Hey Richard, If I had a large panel that was pitted badly, and replacement wasn't in the cards, Aluma-lead, Allmetal, Almostmetal or Wannabemetal wouldn't be my choice! All of these "products'' are pretty much the same animal, they don't sand very easily, and that's not something you wanna be dealing with when you are trying to "fair'' out a panel via the use of filler. Today's preminum fillers are so much easier to work with, and produce better results than the above ever delivered. I'll admit, I haven't used any of the aluminum powered fillers in over thirty years, but when last I checked they're all the same, basically ground aluminum flakes, some glass fibre, talc and clay fillers suppended in polyester resin, not epoxy resin, not urethane resin, but polyester resin! Polyester is a very old plastic technology. So what you're buying is old resin technology( same as used in cheap plastic fillers) and some floor sweepings for a preminum price. I won't wander into adheasive technology, because who cares? but this product is a hustle! As for using this product or any other plastic filler to seal welds................guess what? if your weld is porous, it's defective! Seam sealer is the product the automotive industry has designed for sealing gaps in panels, not plastic fillers. Seam sealer remains semi-flexable to yield with the vehicle's panels when they flex. Glassfibre, held onto the vehicle with polyster resin or fillers that don't flex well with expansion or contraction allow water to enter the welded seams and rot begins again. " Life is a minestrone "
Richard, In your case I would personally recommend something like Evercoat's 'Eurosoft'. It spreads wonderfully and is easy to sand. If you mix in a slightly heavy dose of hardener it spreads even smoother, but also hardens quicker, so you have to be on the ball so to speak.
Hey, 'sounds like it's time to get out the mop on this post.................'didn't mean to ''look down nose at others?", and sorry if it came across that way! My intent was to highlite the abuse of plastic filler! Prior to the introduction of plastic filler to the collision repair industry in the late 40s, damaged vehicles were repaired in one of three ways- panel replacement (rarely) solder work (leading) & metalfinishing. The craft of body & fender repair was a highly respected/skilled trade. This all changed with the introduction of cheap fillers and their use, largely championed by the insurance industry. To actually straighten a dameged panel , metalfinish it , to where no fillers are used vs. just covering over the damage with ''putty'' can't even be compaired. Sure , lead was abbused, but that like the use of plastic filler came later. I'm told in the 20s & 30s that the metalman was expected to furnish his own lead solder to fill that which he couldn't straighted, the shop would provide it, but deduct its' cost from his pay! This ment that you got pretty good at metalfinishing. Today, I run across members of an entire generation who have no idea about the roots of traditional metalworking, and have been lead to beleave that ''Fender-In -A -Can'' IS metalwork! To suggest to someone that there is no need to spend much effort to get the repair within a couple swipes of filler, and that metalbased puttys are ''just like'' metal is like sayin '' don't bother to build a car, jus' write a check for one, instead!" " Don't be to quick to drink the Kool-Aid"
I sure wish the the "metalmen" of the 20s and 30s could have passed on their craft to some of us. It would have been an honor to have been in their presense and watch and learn from them.......
Yup, well stated. I used Allmetal on all welded seams and its been over 15 years on a pair of qtr. panels; no cracks, blisters or shrinkage.
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