Patching holes in body panels

[tpb]

I have holes all over my D110. They range in size from 3mm to 50mm in diameter. Most of these are through body panels in random locations. Like, say, the driver's door. I can't afford to replace each panel, and it the duct tape is starting to peel off. I'm also about to start painting it. Anywho, I'm looking for input on patching the holes.

It doesn't have to look pretty, it just has to work, work well, and last. My understanding is that the panels are some aluminum alloy. I'm getting better with the MIG welder on steel, but I don't have any aluminum-specific gear (yet).

Has anyone here welded to the panels in the past? Any "gotchas" that I should know about? What sort of experience in general did you have? What sort of equipment were you using?

thanks!

[OilIT]

I have holes all over my D110. They range in size from 3mm to 50mm in diameter. Most of these are through body panels in random locations. Like, say, the driver's door. I can't afford to replace each panel, and it the duct tape is starting to peel off. I'm also about to start painting it. Anywho, I'm looking for input on patching the holes.

It doesn't have to look pretty, it just has to work, work well, and last. My understanding is that the panels are some aluminum alloy. I'm getting better with the MIG welder on steel, but I don't have any aluminum-specific gear (yet).

Has anyone here welded to the panels in the past? Any "gotchas" that I should know about? What sort of experience in general did you have? What sort of equipment were you using?

thanks!

Gas based welding of ally is quite tricky, and tig is quite an expensive set up. if you take a look at www.frost.co.uk they do a product called lumiweld:

"Lumiweld Kit can be used anywhere to make a strong fused joint [similar to brazing], using only a butane blow lamp as a heat source. It will work on almost any type or grade of aluminium including Dural, Birmabrite [Land Rover bodywork], zinc alloys, Mazak, pot metal and die cast, resulting in a joint stronger than the parent metal. Tried and tested widely in motorcycle magazine workshops, Lumiweld has hundreds of applications for the car restorer too, such as broken carb flanges, thermostat housings, rocker covers, cracked aluminium engine blocks and cylinder heads, etc."

Ive never used it, but made a mental note to give it a try (albeit for about 5 years now!), you may want to see if you can get some of this stuff over there and give it a try - feedback on results would be good as well !

[Big_Jon]

I have tried HTS-2000

http://www.aluminumrepair.com/

Good results but quite a lot of practice required.

For those of us in the UK.........

http://www.aluminiumrepair.co.uk/

Just practice lots first!

Jon

[LandyManLuke]

you can MIG aluminium, I've done some. you'll need to change the gas and wire, as well as the liner. It's certainly not as neat as TIG, and there's a nack to it, but it's definitely do-able.

[Night Train]

The 3mm aluminium sheet I used for building my box trailer was riddled with 8mm bolt holes from when it used to be a building site hoarding.

I used Plastic Padding Chemical Metal.

Each hole was rough and feathered so I stuck a bit of duct tape on the outside to produce a flat surface and then filled the hole from the inside. Before it cured I flattened the bump in the tape on the outside with a bit of wood and then left it. After it had cured I peeled off the tape and left it at that. The trailer has been battered and bumped and abused shifting stuff but the repairs have held.

[NicTheOrange90]

Whats wrong with body filler - if you push the edges of the hole in (as stated in one of the other posts) you get a good 'dent' to fill.

For the larger ones, perhaps a fibreglass patch on the back after you have done same to edges etc..

What cause the holes in the first place ?

[lrfarmer]

hi

if your not worryed about looks pop riviet some ally plate over the holes in ally and weld any in steel.

on the ally thay can look ok if you put thort in to how you want the plate to go(my farther inlaw has done this he's up tomorrow if he bring his 90 i'll get a photo or two). and any on steel most of the bits that go you can get repair bits for.

Tim.

[lrfarmer]

sorry no pics he came up in his disco.

[Def Rich]

screwfix do a glass fibre kit that says it can be used for filling large gaps, they also do a couple of different types of filler. looks a pretty useful thing to know of. notbad price either.

used it before on batt box and still holding up strong after alot od mud and water

[Mo Murphy]

Don't go waving a blowtorch anywhere near any of your panels (as posted above re lumiweld) they will quickly distort and not go back on cooling unless that point has a lot of form in it.

HTH

Mo

[Guest mortus]

just go to the local auto shop and but a pot of body filler, simple and paint ready in less than an hour, and has a good flat finish that can be sanded.