water key and dent

[abracadabra]

Folks

I'm picking away at all the small fixes needed on an old Barcon Sousa I picked up a while back.

The one water key was gone and I was just going to replace the whole works w/ nipple because the nipple was buggered up too. Once I got everything unsoldered it looks like of course there's a little dent where the nipple is.

Is this gonna be a total loss to try and solder on the new nipple without having the dent removed? I don't have dent tools. It seems like the new nipple fits on okay and I would just have to fill in the one high side with more solder.

My other idea is simpler, since the water keys are a pain half the time anyway, and don't drain right etc, I might just plug the hole permanently and empty that spit in the slide by pulling the slide. I still have a functioning water key on the other slide which I would leave.

Thoughts?

mark

PS the replacement water key I got was from Ferrees, and its one of the most unsightly beasts I've ever seen. I'm sure it would work fine but these things are the exact opposite of "aesthetically pleasing!""

[abracadabra]

Forgot to post pic of the dent!

[abracadabra]

Ah, yes I need to pick up a dent ball set one of these days!!!