Filling trim holes

[Bartman]

I'm finally moving forward with my body work and I removed my side trim last night. I now need to fill the holes that are left behind and I'd like to fill them properly. I have a mig welder with gas, but I'm not very proficient with it...at least not yet. I've also read about other methods like using lead or solder:

http://www.carcraft.com/howto/3065/

Post #14 - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5942

 

Which method should I use? If welding is the way to go, could you give me some pointers on how to do it properly so that I don't damage the panel?

[SHO-Z]

I used 50/50 solder on mine. You do burn up the paint with this methold. I used nocorode soldering paste. I would use the mig welder instead.

[Twoeightnine]

Pop em with the welder!

It's there, it works and you aren't after beauty.

Start at the edge and pop it across.

Look for good tack both sides.

If one was a master welder, one would use a circular patterm with a quick stroke. Dont try and pile up a volcanic bead. You will just have to grind it off and the heat build up could warp an area.

One thing you dont want to do is line up on the hole. The wire goes right into it doing nothing but pissing you off. Start at the edge.

All you need is a fairly decent bead that spans both sides that when ground still holds. Captain putty will do the rest.

Give it a shot. What do you have to lose?

Also unless the car is comming completely apart, I dont think you want to be swinging a torch around and dripping molten solder on your booties.

Believe it or not, I inquired to a friend that just got out of the body working industry after many years of experience. He said that the shop would countersink the holes generously and hit them with captian putty ensuring good pass through. He saw my wide eyes and stated that the modern fillers can handle it.

I welded mine thank you!

[VinhZXT]

Get something to hold a penny behind the hole then weld it. It works better that way. When you are done weld from the back too. Then grind it down. GL

Vinh

[Bartman]

Pop em with the welder!

It's there, it works and you aren't after beauty.

Start at the edge and pop it across.

Look for good tack both sides....One thing you dont want to do is line up on the hole. The wire goes right into it doing nothing but pissing you off. Start at the edge.

All you need is a fairly decent bead that spans both sides that when ground still holds. Captain putty will do the rest.

Give it a shot. What do you have to lose?...

Thanks for the technique, I can try it on my parts car and see how well it works out. As you stated, what do I have to lose?

Get something to hold a penny behind the hole then weld it. It works better that way. When you are done weld from the back too. Then grind it down. GL

Vinh

So the weld doesn't connect to the penny? I may have to try that trick. I've heard of putting something brass behind the hole, but I think I have a spare penny or two that I could use to try this technique. The problem would be holding it there with something while I weld.

[VinhZXT]

I assumed you have to remove the door and lay it flat to start with already. So finding a big rag to wedge the penny in there is not going to be a difficult task. Yup I've heard someone said to use brass but copper should be OK. I highly recommend weld the back also because when you grind the outside down it may not hold. Try it. GL.

Vinh

[AK-Z]

I assumed you have to remove the door and lay it flat to start with already. So finding a big rag to wedge the penny in there is not going to be a difficult task. Yup I've heard someone said to use brass but copper should be OK. I highly recommend weld the back also because when you grind the outside down it may not hold. Try it. GL.

Vinh

I say cut a piece of sheet to fit. Use tape to hold it from the back. Tack it, remove tape, then adjust the piece and tack it again. then lead load it.

 

Don't braze it (or brass weld, what ever its called). Its alot harder to shape and requires more heat to melt, might distort the sheet metal.

[Bartman]

I say cut a piece of sheet to fit. Use tape to hold it from the back. Tack it, remove tape, then adjust the piece and tack it again. then lead load it.

 

Don't braze it (or brass weld, what ever its called). Its alot harder to shape and requires more heat to melt, might distort the sheet metal.

These trim holes are pretty small, which would make cutting a piece of sheet metal to fit pretty tough. I have found info on welding in a nail head and then cutting off the rest of the nail, that might work for this.

[rags]

What I did was to tap down the hole with an awl and hammer. what this did was give me some area to fill up with the mig. When I didn't tap down the holes the fill would just fall off when it I ground it down smooth. I would have welded from the back but there were a lot of places on the doors and rear quarters that I couldn't get to.

 

Joe

[HoustonZ]

Yep, Joe has the right idea. If you can countersink or lower the surface around the bolt, you will have a much easier time grinding it smooth.

[robertsonsgarage]

The easiest way for a beginner is to cut small circles/squares out of bodywork sheet metal. You can make them about an inch or so big. No, you do not have to cut out circles the same size as the trim holes.

Next, assuming you have access to the back of the panel, place the patches over the hole and hold them in place with the head of a hammer or screwdriver(it helps to have a helper). This person can also watch for fires. Now, from the outside, just "tack" them with your mig welder. Hopefully your welder has a trigger so you can start and stop. Even with the lowest setting a mig welder could give you fits by burning through the metal. Practice on a few pieces of scrap. What you want to do is build up your weld bead to cover or fill in the hole.

Do every other or every third one, then go back and do the ones in between. This gives the panel some time to cool off and minimize warping.

Once all done, take a small grinder and just hit the spots to knock down the high spots and work to make them smooth. Do not spend too much time in one spot or you will warp the panel. If you have a really big goober of weld, do a little of a time.

Once all that is done, a good polyester finishing putty will fill in the imperfections good and it's easy to sand.

One last tip:

on the inside of the panel, spray some undercoat or rustproofing. This will keep any moisture from collecting around your "patches" and rusting through. This is especially important if you only use bondo to fill in the holes because bondo will suck up moisture like a cactus in a rainstorm. Then it swells and you'll just be sick.

Hope this helps and if you have any other questions, ask me here or email me.

good luck and let us know how it goes.

Tom

[AK-Z]

These trim holes are pretty small, which would make cutting a piece of sheet metal to fit pretty tough. I have found info on welding in a nail head and then cutting off the rest of the nail, that might work for this.

 

Oh I assumed they were bigger holes.

Just spot weld them shut with a MIG. Wait like a minute (literally) between tacking, so you don't make too much heat. And it its small enough, I think just lead loading would be easier.

[Bartman]

So many good ideas! I'm going to try some of these techniques on some spare panels I have and see which seems to work best. I'm definitely concerned about panel warpage and burn through.

[JustinOlson]

Do you think this is possible with a tig welder? Thats the only thing I have to use...

 

Justin

[sweetleaf]

Use a magnet to hold your copper spoon/penny against the backside..

[VinhZXT]

I did the knocking down method before and after the car was painted I can see those spots are lower than the rest of the body now. I didn't paint this car so I don't know how much prep did the painter did. So if you go with this method make sure you lay heavy primer in those spots so that when you put the paint on it the bondo won't suck the paint down. Good luck.

Vinh

[Pop N Wood]

 

Plug weld pliers Vise grips with a copper backing plate made just for filling in holes

[Twoeightnine]

That plug plyer is going to be a bitch to get around the door and up in the wheel well!

Looks like it would be for production work.

The copper backup is for real and would help a bunch. Forgot that one when I was doing mine. It only takes a second, literally, to fill these holes. no warpage here. If one was to lay down a half inch long five second bead, you would be risking warpage.

Lot of good ideads here so lets put them together, shall we.

 

Sand area to be spot filled.

Sand down the backside of a penny.

Pick up some assorted magnets from the hobby store.

Countersink the out side of the hole but not too much.

Test weld some scrap sheet metal and adjust welder as required.

Install and secure, with magnets, the penny over the back of the hole.

Starting at the edge of the hole, zag across the hole. About 1 sec.

Check it, if it needs some more, wait untill its cool and pop it again.

Grind smooth.The countersink will ensure a positive bond.

Test it, poke it, tap it. Smile!

[heavy85]

Thanks for the technique, I can try it on my parts car and see how well it works out. As you stated, what do I have to lose?

So the weld doesn't connect to the penny? I may have to try that trick. I've heard of putting something brass behind the hole, but I think I have a spare penny or two that I could use to try this technique. The problem would be holding it there with something while I weld.

 

I found filling holes in my floors an exercise in frustration so I would drill some holes and practice on something other than your car. Instead of a penny just take a copper water pipe from the hardware store and hammer one end flat. This way you still have a nice handle. I was a little surprised the weld did not stick to or melt the copper.

 

Cameron

[AK-Z]

I thought acid core solder was made to clean the surface as you are soldering. Oh well A little more cleaning doesn't hurt. They do make a paste for this type of body work with lead for claening the surface. I used flux paste (used for plumbing, and kinda hard to use with type of app) turned out pretty good.

 

And yes use a sander or a course file to sand it down, if you lead load it.