Filling trim holes in sheetmetal.

[fbs63]

I have a 63 Polara 500 I'm building and am removing all the gaudy trim. The guy that does my paint and body work suggested using small round 24ga sheetmetal pieces and panel bonding them from the inside of the panels instead of welding. Anyone ever used this method? I know the panel bond will hold but I'm worried about shrinkage and the holes showing up later. The shell has been dipped and EPD coated so a clean surface is not a problem.

 

[eldubb440]

it will work, that stuff wont shrink.......... another option is backing up the hole with a piece of copper and welding it shut. the weld won't stick to the copper

 

[greycharger]

Yeah, pound a piece of copper tubing flat and then you have a built in handle

 

[fbs63]

He's worried about warpage. There's alot of holes!

 

[747mopar]

I like to weld them shut but that can create it's own problems, the key thing is that it's 100% sealed on the back so it doesn't absorb moisture into the filler. If you are going to do it without welding I would recommend slightly hammering the hole in so instead of a clean flush hole you have a dimple. Having a dimple will give you a larger fill area but it will give the filler more to bite into and allow it to be feathered out. You do not want a perfectly flush hole to fill where the filler is only in the hole leaving a sharp crisp outline of the hole.

 

[conv67bdere]

I've wondered then up with a MIG, no copper, MIG with copper, TIG no copper, and TIG with copper . . . Guess I prefer any of these options as they become one with the body - yes, you have a bit of bodywork, but a hammer and dolly can help that too

But as 747 said, you want a bit of an indent to allow body filler . . .

 

[eldubb440]

when I weld things that are prone to warpage, I immediately blow compressed air on each (very small) weld...... cools it right down

I do keep norton 5 minute PB in stock...... it ha soooo many uses....... you can almost build a car with this stuff

 

[Evan Frucht]

its not the worst idea to basically glue in metal disks from the backside with seam sealer or maybe even some sort of epoxy, or some super heavy duty body bonding compound. no chance of warpage. and it could also be reversed easily if someone ever wanted to restore the car back to original for whatever reason. on the other hand he may just be being lazy, and yes a good weld would be better because it will guarantee that moisture doesn't compromise the filler over time. sealers and glue can fail.

 

[zyzzyx]

About three years ago I punched out a bunch of discs for someone here to fill those holes in. Can't
remember who right now, but maybe he'll read this and chime in. I'd like to know how they worked.
I believe he welded them in. If the discs are close enough, you can use lead free solder to solder them
in without warping!

 

[69a100]

I just had a body shop weld the holes closed, and said don't worry about the details on them as I had more body work to do. This was on a 66 Rambler American about 30 years ago. Good Luck

 

[Demonic]

when I weld things that are prone to warpage, I immediately blow compressed air on each (very small) weld...... cools it right down

That. ^^
Find a metal guy with a Roper-Whitney hand punch, or similar copy thereof. Punches out handy round discs useful for filling trim holes.

 

[1967coronet]

The panel bond will work fine as long as the surface {panel inside and disc/patch}is clean to bare metal and sanded with at least 80 grit at the spot of each fill,
welding.......... is the best jmho as long as the welder doing it knows enough not to warp your panels. like eldubb posted cool each weld and also skip around , just don't run down a panel.

 

[1962polara]

Hey fbs 63 would you like too sell some of that trim? I'm after the rear tail light pott metal ,the small trims that run around the rear quarters and those embellishments on the quarters.

 

[Cranky]

Before I had a decent MIG etc, I used a Lincoln 225 cracker box with an extra 20 feet of lead attached to it to reduce the amps to less than 40 which was as low as it would go. My heat sink was a wet sponge with a hole in the middle of it and did all the belt line of a 70 Challenger with no warpage.

About three years ago I punched out a bunch of discs for someone here to fill those holes in. Can't
remember who right now, but maybe he'll read this and chime in. I'd like to know how they worked.
I believe he welded them in. If the discs are close enough, you can use lead free solder to solder them
in without warping!

Were they half inch diameter? If so, that was probably for me. Was just thinking about that the other day because I need some more lol. It was about 3 years ago.

 

[Cornpatch MO]

Get a steel non galvanized nail with the head just a little smaller than the hole. Using the pointed end to hang onto, put the head of the nail in the hole-flush with the body panel. Weld it in place. Cut off the nail and grind it down flush to the body panel. I have done this,, and it is easy and works great...............MO

 

[Officer Higgins]

Used to solder the holes closed using regular propane torch with a tip modified to form a point. Put tip in hole, wait for solder to melt then rotate to spread solder closing the hole.

 

[QuickBpBp]

I saw a job where the guy put bondo only to fill side trim holes. He did all the prep work and my friend only had to paint it. After painted he wet sanded and buffed it and just from the heat of the buffer all the holes showed through the clear while "hot" from buffing but so did the pop rivets from installing the quarters!!. Once cooled they disappeared but clearly is not going to last. This was a red 70 challenger convertible that was local to me.

 

[fbs63]

I appreciate all the suggestions. I prefer welding them myself and I will do that. Just skip around and cool as I go.

 

[eldubb440]

Get a steel non galvanized nail with the head just a little smaller than the hole. Using the pointed end to hang onto, put the head of the nail in the hole-flush with the body panel. Weld it in place. Cut off the nail and grind it down flush to the body panel. I have done this,, and it is easy and works great...............MO

I've done this, only with screws.....it's what was handy