2 fer-- Fill seam at top of 1/4, and patch small rust holes?

[vikingsandpintos]

Did a little "Investigative" wire wheel work tonight, to get a game plan of working on my roof. It had a vinyl top, and needs some work.

I asked about the pitting on another thread, and got some good tips there. Have a couple of other questions now...

First, I had some cracking like old bondo at the top of the quarter. Wirewheeled it, and it was the seam where the 1/4 meets the roof. I was afraid it was a previous repair of a hole, lol. The seam is pretty deep, looks like the ends are leaded. What is the best thing to fill the seam? It looked like just regular bondo filler was in it. Just use that, or "All metal", or something else?

Secondly, there are a couple of rust holes, from 1" to 1 1/2" area or so. The metal around the rust holes looks pretty solid, I hit it pretty aggressively with the wheel so I could see just how solid the surrounding metal is. I have a bunch of chrome trim holes I will be welding closed since I am eliminating the chrome. But these spots are too big to weld as is, plus I'm sure the edges of the holes of course are thin so would burn thru pretty easy. So I'm thinking my options are either "All metal" or something to patch, or do some cutting and welding.  

If I go with cut/weld, I'm thinking there are 2 ways to do that... 1, cut a section, make a piece slightly smaller, weld the gap, ect. Would require a bit of fitting. 2, cut the section, make a plate oversized of the hole, place it on the backside of the hole, and weld it in. But, would then require some filler, much like the seam at the roof.  I'm not concerned with making an invisible type repair on the inside.  

There are a couple of spots on this side. I haven't done anything on the other side yet, but there is already a decent hole over there, and some small ones also like this side.

Any and all suggestions or opinions are appreciated as always! Thanks, Earl

 

[OzCoupe72]

For the larger holes best to butt weld a patch in or you could go with fibreglass reinforced filler such as Bondo Glass which you also should use over your welds due to being more water resistant than regular filler

Personally I prefer to epoxy primer most repairs/welds then scratch up with very coarse sandpaper then filler, glaze, seal with epoxy, sand and high build or polyester primer

Probably a dozen ways to do this but most important to remove all rust, de-oxidize and apply primer or filler to a DRY surface

 

[Bentworker]

Maybe lead?

It can be a bit tricky to work with, but it is about as permanent as can be.

 

[keiths71]

Evercoat fiber tech is a great product. for holes ,seams where panels meet, etc. super strong with Kevlar strands,and. doesn't have shrinkage issues, just don't wait too long to sand it, well worth a little extra money

 

[timachone]

I used something like this

http://www.loctite.de/produktsuche-29727.htm?nodeid=8802653536257

It is a 2k epoxid glue with metal elements. In professional repair shops they use products like this today instead of tin/lead. This was an advice of my paint guy from Daimler/Mercedes Benz. It is much easier to work with than tin/lead. I used it on my quarter panels, wheels wells and all welded patches I did to smoothen the weld spots out. I like it and never had problems with it... After a day it is ready for sanding, bondo and paint and it will never be shrinking. Now over 1 1/2 year on my car, never seen any changes in material...

 

[NG8264723]

I would butt weld it. That's the best way.

 

[OMS]

If the lead is cracked or starting to lift

It was usually left low on cars that were getting a vinyl roof

Melt it out and weld the seam ... USED PROPER PRECAUTIONS WHEN WORKING WITH THIS OLD LEAD

 

[Fabrice]

Take a look at the awesome video SVO2SCJ posted...

https://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-here-is-a-new-way-of-looking-at-electronics?pid=311291#pid311291

Go to 21:32 and see how Ford was doing it.