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How to fill in the holes in engine bay


Ivan280zt

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this is whats going on right now. i have my engine and tranny out, all the brake lines (engine bay only), all the brackets grinded off, hiden wiring... now i have bunch of small holes that i need to fill in but i really dont feel like bugging my uncle (pro welder) for job like that. i am just wondering if there is any other way to fill in those small holes that does not include welding or using torch. i am open to any sugestions.

 

Thanks

 

Ivan

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Guest woodyhooten

you can get some cheap fibre glass at Kragen or whatever part store you have near you... it works quite well and with some sanding is unnoticable (also quite cheap)

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You could just glue the metal patch from the back with GOOP. just as strong as the epoxy, won't get brittle, and you don't have to clean to really good or sand/grind. Just clean the area with solvent/thinner, squeeze on some GOOP and slap the metal patch on there.

 

A fiberglass patch would be even better than metal. Guaranteed not to rust.

 

What would you use to close up the holes in the radiator support (near the bottom)? that's where it rusts reeeal easy.

I was thinking a metal patcvh with a round hole in it for a rubber plug, just ion case you wanna get in there.

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Guys thanks alot for replys those are some great ideas and i will give it shot in day or two. holes that i am talking about are very very small like size of small bolt (1/12 size of turn signal if not smaller). racerx i will most likey do big holes your way (like hole where wiring comes out of firewall) but is there anythying thats easy to use to plug those very small holes something like jb weld or.... any more ideas?

 

Ivan

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Ivan, Time to break out the welder. This would be the easiest way if you have access to one. I did it to my engine bay last year and took a couple of hours to close them all up. Then it's just body work as normal. Of course if you are doing this on the firewall then revove the dash and any flamable backing on the firewall. Dash R&I is not as complicated as you would think. If you don't want to get that involved the procedures RacerX said will work fine. on small holes you can use a metalic tape like for heatducts as a backing and apply the epoxy from the front. Good luck. Rick

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Hi what I normally do is solder them , you dont get the distortion of welding. Easy when panel is horizontal but can also be done at an angle.

Procedure.

1- Use drill larger than hole to chamfer top edge of hole.

2- Apply soldering flux to hole.

3- Using small soldering iron, preferable but not essential, spin tip of heated iron to set flux.

4- Now add small amount solder to 'tin' chamfered edge.

5- Now add sufficient solder to fill hole.

6- Then pluck soldering iron from hole leaving small ball of solder in hole, dont have iron too hot, you can fill holes up to 3/8th with a little practice.

7- Clean all flux residue off panel and file flat.

I usually finish with acid based derust solution wiped over for good measure.

 

Happy filling Neil.

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Hi Racer x

As I said in my post up to 3/8", the trick is not to have the iron at its hottest or the solder stays liquid and falls through hole.

 

Large holes can be filled bydrawing the iron out of one edge of hole while feeding in solder on the other ,yes it takes practice.

 

If you can get an assistant to hold a piece of wood on the back of large holes makes it dead easy.

 

Holes larger than 1/2" need to have a small piece of metal, in or behind, because the solder is too soft and will not support the finished surface.

 

Yes use drill carefully ,all you need is a clean chamfered surface.

 

Try it see how you go. Neil

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