Got a little wheel well rust that I need to wire brush. This is going to leave a couple small holes. Could I use regular lead/silver solder to fill?
I'll probably get flak for it but I read in some old bodywork books where there was excessive pinholes and the area was difficult to cut out and repair that brazing the pinholes shut and tinning them (on clean metal) was a much quicker and easier fix. I think the tinning is to prevent the brazing metal from reacting with body filler or paint.
had pinholes near the bottom of the doors... ospho on the inside to stop the rust, drilled the holes to clean metal,tinned and soldered.. 15 years ago and still no problem under the paint. should work for you too.
I filled some emblem (badge) holes in my trunk lid 30 years ago in a similar fashion. Cleaned area well before tinning sheet metal and then filling holes. A quick clean and light file. Done. Car is still around to this day with no issues.
I did the body work on my truck and used solder from Home Depot to fill in some pin holes and it works great. Of course you need to watch the temp which is a little tricky. Took me awhile to get it right. I used one those wood mixing sticks for a paddle.
Iv had unexpected success with JB weld This fender after blasting has about 20 holes in it and is thin all over I taped the outside and JBed the inside . Then just did the usual body work and epoxy primer Its been fine for 12 years
I've thought of this a lot. JB weld is just 2 part epoxy. When it bonds to the holy metal, it's just going to stick to it and protect that area from moisture anyway. Never tried it yet, but it's now on my list of to do things. Maybe not large areas or outer body, but if I have to fix some pin holes elsewhere...
As long as the metal is clean, it will work just fine. un tinned metal or only partially cleaned will result in the solder lifting over time. ---John
depending on what damage you are repairing filling the holes may not be the proper fix. is this something that has been rusting from the inside out? if so the holes you see today are just the tip of the iceberg.
An old body man filled the pin holes with solder in my long gone 39 Ford coupe rear 1/4s in the early 70s and it still looks good!
You can do it but it won't last, the steel will rust away from behind. Unless you clean and paint the back side like others have suggested.
A friend filled the molding holes on his 54 chevy like this. I asked on here if anyone had ever used jb for this, everybody said it would not last. it's been on there for two years now...
"back in the day"...1958 as a kid with my first car removed the ornaments, (nosed and decked) filled the holes with a new product 2 part epoxy called PLASTIC STEEL.. pretty sure it was the same stuff as JB Weld..looked and smelled the same... Anyway it worked OK, nobody knew it hadn't been leaded under the paint.. we did do some cheesy stuff...poor folks have poor ways,huh?
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