Adhesives vs. Welding for floor pans

You're probably right. Waste of time. I'm more than done with it.

 

thesupersized, i built a form out of the stuff to push a body line back into a '32. it had been hit in the quarter and i needed to get part of the body line back in shape before i started hammer and dolly work. i cast the mold off of this side by waxing the inside and applying the mixed adhesive. pressed it into place with a thin piece of frp and let it dry. i was going to use it as a template to carve out a maple buck, but instead decided to try it as it seemed very hard itself. worked pretty good i put alot of pressure on it and even did quite a bit of hammer work against it. got the transfer and finalized with hammer and dolly. good luck, the adhesive its self is not too high it's the damn applicator guns that get you. it might just be worth a try for your application, although i think you already answered your own question.

 

I guess it's a good thing that Tinman quoted you to keep some sort of continuity to the unreasonableness you've spewed....

My first thought.....you must not own a car...I mean...ANY car. If you won't buy anything with a welded, glued or rivited panel in it that pretty much ensures you can't possibly be a vehicle owner.

Back to the thread. Whiile I don't have first hand experience using these bonding agents I will be soon on a large expanse of flat steel cover that will be applied to a hard top tonnoe (sp) cover.

 

To answer the OP, MIG plug welds and seam sealer are the closest you're going to get to factory w/o a spot welder. It's also hard to bugger anything up that way, too, so long as you figure out how to plug weld.

I should also add that the automotive aftermarket adhesives sold by 3M, norton, ect. are designed to set under compression and need a fairly thin layer to reach full bond strength. if you just apply some glue and press the panel on w/o proper clamping, you'll be able to break the bonds easily. it's just something to keep in mind, if you can't clamp the panel with reasonable force, you should probably stick to welding. I will say, though, that the stuff holds up really well to heat cycling. I repaired the faux louvers on the hood side of a stanley steamer (soldered construction) by replacing the side and using panel bonding adhesive to glue the louvers back in so there was no heat damage, but the top solder seam broke loose, so I had to re-solder it back together and had no issues with the adhesive lifting or anything of that nature. if you paint over it, make sure you scuff it with a scotch brite at least and put a good 2 coats of epoxy primer over top the adhesive, or it will bleed through. I've found it works well to take general purpose enamel thinner and wipe anything visible off the surface so you don't have to worry about discoloration. after all, if you can see it, it's not holding anything together.

 

I guess you mean this:

You're right. This was so unreasonable and inflammatory, that I deserved all those personal attacks.

 

Agreed.

 

Thanks for all the great info, suggestions, advice, comments. I can see that this is a divided subject.
Sounds like both welding and adhesives have there place. I am not a pro like many of you, but am in my second year of welding at a local community college, after being layed off from a 31+ career. So I think I now can weld a spot or bead. I probably will end up using both adhesives and welding, depending on my capabilities, what part is being treated, accesibility to the part/area and visibility of the finished piece.....thanks again!

 

Hey T-Time.....
1699 posts...aw com'mon , just one more please..
and watch out that the door doesn't hit you on the ass on the way out!

 

Weld 'em in. Learn how, rent a machine - whatever you need to do. You are practicing Hot Rodding, hot rods are not built with glue guns. You are working on a traditional car and need to learn and practice the traditional technique. it might be harder, it might be more work, it might be a pain in the ass but that is the nature of the beast. Would you buy a car that the guy admitted to gluing in the floor pan?
Save the glue gun for when you restore a Kia 20 or 30 years from now.

 

Weld 'em; Rocker repairs, floor pans, body panels, anything that I can weld, that's my choice.

I use the adhesive gun for something on a finished car, from behind the panel, or attaching a cover plate over a hole I had to cut to access something where I don't want to ruin the paint or upholstery from the heat of welding. But on initial work, weld it.

Welding costs less, is more permanent in most cases. Actually, the Harbor Freight machine cost me less that $120. It's been with me for half a decade now, new spool of wire($60) every couple of years..................Tooling up to do adhesives on a big job is going to cost a LOT more than that.............

 

when i wrked od big Sky i tucson az i was told to use 3 panel bond on a 2007 charger to remover the door handles and then used rage gold to smouth it out.they told me it was stronger then welding.well you could see the out lines of the sheetmetal patchs that covered the door handle holes.it keep showing up when it was hot out side. i removed them and welded them up 'never had a problem with them again...carlos in Tucson Az

 

HTTP cyberbully??? Your line of 'work'? What happened while I was sleeping? LOL

 

all this talk of gluing in floor pans ???? am I the only one who would butt weld a floor pan patch? I must be.

I have a friend who used some sort of glue to put pans in a 55 chevy. looks pretty strong and I suppose it will work. you know... your feet won't be dragging on the pavement and water probably won't be entering the car.

carpet will cover the inside, but I wouldn't want obvious glued in floors visible from the underside of the car.


one more thing... floors are a great place to learn how to weld sheetmetal since warpage isn't as important,

 

Think of resale. If you're talking to a guy about your car and you explain to him that you fixed the floors, do want to say "I glued them in", or "I welded them in"?

 

Some of the floorboards in Hot rod nash are wood. If I were to attach an adjacent panel of steel to that wood, adhesive might be the choice. As for choosing one method over the other??, I don't figure anybody could care less, but if they don't like it to the point of getting emotional about it, fuck'em.

 

cyberbullys.org that's funny, some people need to step away from the keyboard now and then....

oh and i'd weld them in

 

It looks like you got some on your tire .

 

This is good advice,too.
You're a lot less nervous when you're learning on a panel no one's really going to see when it's done.

 

This is on the tank

 

There's so much talk here of preserving hot rods for the future.A metal weld is forever so long as corrosion isn't an issue.Adhesives are not forever.I believe an aircraft can be glued because they have a definate lifespan in mind when built.

 

1959 394 with goodies mate thread here if your interested http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=340961

 

I don't have an OPINION about which side of this debate is right or wrong.

There was another post asking what you learned on HAMB.

I didn't post there however I have learned that there are often 2 different OPINIONS about a question and each side has PROOF that The other OPINION is totally wrong.

Often the OPINIONS are based on the OPINION giver looking at the question from a different slant.

Therefore both OPINIONS are correct.

I have had good results using JB Weld. I would not JB Weld certain things.

Others have had bad results using that product and in their OPINION JB sucks.

Anyway sometimes there are 2 opposing viewpoints that are both valid.

I love HAMB but sometimes members get too personally involved in pressing their OPINION when answering a question.

I have fallen into that trap myself and have to guard myself to avoid that trap.

Dick

 

The floor is a structural area. I would use a combination of welding and adhesive as it make for a really strong floor. Make sure the welds are in the stress areas. (areas that flex and move) So Corners, the edge to the rockers front and rear seams. The new cars use the adhesive and about 1/2 the spot welds. It works, but what are comfortable with?

The Old Tinbasher

 

I'm outta popcorn.......damn

Seriously, this is great information. I appriciate the comments on both sides, good education for a dumb ass like me who don't know shit from shinola about adhesives. I too have had some questions concerning using it to fill in trim holes and small areas of the like.

After reading about the door handle fiasco, I think not maybe.

Thanks again.

 

After reading through this thread, 49ratfink gets my vote for best response.

 

And Lexus and Mercedes were engineered to use adhesives instead of welds. That doesn't automatically make it applicable to your car. Yours was welded together. Weld in the replacement floor panels.

Bob

 

I think this subject has run it's course

let's get back to traditional rods and customs