are in fairly good condition with almost no rust except for a few very tiny rust spots - however this is not the main problem...there are quite a few dents (some very small, one or two fairly large) on the visible face side of the pipes that will spoil any chrome job, no matter how well the plating is done.

Platers in South Africa do not offer a full restoration service and will basically only plate the mufflers. Thus, I will have to repair the dents myself prior to plating. I had the original plating removed to bare metal, cut open the mufflers along their centre seams and pushed back the dents as far as I could without damaging the sections and then rewelded the pipes. Now I need to fill the remaining dents and flush sand and polish the whole afair before plating.

The original plan was to use gas brazing/silver solder as filler metal but I have a concern with the hardness and heat required for these metals (may distort the surface of the muffler - 1mm plate steel - or cause brittleness leading to vibration cracks if not cooled properly).

Caswell offers several alternatives such as the repair pastes and lead-free soldering. My question is this: for my application, which product would work best (require low heat to apply, can be shaped and finished easily but not too soft, and can be chrome plated without problems, and able to withstand typical 2 stroke muffler operating temperatures) and what would the plating process involve after the dents are repaired.

Many thanks