what is "pot metal" ?

[upncoming]

could somebody explain what exactly is pot metal. what parts were made out of it. im just looking around threw here and see its one of the hardest parts to deal with in plating but i don't know what the parts are. where going to be restoring a few cars and will be doing in house chroming, so im going to be in here trying to learn as we go and i hope ill be able to pick it up and perfect this one day.

[lcaswell]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot_metal

[upncoming]

so
Headlight rings, door handles, emblems/badges, ornaments, tail light bezels mics interior pieces are considered pot metal?

[sswee]

Not all but the majority. Especially on the older stuff.
SS

[JTW37]

The best way to figure out what cars had Pot Metal, you need to think WW II, as most good metal was used for the Military weapons, Tanks, Planes and so on. But was also continued up into the time of the Korean Conflict and a bit beyond that into the late fifties and into the sixties at least.

Hope this helps.

[CarWiz]

Pot metal is a slang term that covers many alloys of aluminum, zinc, copper and a few others in various combinations. It's also referred to as Die Cast metal. Most anything can be made of a die cast alloy--Even your lawn mower engine and nearly all carburetors. It's hard to just look at it and differentiate it from an aluminum alloy except in most cases, it's heavier because of the zinc.

A scratch and daub test will usually tell you if it's die cast alloy. A drop of battery acid (sulfuric) will foam if it has zinc. If it has zinc, it's most likely a die cast alloy or "pot metal".