23 Aug 11 07:00, mark lewis wrote to Mark Hofmann:


 ml>> cut out the area and then weld/braze in a new piece... then grind
 ml>> and smooth the seam... finally, proper priming and painting ;)

 MH>> I have never welded before and currently don't have any tools for
 MH>> doing welding.

 ml> that's why i also stated brazing... brazing is done with a torch and
 ml> brazing material...

Brass rod with a flux either in a can or it comes already flux sprayed
onto the rod.

 ml> it is very much like soldering except that you are melting a stronger
 ml> metal than lead...

Lead and tin. Better used for radiator repair or rebuilding.

 ml> HVAC lines are brazed together... generally with copper rods... i've
 ml> also seen brass used and a silver material but i'm unable to recall
 ml> exactly what,

Silver Solder, which is used with a flux and near the same heat as
brazing. Not really good for body work as brazing and silver solder use a
flux to make it stick to steel. Silver solder isn't cheap either.

 ml>  of several, it was but it is also what i would use if it were me
 ml> doing the work...

Muffler shops used to use plain old wire. My dad used coat hangers at his
garage, which were always contaminated with black paint, ruining his
welds. I fixed that for him by finding a roll of #14 steel wire. Rusty,
but it still worked better than painted rod. Those were supposed to be the
days when I was the student and he was the teacher. Not!

 ml>  brass and copper are too soft, in my opinion, for patching body
 ml> panels on cars... they are also different enough from normal body
 ml> metal that they would likely also not stick properly...

They would work in a pinch, but welding brass/copper to steel needs a
flux, which upsets the apple cart on body work. Flux is an acidic-cleaner
and would contaminate the work, causing his new paint job to bubble and
flake.

 MH>> Not sure how difficult it would be or if there is a "weekend
 MH>> mechanic" toolkit for doing this type of repair.  I'm not sure
 MH>> where to get the proper metal for the replacement piece.

 ml> i would think that plain old sheet metal would be the thing... not
 ml> galvanized, though... magnetic sheet metal... you should be able to
 ml> just get the proper thickness and go from there...

Most welding supply shops have small sheets of metal that he could start
with, say a .060-.090 thickness, 6" x 8". Forget what gauge that is. While
he's there he can inquire about renting a 110v MIG welder and do a lot of
practicing before he attempts the repair. Or take a beginners MIG welding
class in one of the local high schools or jr colleges.

 MH>> It is no more than 3" by 4" where you can see the rust bubble
 MH>> effect under the paint - just on the one side.

 ml> yeah, i'm familiar with the flaw... a pinhole in the paint allowed
 ml> moisture to get in and now it has spread... something like this might
 ml> be able to be handled by simply sanding off the surface surrounding
 ml> area to the bare metal...

I'll bet that it was a window leak, just above the rusty spot. When his MC
was a 'G-body', it had a leak under the dash which was channeled to the
back window area and the floors rusted out. Being a different body now,
it's a uni-body which can have different leak areas.

 ml>  then using primer,

You want an etching primer for this job.

 ml> layer it on so as to bring the level back up... this is what is being
 ml> done when a car is being primered and sanded, anyway... layer on the
 ml> primer, wet sand to remove the high spots... put on more primer and
 ml> sand some more... the sanding takes down the high spots and the
 ml> multiple application of the primer raise the low spots... depending
 ml> on the depth of them, this is generally ok... really deep stuff is
 ml> tapped out from behind or cut out and replaced... i know there is
 ml> also a way to shrink streched metal from a dent but i've not seen it
 ml> done...

That is for someone with a lot of experience in doing that. I wouldn't
attempt to do it and I've got a torch.

 ml>> i guess this depends on what you really want... i'm rather spoiled
 ml>> from watching the TV shows where they go and swipe someone's old
 ml>> vehicle (with help from a family insider) and a week later they
 ml>> present a completely rebuilt vehicle... there were, at one time,
 ml>> three of them on the air... these days, chip foose's Overhaulin' is
 ml>> all i can find...

 MH>> I want the exact same show all the time.  Overhaulin' is a great
 MH>> show.. I wouldn't mind if they paid me a visit..

 ml> i hear ya... too bad they seem to be limited to the CA area and more
 ml> specifically limited to the city where their shops are located... but
 ml> yeah, great show and they do display some of the techniques needed...

Not to mention that they're in the L.A. basin, which the smog laws make a
lot of difference in what they can do. I visited Edelbrock's facilities
and wanted to see the foundry where they made heads and manifolds.
Unfortunatly, they had to move those processes out of L.A. county into
Riverside or San Bernadino county due to the local smog laws. Those two
counties are on the other side of the mountain range from L.A..

                R\%/itt


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