Welding trim Holes?

[xxxtina63]

I'm missing about 1/3 of the side trim on my 67 Ranger and the rest is in "not quite" nice condition. I would like to eliminate the trim completely, but I'm not sure about welding up the holes. The body is 100% unmolested, never-repaired, rusted, or repainted (obviously on the paint). Are there any good alternatives to welding? I'd hate to warp the metal being it's in such nice shape.

[fordman]

fiberglass. i did some body welding on some small holes just for the practice and it worked ok. no real warpage that i could tell. this was on a pickup bed trailer i made from a 78 ford.

[heep70]

I think you would be safer welding the holes. Just don't weld and weld on the same hole. If it starts getting red (the body metal) then back off and go to another hole. Make sure you get all the paint away from the hole and evrytime you start to weld on a weld wire brush the area first. The metal on these old Fords is pretty tough.

I am adding an extra cab onto a Toyota right now. Talk about thin metal. I have the wirefeed down on low and the wire on the highest setting. Even then I get maybe a 1/4" then onto somewhere else I go and come back later. It takes some patients. if you can find an old fender at the wrecking yard and practice. Good Luck

[studdmstr]

You could try brazing the holes closed with a torch. I've used an oxy acetylene torch when doing this. It would put less heat on the body panel than a mig and you'd still be adding metal instead of body filler. You'd still want to move from hole to hole doing a little at a time to keep the heat down.

[heep70]

Thats an idea.

[Big D's 69]

IF you could get your hands on a tig welder you would be set.

[CJ,s 67 F100]

A body man I worked for one summer told me to clean and ruff up the metal on the inside and then cut a 1-1/4" metal patch and bend it to fit perfect over the hole and then lay the patch on a 2" wide piece of masking tape about 4" long and apply a small gob of JB weld and stick it to the inside. Wipe the excess off that came thru the hole and the next day your good to sand and finish. I did this to mine but now they have 4 minute JB weld so we started finishing in about 2 hours. Its just been 1 year but I cant find 1 hole were I patched them.

[72hiboy4x4]

eastwood sells copper pieces to use as backers when welding things like this. check them out....

www.eastwood.com

[xxxtina63]

I think the backing things are called "Copper spoons". I've seen them used before. However, I think I'm just going to have to practice my welding skills on scrap. I've never done but a couple times. Have thought of bonding a plate to the back of the holes, but I don't know how it holds up over time. The Minnesota winters are an extremely harsh environment. Does anyone have any experience using auto-grade metal/metal bonding "glue"? I know some late model cars use it for attaching door skins.

[FORDification]

One trick I've heard about quite a bit when filling small trim holes is to insert a large nail in the hole from the back side and grabbing it with a pair of ViceGrips, and then welding around the nail. The head of the nail lessens the chance of burning through, and then all you have to do is grind it down smooth.

[fordman]

i like the nail idea the best.

[SmokeyBear]

One trick I've heard about quite a bit when filling small trim holes is to insert a large nail in the hole from the back side and grabbing it with a pair of ViceGrips, and then welding around the nail. The head of the nail lessens the chance of burning through, and then all you have to do is grind it down smooth.

I do the same thing exept I use a pop rivet.

[jj's68]

I have welded (mig'd) a couple small holes on my '68. I used the small copper backing plates from Eastwood. They work excellent. They absorb alot of the heat with absolutely no issues with warping. The metal on these trucks plenty thick to work with.

[crazy larry]

keep in mind, anything that can hold moisture on the backside of the panel, will cause rust.

[flyboy2610]

One trick I've heard about quite a bit when filling small trim holes is to insert a large nail in the hole from the back side and grabbing it with a pair of ViceGrips, and then welding around the nail. The head of the nail lessens the chance of burning through, and then all you have to do is grind it down smooth.

That's a cool idea.
I'm gonna have to remember that one!