HELP with thin, cracked body panels !

Is `this the same stuff ?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DURAMIX-4179-Urethane-Adhesive-Bonds-Large-Steel-Parts_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ63702QQitemZ4624341111QQrdZ1

 

Glenn-don't give up yet-part of the fun of this car restoration is doing the hard stuff and succeeding. The best solution of course is to replace the thin metal with good stuff but that is easier said than done, depending on time, wallet etc. Working with what you have I believe you can do it. How are setting your mig welder? I don't know if your mig has a reostat or if you have to control heat by a low/high plug setup and then fine tune heat by adjusting your wire feed. I have had customers that insist I save their panels and I have worked with cracks and thin metal. I don't agree with it and don't like it but it can be done with patience. Maybe you are already using every trick in the book by if you have not try putting down a cold bead or tack right where you are blowing thru. For instance on my Miller if I was welding on the low side with heat set at three and wire feed set at 30 drop down to 2 and try putting a bead or tack at 20 or 25 on the wire feed. Penetration will be pitiful but if will set up an area where it will make it harder to blow thru. Then turn your welder back up to the more normal setting and then put a tack or small bead and weld only in the direction of the cold bead and the consequence will be a bead that flows from the cold bead into the surrounding metal. I have welded up cracks this way by laying down a cold bead as a bridge or heatsink or whatever you want to call it on both sides of the crack and either mig the crack with a normal setting or better yet I can even tig it because the cold bead prevents the blow thru. When you have penetration then you can grind off the cold weld. Experiment with it and you can weld up some pretty iffy areas. Whether they will make a video of it for the museum of welding achievements is another story but it may get the job done. Good luck-Jim

 

A heat blocking compound may help with your situation. It is a putty that absorbs heat, so you can localize it and reduce warpage of adjacent areas.

http://store.weldingdepot.com/cgi/weldingdepot/HANDIJIG.html

I'm sure there are other brands as well.

 

yea thats the stuff, but i use 4176..its fast dry

 

Just a note on the "Glues"

There is more than one brand - so "Duramix" is a brand - although it may be owned by 3M now.
"Fusor" is another brand

I like 3M's Auto Mix #8115 - "Panel Bonding Adhesive"

You need an applicator gun to use them as they are all 2 part epoxy type glues. Guns range from $25-$200 depeding on the product line that you are using.
I got my AutoMix gun for $35 @ the local paint supplier.

This stuff is not for use on STRUCTRAL parts. I would ONLY use it on patch panels/door skins etc.
and as mentioned before - it doesn't stick well to Rusty or Painted steel - has to be nice and clean.

You can also use it to bond different types of metals/plastics together. So if you want to permenatly install a hunk of aluminum on a piece of steel - you can.

 

...I've used a product called Poxy-weld, a 2 part mix that you can mix up and bond metal to metal. The stuff is very strong once it cures. You can hit it w/ a hammer and it won't make a mark. Got mine at Menards the last time; reasonably priced too.

 

Thank You!
That may be just the thing I need for some of these areas.
We don't have Menards here on the Beaches, but we do have Lowes and Home Depot, I'll give them a shot.

 

METAL BONDING ADHESIVES ARE NOT FOR PATCH PANELS ON EXPOSED BODY PANELS. Unless you dont mind lines showing up everywhere you patched you car when you park it in the sun.
Don't get me wrong, I like the stuff, use it all the time between flanges on 1/4 replacement roof skins and door skins on collision damaged cars. Then I weld thru it with a resistance spot welder. It's called weld bonding. But the stuff is not for lapping exterior body panels. IT WILL SHOW LINES!

 

Big Dan,
i have a coupe and a tudor. i dont live far from mike's. easy to deal with and has a lot of A parts. request one of his catelogs, they are about 2 inches thick. he also sells a steel roadster body for less than 6,000.


http://www.mikes-afordable.com/

 

Yes, it works well bonding door skins to door frames, but there's no seam visibility problem there.