Can A Cracked P51 Hood be Repaired? And some other general questions.

[tamills]

I own exactly one P51 (mint green with octanium nib) that came in an ebay lot many years ago. I'm looking at it now to  see if it is usable. It is in really rough shape. I'm attaching an image.

• Needs cleaning badly.
• The hood is clearly cracked in two places and this is easily seen under magnification. It leaks.
• The whole pen came apart fairly easily (which seems suspicious...). So far only the sac guard and sac are still attached.
• Except for the hood, and the fact that parts need serious cleaning, the rest of the pen seems in good shape.
• There is still a ring of what looks like orange shellac at the bottom inside edge of the hood.

 

A few of questions:

• Can the cracks in the hood be repaired? How?
• If the hood cracks can be repaired, I'd love to be able to clean and re-use the rest of the parts you can see in the attached image. The sac seems very pliable and not warped. Am I being too optimistic?
• I use shellac flakes in furniture finishing. Is that the same shellac used in pen repair? From what I've seen in some other posts and YouTube videos, shellac is the go-to cement to use.

 

So, I hope this isn't sacrilege, but I'm not precious about the pen. If a drop of super glue would seal the hood cracks I'd do that happily. I'd prefer to re-use the parts I have.

 

I'm more interested in having a working P51 when done, full of history, rather than a showroom quality piece. I've used several P51 knock-offs and I like the way they write. I'd love to get this one operational, fill it with J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune and make it my daily writer.

[FarmBoy]

That looks more like a 41. 
 

I have not had a need to weld cracks in 51 hoods. 

[Lachryma]

I had a cracked hood in a much loved pen.  I took it to three different pen shows to have ppl work on it.  They all did essentially the same thing with the shellac but it never held.  It certainly may have been worse damage than you're facing, though, so you may yet have hope.  

[tamills]

5 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

That looks more like a 41. 
 

I have not had a need to weld cracks in 51 hoods. 

 

I don't know what a 41 would look like. My grandfather gave me a 21 once many, many years ago.  This one is definitely a 51.

 

 

[tamills]

5 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

I have not had a need to weld cracks in 51 hoods. 

 

What do you mean by 'weld'? Is that a type of glue? Applying heat?

 

Thanks for any info.

[tamills]

Now I'm wondering if I have a franken-pen. I was reading about the 41 and the 51 and apparently the 41 was introduced in brighter colors that the 51 line was missing. But my sac guard is definitely imprinted as a 51.

 

Sorry for wandering off my topic, but does anyone recognize this clip? This is what is on that mint green pen. maybe this could help identify it? I haven't found any pics yet of this particular clip.

[tamills]

Never mind, found pics. And all them that look like this one are on a Vacumatic. So, I'm guessing I have a Franken-pen. Mint-green color, P51 imprint on the sac-guard, a vacumatic looking clip. If I were to buy parts I don't even know what I would buy.

 

I would love to know if someone can authoritatively say otherwise.

[jchch1950]

To find a replacement hood will be the best solution.If all other parts of the pen are usable,the replacement hood can make a nice pen.

[Dione]

Welding cracks means using a specific product to try to weld the cracks together. Shellac would never work. Running a bead of superglue gel along the crack lines, leaving it to set, then carefully fling it down until it's flush might work. Probably the way it's done in the repair books. You would do well to find a replacement hood that color and might stand a better chance of finding a matching hood and barrel even if it had to be a different color.

[crescentfiller]

5 hours ago, Dione said:

Welding cracks means using a specific product to try to weld the cracks together. Shellac would never work. Running a bead of superglue gel along the crack lines, leaving it to set, then carefully fling it down until it's flush might work. Probably the way it's done in the repair books. You would do well to find a replacement hood that color and might stand a better chance of finding a matching hood and barrel even if it had to be a different color.

 

Welding a crack does not mean glueing. It refers to the application of a solvent (and often some powdered material from the hood/barrel/cap to fill the crack) that will melt the material to create a solid bond. Best left to someone with experience if you are concerned about the end result.

[joss]

16 hours ago, tamills said:

Never mind, found pics. And all them that look like this one are on a Vacumatic. So, I'm guessing I have a Franken-pen. Mint-green color, P51 imprint on the sac-guard, a vacumatic looking clip. If I were to buy parts I don't even know what I would buy.

 

I would love to know if someone can authoritatively say otherwise.

 

Yes, it is a Franken-pen, although all parts may fit well indeed.

 

The mint green Parker 41 is not rare but a bit uncommon and it sells for a premium if in good condition. The problem is that the material of the pale green, turquoise and coral Parker 41 is quite fragile and very often found with cracks in the section and barrel.

 

Five Star Pens has a new old stock hoods for your pen. But if you want to go back to original, you also need a Parker 41 cap: this can be the all steel Lustraloy cap that is marked "41" on the cap lip or the 'fishcale' cap such as this one. You also need the correct Aerometric filler but that is the easiest to find because it is the same as the one that was used in the Parker 21 Super.

[FarmBoy]

After seeing the filler I'm no longer so sure what it what.  Perhaps the barrel and hood are 'fantasy' 51 parts?

[Carguy]

On 10/24/2021 at 11:37 PM, FarmBoy said:

After seeing the filler I'm no longer so sure what it what.  Perhaps the barrel and hood are 'fantasy' 51 parts?

I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that a 41 barrel would fit on a Demi 51? I’m gonna go try now as I have a pale green 41.

[Carguy]

It does….here is a photo of my pale green 41 on my Plum Demi filler.

[joss]

Indeed and a 1950s Parker 51 Demi Aerometric 'loop' sleeve, which has the "51" imprint, may possibly fit on the connector of a Parker 41.

 

The length of the hood may tell whether the OP's pen is a 'fantasy' 51. I think that Kullock's 'fantasy' 51 barrels & hoods were mainly made for standard 51 pens and the 41 hood should be shorter than the 51 hood.