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Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
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| | | | Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,146 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,146 | Can you tell how old a weld is? | | | | | Joined: Oct 2015 Posts: 338 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Oct 2015 Posts: 338 | | | | | | Joined: May 2015 Posts: 11,150 Housekeeping (Moderator) Making a Stovebolt Bed & Paint and Body Shop Forums | | Housekeeping (Moderator) Making a Stovebolt Bed & Paint and Body Shop Forums Joined: May 2015 Posts: 11,150 |  Is it shiny or rusty?
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truckFollow this saga in Project JournalPhotos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together. | | | | | Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 9,671 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 9,671 | You mean like carbon dating it???
dg
Denny G
Sandwich, IL
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,146 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,146 | Yes, like carbon dating it.
Can you carbon date a weld?
If the weld was created at the factory or at a later date.
Example:
Lets say, the factory worker stamped out a piece of metal.
During the stamping process, the stamped out a piece of metal split, tore, ripped or cracked a little.
Rather than trashing the entire piece of metal.
The factory worker repaired the flaw with a weld.
Do you think they would try to repair the piece of metal or trash it?
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2014 Posts: 924 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Apr 2014 Posts: 924 | Fact- yes in a lab, a section of the weld could be dated depending on what was used to weld it. 14-C has a specific half-life, or decay rate that would be used in the calculation.
Opinion- I think the factory worker repaired something (in your story), but I do not know how stringent quality control was (in your storyline)
Fact- Times were lean and resources were valuable and scarce (assuming you mean this factory worker was in an auto factory WWII-Korean Era). Things were repaired.
Edit- if this "can you carbon date a weld" is informational, fine, but I wanted to let you know that mass spectrometry labs are phenomenally expensive. Just in case your next question went there.
Brad
Wrench Fetcher, PhD | | | | | Joined: Apr 2014 Posts: 924 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Apr 2014 Posts: 924 | After asking some actual experts- it could be done, but 12C or 14C dating would not be able to determine the answer to your question.
The dating could come back that the weld was older than the metal it was on-- by several years...
Thanks for the mental work, though!
Brad
Wrench Fetcher, PhD | | | | | Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,146 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,146 | Opinion- I think the factory worker repaired something (in your story), but I do not know how stringent quality control was (in your storyline)
Brad Especially a panel, that is covered and normally not seen. And structurally unimportant. Fact- Times were lean and resources were valuable and scarce (assuming you mean this factory worker was in an auto factory WWII-Korean Era). Things were repaired.
Brad 1953,1954 Era Thanks for taking the time. | | |
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