Rad Cowl repair

[Robert Leigh]

As long as there has been no use of soft (lead or lead free) solder or lead filler there is no reason that dents should not be removable as long as there is 75-80% thickness. It is possible to anneal locally with oxygen/propane or acetylene and carefully tap out the dents with a hardwood mallet on a steel stake.
If the metal is very thin a patch can be silver-soldered into a cleanly cut out area. a good fit is essential as the silver solder depends on capillary action to run into the join and maintain the strength of the piece. Cleanliness and a good fit are absolutely critical.
There are instructional videos on Youtube...
Don't use lead as a body filler, it will make the part unrestorable as even the smallest remaining bit of lead will eat its way through the brass if someone subsequently tries to repair it properly.

That's very interesting Duncan.
My box saloon radiator is made mainly of brass, and is soft (lead) soldered together, but it seems to be holding together so far.

There is lead free soft solder as required to be used by plumbers these days for soldering joints on potable water pipework. I do not know whether it would avoid the corrosion problems already mentioned. Maybe we have a metallurgist among our number whose knows about these things.
Robert Leigh