What material is old wing mirror arms made from (1965)

mercmancdi

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have a old 65 Morris , anyone know what material the wing mirrors arms are made from ,
Looks like a cast. Can they be heated and bent or welded to ?
Advice would be good , it's a pick up and the wing mirror arms don't let you see clearly past the body so want to extend them or of they would bend I might get enough to see .
 

daveenty

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They are cast as you surmise, though I've no idea what they used to cast them with. Probably the cheapest material known to man at the time, combined with lots of stuff which was swept up from the floor around the area.

I've tried and failed to heat and bend them over the years, usually ending up with a pool of metal on the floor. The heat will also destroy the chrome finish, which I'm assuming they have?

I'd be tempted to look for a decent after market one and keep the originals somewhere safe.
 

umblecumbuz

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Think you'll find they're made of Mazak.
If so, Mazak (sometimes known by other names) is a very brittle alloy wth zinc as a major component, and has a low melting point.
It can't be reshaped once the casting has cooled. It has low strength and will easily snap.

Remember chrome door handles and other car bits back in that era? They pitted very quickly - often made of Mazak! My uncle had a die casting factory in Hgh Wycombe with contracts for many of these poor quality components.
 
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Westheath

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I think Zamak was another name, it was quite brittle and didn't like heat being applied, iirc once a bright spark in the workshop blew one apart using too much heat something in the formula didn't like it.
 
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ioweddie

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Mazak, cheapest stuff around in those days, a repair could be done by drilling both parts and inserting a metal rod with araldite to keep the two parts in place while the glue sets.
 

umblecumbuz

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That's the stuff.
Although the claim was made that it took chrome well, it didn't. Those early shiny car bits that the plating began to peel from - blame Mazak.

My uncle's contracts included fettling the castings but not polishng them. They then went to a chroming outfit who did the final preparation.

I can remember as a youngster the foreman in the factory deliberately pouring molten Mazak over his hand, at an angle, as his party trick. Unbelievable, but the molten metal just glanced off. Apparently the moisture on his skin immediately flashed, creating a barrier so that the metal didn't burn.
 

Paul Goff

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Those are polite terms for Mazak!

The usual vernacular was ess aitch one tee metal! :geek:
 

Frontstep

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I would just look for another rather than try to extend them.
There were so many different ones there is bound to be a more suitable pair about.
 

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