I'm sure welding them up is the preferred method, but I have over 100 little holes where the trim has been removed from sides, rockers & tail panel. I can borrow a welder but only got an intro course 25 years ago in high school, basically no experience. Is this something I should tackle or just take it to a body shop. There's a local shop that will do it but I have to wait 'til Tue for an estimate.
I just used fiberstrand when i took the trim off of my maverick. Patched them up pretty easily and then just sanded them down. Very easy (if you know what youre doing). tried welding them up first but took way to long.
I'm looking at doing the same thing if I can't find the trim in good condition that I need. I talked with my dad about it a few years ago(he had a knack for sheet metal welding) and it sounds like experience wise, we're on the same page so I'll tell you what he told me. He demonstrated how to use a flat copper spoon and a TIG to fill the holes with pre cut out steel plugs. He welded a piece of welding wire into the center of each plug to hold it by. Make sure the area to be welded is very clean bare metal, hold or have someone hold the spoon against the back of the panel, hold the plug in the hole by the wire and tack it into place. If you are renting a welder, I''ll assume it's a MIG, so tacking is easy. He suggested tacking all in place in a section of the panel and going back and finish welding in small increments to reduce the warping of the metal(especially with a MIG). Using the copper spoon will give a good finish on the backside since the parts to be welded won't stick to it. You should be able to just grind away the excess weld material from the outside and finish with just a small amount of filler. Another option to the perfectly fitting plugs is a plug that is slightly larger than the hole, attach the wire the same way and pull it through the hole and tack it. You can then finish with a little more filler. Sorry for the length of this post, hope it helps. I'm sure there are plenty of different ways to do this and others will surely add to it, so you'll have plenty of options
Both replies have good info that in my limited experience have thought about. Some of the trim holes are so I would think that a tack weld would seal them like on the rockers, but how would one go about getting the right size plugs for the bigger ones?
I read an article in Hot Rod years ago about using tin and solder. I didn't have a welder and it seemed like a better alternative to plastic filler that would eventually pop out. I used the lid from a cofee can and cut out a piece just bigger than the hole. I tinned the fender and the patch then put the patch to the inner side of the fender, heated it til the solder flowed and over filled the holeso I could sand it flush. It was easy and the last time I saw the old LeMans it was still holding quite well.
The copper works, until you get to the doors. Later cars have an inner brace that does not allow you to get something behind the trim holes. What i'm going to do is do a cresent moon pattern, doing tack welds from left to right till it gets to a single one in the middle to finish up filling the hole. That method doesn't require enlarging the holes. Back in 05 when I was fifteen and didn't know better I filled them with plastic filler. Somehow it's managed to hold up, they haven't cracked or sunk in and you can't even tell they're there....... But when I get to painting the car I will do it the right way(welding).
For tight spaces, I've used a machine threaded screw slightly larger than the hole. Light tacked it in place then cut off with grinder then sanded down to the surface.
