Hot Weather and Other Excuses

Afternoons have just been too hot to work on the body in the non-cooled work bay, and mornings have been taken up by other things, some of which can't be put off or ignored.

My wife entered the hospital for back surgery on Monday and came home Tuesday, so I have to give her recovery priority over my pet projects. Modern surgery techniques are amazing, but she’s limited on what she can do for at least two weeks and I have to keep an eye on her so she doesn't undo what the surgeon did.

I did manage to begin repairing areas that need body filler and the right rear quarter panel is the neediest. There was a small dent that was mostly taken care of when the patch panel was replaced, but I’m not skilled enough...even if I had all the tools...to totally eliminate the damage with metal forming tools, so I hauled out the can of Bondo. Since the right rear is where I eliminated the fuel filler door and welded in a plate, it took a little more work to level the area. However, I hate relying totally on Bondo, so decided to give Eastwood’s lead-free solder product a try.

 

There are a few places with fairly deep pitting in the sheet metal, along with some pinholes, but the surrounding metal is still solid and unbent and the affected areas are too small to require a welded patch. They are mostly located in moisture trapping areas under chrome or stainless trim and they are localized, which makes them the perfect place to attempt repairs with real metal. 

 

Just as required with the Muggy Weld, cleanliness is important to prevent voids. Starting on a small area, I first wire brushed the pitted area, then used a Dremel with a small bur to dig out any remaining contamination. Unlike the mild honey colored flux in the Muggy Weld kit, this kit has a jar of nearly black “tinning butter” to clean the area. It does a better job of preparing the surface, but even it can’t clean well unless visible contamination is physically removed first.  I didn't get a "before" picture of the damage here, but it was similar to the other pictures, just not as much of it. This was my first attempt at tinning.

 

It took some practice, but I managed to get the melted metal fairly smooth with a wooden paddle before it cooled, so there wasn’t a need for a lot of filing and sanding. A small rasp, a file, and a Dremel drum sander were all that was needed to work the soft metal down. There are still a few tiny voids, but I'll fill them with Bondo and try to do better on the next one. I'm sure my tinning skills will be vastly improved by the time I get to the last area needing repair, and then I’ll never need to do it again.