Posted: 2/21/2009 5:08:23 PM EDT
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So I dug out my brass Vintage Zippo that I haven't used in 10 years and decided I'd try to refurbish / clean it up.
I hit it with a green Scotdhbrite pad and then polished it with a 000 steel wool pad. I've attached a pic taken between the Scotchbrite and the steel wool for your edification along with the obligatory gun in the pic. So here's the question. If you look closely enough, you can see that the top of the lighter doesn't line up exactly with the bottom. I'm wondering if there's any way to shift it over so the two halves line up exactly again. Suggestions anyone??? 
And here's one after the 000 Steel Wool polish: 
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You can send it back to Zippo and get them to refurbish it; which usually involves replacing the hinge/ it will line up perfectly, and replacing the entire guts. Pay to ship to them and they do the work and send it back. there are instructions on their site. I had one that got hit by my 60"24hp lawnmower. They replaced the entire thing and sent a nice letter stating how sorry they were they couldn't repair my old one. The one I sent was in 3 parts and about a fourth missing and bent/cut up. As an aside there is a nice museum in N W Pennsylvania at the factory.
semper paratus molone laveh |
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Quoted:
Suggestions on the best way to bend it without fu*king it up? A contoured steel bar, fit to the inside. Careful tapping on the outside with a mallet. CAREFUL! Spot welds on brass aren't too ductile. If or more likely, when it breaks, low temp silver solder is your only friend. Then you have to align it during the soldering. If it sounds like I have experience...I have done it. |
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I did warranty-service work on Zippos part time when in high school, we'd always replace the cotton, wick and flint free (Zippo sent us an assload of these regularly, no charge). They never charged us for the internal body but I only remember sending two or three in (out of thousands of jobs). On those they told us to just replace them and throw the parts away and replace with in-stock bodies. They'd send a replacement to refill old stock ASAP. They are a must-have for survival situations (since you can burn them with almost any flammable liquid) but my everyday lighter will always be the French-made little Bic lighters (the minis, not the full size). I don't smoke enough to keep the Zippo's wick burnable. It looks like you destroyed that poor thing with steel wool, should have tried Brasso first. Should be able to clean it up with a buffing wheel. |
