You'll be fine. Unless you're planning to DD this thing in salt, this patch will likely outlive you. Not everything requires total replacement.
BUICK 1964 Skylark Coupe Project
- Thread starter joesregalproject
- Start date
Got the final trimming done on the outer patch panel and got two coats of regular POR-15 applied to as much of the inner arch as I could. The paint needs to dry and I need to drill the holes in the lip and coat the inside with weld thru primer, then it'll just need to be burned in.
I went and picked up the shrinker/stretcher set from HF this morning. It works well. I did a few practice pieces to get the hang of it. After which I got my small cutoff corner and started putting some more curve in it. Not sure how well I did. I used a template, but the fitment still isn't great. The lip radius is perfect, but now the rest of the piece is off. The area with the arrow needs to be concave, it's currently convexed.
I'm still completely inexperienced with these tools so I'm guessing this is just a result of that as well as the piece not being the greatest to begin with. Still, I was happy with the tools and I'll definitely be able to use them. Before these pieces stacked completely flat, you can see how much radius it actually needed.
I won't really know until I get the outer radius welded in, but it might be easier to just use the one, large lower quarter patch as opposed to doing the corner separately. Less body lines to match up and a bigger area to spread those lines over. The lower rear panel wasn't too bad of a fit to begin with.
And in thinking about attaching the radius patch last night, the thought occurred to me to use panel bonding adhesive on the lip. The stuff is every bit as strong as weld, should be a much better corrosion inhibitor than weld thru primer, and a lot easier to do than drilling and plug welding the whole lip. It'll probably look better as well.
I'm still completely inexperienced with these tools so I'm guessing this is just a result of that as well as the piece not being the greatest to begin with. Still, I was happy with the tools and I'll definitely be able to use them. Before these pieces stacked completely flat, you can see how much radius it actually needed.
I won't really know until I get the outer radius welded in, but it might be easier to just use the one, large lower quarter patch as opposed to doing the corner separately. Less body lines to match up and a bigger area to spread those lines over. The lower rear panel wasn't too bad of a fit to begin with.
And in thinking about attaching the radius patch last night, the thought occurred to me to use panel bonding adhesive on the lip. The stuff is every bit as strong as weld, should be a much better corrosion inhibitor than weld thru primer, and a lot easier to do than drilling and plug welding the whole lip. It'll probably look better as well.
Might need some hammers & spoons to get that finished shape needed. Always good to have a set of hammers & spoons on hand. Even better to have a leather bag to hammer on.
Got the arch glued on the lip today. Still need to weld the rest but it is in place. Overall very happy with the fitment.
Used the same Fusor panel bonding adhesive I've used in the past. Stuff works well but has really gone up in price. These tubes used to be about $45-50. They are now $70.
Used the same Fusor panel bonding adhesive I've used in the past. Stuff works well but has really gone up in price. These tubes used to be about $45-50. They are now $70.
Yep. Weld the outside, inside lip is glued.
I obviously don't have a factory style resistance welder, so if I were to weld the lip, I'd have to drill holes every 2 inches or so, plug weld them and grind the welds down. The panel bond is a lot easier. No drilling, no welding and the glue itself seals and prevents rust from forming between the panels.
OK so my mind was in the right place, this is just a workaround. May have to steal this step for R&R'ing the Camaro quarter panel as it's not going to be exposed to nasty elements.
It's a good product. It's great for lapping patch panels as it will seal between the panels so that no moisture or dirt can get between them and cause rot. If you are doing it that way, you want to completely cover the overlapped areas, don't just gun out a bead or it won't seal and won't be as strong. I have to look and see if I have pictures of any patch panels that I did that way.
The OEs have been using panel bonds for a long time. This is 110% a legit method.
