After a couple of years of searching, I managed to pick up the molding that goes around the bottom of the roof where the vinyl top meets the body color on my 29 Special Coupe. It is a two piece molding with a carrier strip that nails to the body and a C-shaped beauty piece that snaps onto the carrier (The molding is an actual body line on the Standard Coupe). The carrier is a heavy gauge steel and in decent condition. The beauty piece is rusted paper thin and speckled with pin holes. I’m not much of a welder, but have tried mig welding the holes with a piece of copper on the backside and all I do is vaporize what’s left of the trim. There is no room to build it up from the backside because it will interfere with the carrier strip. I’m not sure if I can use something like Bondo to fill the holes as the molding needs to flex a bit to install. Is brazing an option? Any ideas would really be appreciated!
This may not be the best answer but on really pitted thin metal I have sandblasted it clean then spread JB Weld over the part with excellent results. Basically creating a strong bonding filler material.
X2. Super fine worn out sand in the blaster will get the pits cleaner and not tear it up too much. The pinholed areas will have rough edges sticking outwards after blasting. Just go over the face with a s**** shaped tool to lightly concave the rot spots. Then epoxy prime is good, but you could just use a good grade of epoxy filler like was said....but do it right away after blasting. Just make sure the band fits the car real well before you epoxy, then you won't have to torture the band later after it fixed. Don't braze it.
any kind of welding is going to melt it,but what about some silver solder or metal solder on the back side of the trim? then some very careful grinding of it with something like a dremel. at least it would be metal filling the holes. put something in front of the rusted hole in front the solder won't stick to, then when it cools remove the covering metal. i've done this with that heat absorbing putty they sell to protect areas that you are welding. pushed the trim into it,then filled the back side with the silver solder. peel off the putty and sand or work the solder down on the front side.
Can you show a picture of the inside of the molding so we can see the details. Depending on what the detail looks like you may be able to make a new piece. A rusted piece like you show is just about impossible to repair. If there are some good sections you may be able to make short sections and weld them in. Joe
I wonder if a machine shop can duplicate the profile on a solid strip of b*** - then you can bend and shape it to the right contour - tap it for threaded mounting studs... just an idea to throw out there... AB
I once toured a Chicago chrome plating shop called The Finishing Touch that has a great way to deal with pitted/thin metal. They copper electroplate the piece, then grind it smooth, and repeat the plating/grinding until the pits are filled and the thickness builds up and the piece is strong again. I have no idea how many labor hours it would take or how much it would cost for your trim piece. It wouldn't be cheap but it might not be so bad since you're not going all the way to chrome and don't need the corresponding degree of surface perfection. They have a web site with a lot of pictures ... http://www.thefinishingtouchinc.com/surfacing.html
Lots of good ideas, thanks for the input. I couldn’t get a clear picture but I made up a sketch to show what I’m dealing with. Some sort of filler would be fine for the pinholes, but the real problem is that the molding is falling apart in the worst possible place, the corner. I’ve got to do something to get the strength back there. I may not be much of a welder, but I’m pretty handy fabricator. The best idea for me so far sounds like forming a new section from the radius to the end and grafting it to a more solid part of the molding. I’m thinking the carrier strip is probably heavy enough that I can use it to form the new section.
Sand blast it then use a propane torch or an 850 watt electric soldering iron and flux it and solder it. Then you file it to shape the way they did body work back in the day with lead, prime and paint. Brian
Solder sounds good...I was just goin to say lead. Phosphoric acid derust, tin, consider actually filling back with quite a bit of lead in thin areas to make a sturdy piece. Then work in more lead and solder on bad spots of visible side with big iron or small torch, abrade to good surface.
Filler sounds like the way to go on the pin holes, but I have to do something to get the strength back where the molding is slam rotted out. I got to work on it a bit this afternoon. Backed it real good with a piece of copper and finally got the weld to stick without vaporizing the metal. After beefing up a couple of cracks, I got brave and tried grafting on a whole new end where the molding extends forward to the p***enger door jam. I formed up a piece out of some 0.025" stock and tied it in where the metal was a little thicker. Not pretty but it's structurally sound and fits over the carrier strip. I’m off tomorrow and am going to try the same trick to reform the right rear corner.
X4 It's the best answer for me. Any filler, JBweld will do, bondo with fibers in it work good also, on steering wheels too. And, now there is a new type of chrome plating that is done on plastics that will make it bright if that's your desire also. Me, I'd spend a good bit of time filling and sanding and paint it with Acrylic enamel..
60/40 electrical solder and a soldering gun worked great to fill the pin holes. With an aluminum tape backer, I was even able to fill one or two that were almost 5/16 inch!
Sounds like you've got this one licked. Your local paint shop should also carry a product called 'All Metal'. Pretty good stuff, goes on like bondo, then files/sands nicely.
Do you have any buddies that are any good with a TIG? If so silicon bronze welding..i think is what it is called...you can fill holes and chrome plate over it. If you decide to do filler or anything where it cant be plated. You can shoot the piece with a lighter fine metallic silver, then take a grey scotch brite pad, wipe in one direction on the piece, the clear over it...or satin clear..whatever look you are going for and it creates a brushed stainless steel look. Cheap way out over plating. Most wont ever know the difference until close inspection. Do some test panels first. But however you go good luck man!
The double curved corner took a little while to fab but it came out pretty good. I took the time to make a copper backer that fit very tightly against the inside of the molding, and the new corner welded to the leg no problem. The mig was on a heat setting of 4 and wire feed of 6. I decided to finish soldering the rest of the pinholes before I join the leg to the rest of the molding. With as fragile as it is, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to have the whole thing flopping around while I repaired the holes. With a little luck, I'll have a solid continuous molding tomorrow
That look great, glad to see you making progress on the project. Looks like you could make anything that you set your mind to make. Joe
Thanks, Joe. With nothing but a hammer and a couple chunks of pipe and angle for tools, I couldn't be happier. Here's a few progress pix of the new end I formed for the RH leg. I'm starting to get the hang of welding that rusty 28 gauge
Well, I finally finished the molding and put it on over the weekend. The RH leg and corner I made actually fit better than the original molding. Not bad for a PepBoys spray bomb, it came out waaay better than I was ever expecting. Thanks to everyone for your help!
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