Sometimes its nice to use some new age technology. Anyone ever glue any patch panels or quarters, floors, etc. to your hot rod? Its supposed to obviously prevent warping, its a strong or stronger as a weld, and you don't have to worry about the backside rusting since you cannot paint then weld. That would leave a bare metal spot at each weld where you cannot get to it yadda yadda yadda. I am interested in trying this since my car came with fender top moldings I want to remove and weld (or glue) in some intricate metal that I do not want to warp from the heat. Also would like to keep it protected on the underside. I use galvanized steel usually when I patch but when you weld it I believe it looses some of its rust preventative properties. I did try this once but have no idea how it turned out since it was not my car!!! I think it went pretty well but it was just a simple patch panel I made for a wheel opening arch. Anyways, any ideas or horror stories are all welcome especially any long term results. Thanks a lot.
I have worked on a customer's pickup, on which he patched the rear of the cab with a flange and glue KIT. It was not good. Black truck, and in the heat you could see the seams. I would never use it in patch panel, unless I was patching at "factory" seams, or where it would be covered by trim. I have used epoxy adhesive to bond hubcaps to trim rings to adapt to other wheels, and have used it to attach pickup tailgate skins, and other places where it will not create a double thickness line to show through paint.
I haven't had any personal experience with glue, but would like to see how it would turn out on an a hot rod. The only issue I could see is cutting back into that panel for any reason, and NOT being able to weld something to it due to the glue... some things like brackets and supports should just be welded in my opinion. My friends newer Chevy truck (2003) has the driver side door just about falling off of it... he went to the dealership to buy a set of hinges for it and lo and behold... the doors are glued. I got a good laugh at that. Ford still bolts their hinges on.
I have a friend that does alot of ins. work...While at his shop he glued a new door skin onto a late model car.. I played with the left over glue. I put 2 pieces of metal together to test its strength... Next day they could not be taken apart...It will fill small holes but I dont think I would use as a patch by its self..
Strength is not an issue the problem as stated by GreggAz is that no matter what you do there is a very good chance that the seams of the patch will map or show through the paint. The glues do not expand and contract at the same rate as the metal and this causes the seams to show through.
I had a 70 mustang that came into the shop for restoration and someone had glued patch panels on the rear of the 1/4's I thought it would be hard to remove but with just alilttle heat from my heat gun they fell off. I don't think I will ever use any of the glues unless you can show me where henry used it on a 32 ford.
used panel bond epoxy once on a oliver hood once. it had alota pits that turned into holes after blasting it, peened em in and masked the back side, applied the epoxy and was able to finish it with a 3" grinder it turned out good, but for bigger panels im a firm believer in welding, go slow and skip around.
That's interesting. Well if that's the case... then if you did use glue and had to weld around it, the heat would weaken it. Go for the weld and keep it simple.
from what I have seen, it works good. Just need to use common sense and pick how you use it. I think this application makes sense to me. And if it doesn't work to satisfaction, what is the loss? Heat it, remove the patch and start over.
Loctite 9430 hysol epoxy adhesive, I have also used this in place of bondo. when mixed with cab-o-sil and microspheres it will not sag and becomes sandable. this is hi tec auto body at its best. Apply it over epoxy, have had very good results with it. Do a search on the Web and check the data on it.
Yeah its scary stuff on a hot rod and being the top of the fenders where the sun shines nice and bright, I don't want to chance it. I will tack it on little by little and that should do the trick. I have no problem doing the metal work so thats what I will do! Probably funner anyways. Thanks!!!
I have seen panelbond used many times with great results. I welded the floors in my Bracket 67 Cougar but wil be glueing the floors in the gasser Comet as soon as the frame ties are in. Dave
I glued a panel over the original doors on a 26 t. Covered up all the bullet holes and needed only a touch of bondo at the edges where it butted up to the bead around the T door.
It's only as good as the person applying it. If you know what you're doing and what you're working with, it's a good tool to have at your disposal. It is not better than welding, no way. Absolutely not for patches. Lame on a hot rod. Besides, Glue is too sticky anyway...
Adhesives work very well for what they are intended for. Glueing in patch panels is not what they are intended for. They are designed to attach full panels at seams that are not designed to expand and contract unlike what you would find by gluing a patch into the middle of a panel. Like I mentioned they do produce incredibly strong bonds when used for their intended purpose. The problem with giving it a try is you will not see the problems until later on after all of the finished body work is done and painted and the car has been exposed to heating and cooling cycles of being outside.
I was thinking about how I could do this on my Lincoln and I think it will work and its not a patch panel. It will simply be sitting atop the fender actually along a seam that is found under the original chrome piece. I have no inner fenders so the top of the fender is accessible. I can experiment no problem but like you said...long term effects are the big question. I know the results will show up after the car is done. I don't want to find out the hard way but it pieced I want to fab and glue on should not be under any pressure at all. I hope that helps in the end.
I used a product called Fusor to do a roof skin swap. I removed the old skin at the spot welds, dropped the new skin in its place, applied the glue, put a **** ton of C clamps on and it worked great. I also did a floor pan patch with some left overs and it seemed to be fine. I had no access to welder or welding experience so I went that route. In the future I will use a welder. It just seems a little better just because its what the maker original used (and still continues to use) to assemble the car. Its been proven to work, but I haven't had any experience that says that adhesives don't work either.
And in the case of the patch panel mustang, you have no idea what glue they used to attach them, really, either.
I sold materials to the aerospace industry for 10 years. they glue metal all the time. the process is called "Metal Bonding". it is cured under vacuum and in an autoclave to remove any voids. they put the parts on the planes you fly in. If you can work out the process...itll work on cars too.
Question .... How will it work on some small holes in the floor board? Nickel,dimes and quarters size holes ,Three to be exact.... Cut small metal patches and then GLUE them in? GOOD or BAD for a short time ??????? I've never heard of the stuff .............
lol! Surprised I have not gotten an Elmers joke yet! Don't be afraid of change, even welding was new once (I think!) But they still do it so that says something too. Some manufacturers are gluing some things but its becomming more popular. Maybe I could weld one side and glue the other and get back to you in 10 years.
I used fusor to french the tailights on my 54 Chev (potmetal) and it worked great...except for when the car's in the sun and you can see the ghost line. I'll probably just have a pinstriper make some lines to cover.... As has been stated: don't use it on any patch panels or anything where there isn't a natural body seam.
In my other life many years ago as a guitar repairman, I used a large variety of glues for all the different materials I worked with. One was superglue, and I wrote several articles about using it in the repair field (makes a quick, beautiful finish on a maple Strat neck). Anyway, I did some research in concert with a well known adhesives maker, and one of their scientists remarked that they were working on a glue synthesized from barnacle glue (the strongest glue known to man). He figured that if it worked, you could glue a rocket shut while it was running!!!! I figure that's more glue than we need.
I work for the Automotive Aftermarket Divivsion of 3M and call on Bodyshops every day. We dont recommend using adhesices for patch panels. The adhesive expands and contracts at different rates than the metal and what happens is what some of you have experienced and that is a bond line or ghost line will occur where the panel has been patched, especially on a dark car. Welding is the way to go.
The Jalopy Journal
