Just repaired my headlight buckets on my 66 coupe and wanted to pass on the results. Had the typical break on the upper bracket. Happen to have an extra junk bucket and wanted to try several options to see what was best when dealing with cast metal.
1) Low temp solder (360 degrees) was still too high for the cast metal. The bucket would start to deform at the point when the solder would melt - no good.
2) 110 welder at lowest setting, would initially stick, but any pulse beyond 1-2 sec's would blow through the cast metal - no good
3) JBWeld, went on easy, but snapped apart with the slightest pressure. Didn't hold worth a darn - no good.
4) used Loctite epoxy resin, Poxy-Pak. Bonds virtually any metal, clear resin, with roughly 5 min set up time. It's been a week and it's still holding the bracket together. Withstands mild pressure, more than enough to support the unit. Loctite it is....

BTW - I also checked the bucket to see if I could reshape and knock out dents. It was very easy to hammer / dolly out dents using a propane torch or heat gun to preheat the metal, beyond warm but not discolor or melt. Cold metal was very risky and uncooperative. Hot metal reshaped easily. I didn't use water to cool down for fear of cracking, rather let the metal cool on its own.

 

Its called pot metal next to cast iron its hard as hell to weld on.

 

Thank you for the tip!!!

My top bracket broke and Its been holding my headlight adjustment in with a siliconed paper clip for the past year now

 

theres a kit to repair buckets iirc

 

There is... But Hhmmm $50 vs. $5 ,$50 vs. $5.. Hhhmmm. If it works I'll take the $5 for a area that is not really seen and spend the rest on other parts.

Lynn