Projects Filling in lots of tiny holes

So Ive gotta question for the body work gurus on here. My cars done body work wise as far as rust repair and all that, however somewhere in its life time and owner decided that 37 fords needed body trimming and has drilled 38 holes into it for mounting said trim. Whats the best way to go about filling these up so that i dont warp or distort the body, Im not a body man by any means and only had to fix a few small issues on the car so Im pretty new with all this.

 

How big are the holes? like 1/4"or ?????

Small holes I take a piece of copper and hold it on the back side of the hole then weld it shut. The copper will fall loose when you are done and you can move to the next hole.

 

Id say theyre 1/4" or slightly smaller

 

Yep weld 'em. Don't get in a hurry and move around a lot, don't start at the end and go straight down the side. With my method you won't get it really hot, you are on it and off. if it has a dimple a little body filler will work fin to finish it out. And don't pay attention to the metal finish freaks, professional body men and customizers have been using filler since the beginning, first lead then plastic.

 

If the body is stripped, use beaners technique but weld from the inside with copper flush on the outside, less to grind that way.

 

Thanks sir Ill do just that, and its no show car by any means, there are a few places that i left untouched just because its 80 years old and I intend on driving it alot in any weather so she doesnt have to be quite the polished diamond

 

If you can access the back of the holes I have used steel nails to fill in trim holes. Just pull them in from the rear, weld them, cut off the shaft and grind them smooth.

 

Damned good idea never thought of that. ^^^^^^

 

You should not need a copper backer for holes that small, just mug them closed, I cool them with the air gun immediately, virtually eliminates warpage, quick sand with a 2inch disc. Make sure to treat the backsides with paint.


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The copper is more than just a backing in my opinion. I like to get the copper in tight and acts like a good heat sink to absorb the heat from the panel too.

 

I used that technique on my OT bug. Worked just fine, no warping, and I didn't even "air cool' them.

 

WOW now that is a fantastic idea sir!

 

I like the nail idea welded tons of holes with the copper backer trick. If you don't have copper aluminum will work but the copper is a better heat sink. When you grind the welds pay attention to how much heat your creating,I've seen guys use a worn out sanding disc on a grinder and turn the steel blue and warp the hell out of it.


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If you have trouble burning thru thin sheetmetal, weld on the nail and allow the melted metal to attach itself to the sheetmetal

 

Im going to give this nail method a go tonight. Hopefully i get the hang of it quick and can get this thing in paint, been staring at a bucket of blue paint for too long.

 

Find nails that are not galvanized (or have any other coating on them) if you can. The coating causes problems with the welding and leaves voids in the weld because it won't get hot enough to burn the coating away. You will want the nail heads to be bigger then the hole is. Also, if possible, clean the back (and of course the front) of the panel around the holes to bare metal, or the welds can be contaminated. Experience is a tough teacher...Gene

 

Yep this is the trick of you can get at em. And once your done I would get a can of cavity wax and spray the backsides down . 3M 8851 and 8852 wand kit work awesome for this

 

Can't take credit for this I actually got the idea from another hamber- Larry who owned a body shop out by my house. It really helped when I filled a 140 trim holes in my 41 chevy coupe.

 

I used the nail trick recently on an OT truck bed. Worked slick as chit!

 

I like this topic. Are we talking MIG welder here?

 

I would not use an air gun on a sheet metal weld.

I have a former boss who has a whole lot of really pissed off customers with cracks all over their bodywork, all in the metal.

I will give you three guesses how that happened. I tried to warn him, but I am just an engineer, and he was the boss, so he went with his technique.

 

Another idea for your consideration: take a 3/8 bolt and grind the threaded end down to a point making it look kind of like a center punch. Take it and LIGHTLY tap each of the holes so they are slightly concave. Then take a piece of sheetmetal (or nail head) and solder it into the concave hole. Make sure that you use enough solder so that it is higher than the surrounding metal and then just file or ground it down. It's sort of like using lead from back in the day. Make sure that you clean the area well to get any/all flux off (I would use solid wire rather than rosin core solder). Doing it this way insures that you won't warp the metal. And yesa I've done it many times and it works.
Just a thought.

 

I've used the nail method with good results. Don't get carried away with heat.

 

I use a copper paddle, works like a charm and it was only a few bucks off one of the tool trucks.


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A few years ago I scored 2- 3/8" x2" copper buss bars from an old industrial
electrical cabinet, I've made have more
copper backers than I ever thought
possible. Some are hand held tools,
some are clamp on and a few I've made
magnetic holders for, but the real deal is they all have worked well.
.......Jack

 

Before I got my Harbor freight copper backer tool. LOL.
I had a piece of soft 1/2" copper line that I beat flat a few inches up the tube and used it to back my welds. Works great and can be reshaped to fit any contour your dealing with, and the rest of the round tube( say 6-8") makes a great handle. So I say just use the copper backer, go slow, jump around, use a light gauge wire so there is less material to grind smooth, I don't suppose a wet rag would hurt to keep the temp down, just slap it on the weld, to cool it as soon as you stop your weld each time.

 

Harbor Freight copper paddle weld em up. If you can get to the back spray some weld through primer on the back for rust protection in the future.

 

As long as you can get to the back of the panel to hold the heat sink, using a copper or brass backer is the way to go. It makes a heat sink and it makes for a clean fill on the parent material. You'll also want to ensure to put some paint on the inside of each spot to protect it from rusting from the inside. You don't need to buy an expensive copper heat paddle. Just go to your local Lowes or Home Depot and get a short piece of copper tubing. You can hammer one end to be totally flat, and you can hammer the other end to have a slight curve shape.

 

You can use copper penny just clean the back side and use some 70/30 and your done not much to sand off and no distortion. Frank

 

Didnt have very much chop time last night, but I did try out about 3 hole with the nail idea and Im very pleased with the results. Oh and Im using a Hobart handler 130 for welds.