been searchin and learnin... quick question.....is lead just used for filler....like plastic is.....or can it be used to "mold" stuff in... 1...is there a thickness limit i need to worry about..... 2...can i use it to make "body lines" or to fill in holes and seams or gaps in the panels..... 3...can it be piled into ...say a door jamb to ."carve" out a rounded door corner...... 4 can it be used to shape door edges..... just a few questions i have
hey, Yes, you can use lead to " mold'' body lines, small holes, carve door jams etc. Prior to plastic filler being introduced to the collision trade in the 40's, lead was the only method to fill those areas that couldn't be metal finished, that is to say repaired without any filler what so ever! You're gonna find using lead for butchery purposes when working metal that should be straightened to be cost prohibitive " Spending a nation into generational debt is not an act of comp***ion "
Lead should be used much as plastic filler is used. Using it to create new profiles is sketchy. A small amount is fine, but when you start piling it in, as you say, it's Mickey Mouse body work. As to question #3, not only no, but hell no! Learn to weld and round the doors and jambs properly.
not wantin to reshape anything or make new profiles... just the car im buildin has some really nice compound curves and dips that i need to work around that cant really be hammered out.......
Be very careful when working with melting lead! Highly toxic, but even more so when u start putting heat to it!
Just take reasonable precautions. File and hand sand only. I wouldn't do a bunch of lead if you let kids in the shop. Just remember to wash your hands before you eat, smoke, or touch yourself in that "special" way.
Can lead be molded like hot clay? Or plastic putty to join the body lines? Was thinking of just covering up the offending body joint lines with upholstery.
Don't tell that to the old masters! They sculpted lead like it was clay, and it held up to this day without issues. Guys like Gene Winfield, Bill Hines, and **** Dean built plenty of "lead sleds" and used plenty of lead to sculpt them. And it wasn't considered "mickey mouse bodywork". There is a reason they were called lead sleds!
Auburn built their 1935 - 36 boat tail speedsters using leftover 1931 - 32 bodies. The hood lines were not the same so they bashed down the corners of the cowl and sculpted new body lines in lead. I have seen very thick lead, up to 2 or 3 inches deep, in old body work. Have also seen rust holes fixed with steel wool with lead paddled over, patches tack welded on and smoothed over with lead. The worst I saw was a 1938 Cadillac. At some time the driver's door was badly caved in. Somebody cut a giant X from corner to corner, pulled the metal more or less straight, tack welded the cut, and leveled it over with lead. As no replacement door was available, and it was holding up ok, we decided to leave well enough alone. It took 4 men to put the door back on the car. Not all lead work was done by old world craftsmen and Swiss watchmakers. There were customers back then who just wanted their car fixed as fast and cheap as possible, same as today. In the fifties the Barris shop was notorious for doing crude work and smoothing it over with large quan***ies of lead.
Hey, The term "lead sled'' was not considered a term of endearment when it was first coined! It's only here in the later days that some think it cool The ability to pile thick layers of solder onto a panel doesn't make you a master, but is usually done for one of two reasons- either you know little about metalshaping/metalfinishing, or are trying to save time and take more of your clients money. '' Do not reach greedily for the Kool-Aid "
Marvin,covering those lines with upholstery ain't gonna work.that is just gonna show through.If you glue vynil onto something ,and there is a hair ,or a dirt speck it will show .
OK Chicken Little,,the sky is also falling???? if your theory is correct ,Bill Hines,Geo Barris,Gene Winfiels would all be long dead..
4 can it be used to shape door edges.....? A trick an old Bondo slinger showed me many years ago. When moving or fitting a door edge , Cut the edge off the door about 1/4" back from the edge, keeping the nice rolled edge intact. Make a filler strip to suite gap you made, tack in place, then weld in solid. Reason = flat welding, flat filler work , flat sanding. You don't have to worry about trying to restore the factory rolled edge.
I have used it in the past for small areas of rust after cleaning it down to bare metal & still holding after years
lots of good info.....and seems like alot of different opinions.....lol thanks guys..... ive been watchin alot of videos of hines...barris....and winfiel lots of molding, forming and contureing goin on with pure lead....
It's been years since I did lead work. I remember that it's a lot of work. it can be molded (cast), it can be formed (built up and sculpted by cutting it back), and it can be a filler. I actually prefer plastic for all of these uses. Lead is cool, but plastic replaced it in the industry for many reasons, and in spite of the romantic notions many of us have towards it, having worked both, I would use plastic.
I jus say to be very careful because i teach EPA jobsite work safety practices in dealing with old houses that have lead based paint and varnishes. Im not saying dont do it, jus saying be careful is all. I never knew how dangerous the stuff is. Lead exposure has been shown to cause, here it is guys, ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION! A**** other nasty things to the human body. Not trying to piss on anybodys parade, but trying to point out the huge safety aspect with lead. Its obviously worked like a charm in the past and is still being used with good results.
careful when dropping names. **** Dean was damn proud that he was one of the pioneers that switched to Bondo. he told me a story at paso 20 years ago. it was about when he worked at the Barris bros. shop. some of the guys got together and had a T-shirt made that said "**** Dean will never die of Lead Poisoning" he also said he had plastic on many cars over 20 years without a problem
Dude there are WAY TOO many who have died and died early, all from cancer, to even suggest that what these guys did back then was safe and not to take percaution when working around these products.
Using any kind of filler in excess is not a great way of repairing panelwork. I use lead to fill small imperfections in areas where it is not possible to planish the steel to a smooth finish. Lead is a great medium to work with and will not chip or crack. So long as you take care it is not a great health risk to the occasional user. The risk is from injestion so use a mask and wash your hands, don't use power tools to shape it and take care (use a mask) when you sweep up after use. I show a little of the process on my youtube footage. David
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