I'm planning on shaving my engine bay, which is basically filling in a bunch of 10mm bolt holes.

Obviously, it's only for cosmetic purposes so strength isnt a factor. Just wondering if using solder to fill in these holes would work? Seems kind of silly but I really dont see why it wouldnt work. The only thing I can think of is that it would forever to finish.

Please chime in and let me know if this is a good/bad idea. I suppose the other alternative would be to use a cheap arc welder, I'm might be able to rent one of those for a weekend.

TIA

 

i welded all mine up and then went over all of them with filler. it looks nice but is a HUGE pain in the ***. i would not do this unless your have about 80 spare hours. just skuff and shoot it. looks nice you can just see the holes thats all

 

Yeah, so far it's been a real pain. But I've been making steady progress. Here's a pic of my engine bay; as you can see it's stripped and ready to be shaved. Well, I do need to grind off the paint but I can do that in a few hours. My main concern is if I should use a arc welder to fill in the holes or try using solder, which might take longer but is hell of alot cheaper.

 

jb weld

 

why not just use bondo? or that fiberglass resin with the glass in it already, that **** works awesome for fill.

 

Just asking if this is a good idea, tells me that you have not tried to do this. Just weld 'em up, grind, and use filler.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DailyDriverCivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just asking if this is a good idea, tells me that you have not tried to do this. Just weld 'em up, grind, and use filler.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Haha, exactly. If I tried it, then I would know my answer

I am considering using fiberglass reinforced body filler, as the guy mentioned, but I'll look into renting an arc welder first.

 

dont arc weld them. arc welding thin metal is a joke. Flux core mig is going to be the easiest route

 

Solder only works on copper. Weld it.

 

You can use solid lead solder but you need to rough the surface up good. Lead solder was the way cars were fixed before plastic fillers so it works great.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CARMA_626 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm planning on shaving my engine bay, which is basically filling in a bunch of 10mm bolt holes.

Obviously, it's only for cosmetic purposes so strength isnt a factor. Just wondering if using solder to fill in these holes would work? Seems kind of silly but I really dont see why it wouldnt work. The only thing I can think of is that it would forever to finish.

Please chime in and let me know if this is a good/bad idea. I suppose the other alternative would be to use a cheap arc welder, I'm might be able to rent one of those for a weekend.

TIA </TD></TR></TABLE>

as long as you get 100% lead you're good...........................you heard of the old school body filler method right?

it's a little diffrent than doing wires.......... and finding lead solder is hard now-a-days!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RS2 FAB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

as long as you get 100% lead you're good...........................you heard of the old school body filler method right?

it's a little diffrent than doing wires.......... and finding lead solder is hard now-a-days! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sure, I know the classic car guys use the lead body filler. I just never thought of using it for this application. Should work though! I'm going to do some more research on the stuff. I just called my local shop and they have metal to metal lead body filler for about 30 bucks/quart. Thanks for the ideas guys.

 

if i was you i would just weld it (mig) shaving the holes on a firewall is something you only want to do once so just do it the right way the first time

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Boostedld9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if i was you i would just weld it (mig) shaving the holes on a firewall is something you only want to do once so just do it the right way the first time </TD></TR></TABLE>

Very true. And it would give me an excuse to buy my own welder.

Decisions, decisions....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CARMA_626 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Very true. And it would give me an excuse to buy my own welder.

Decisions, decisions.... </TD></TR></TABLE>

that and with MIG or flux core welding you can use it on anything and should take you about 2 days to learn.........

however lead bodywork is VERY diffcult, and a VERY rare skill, you can charge old school dudes that hate "bondo" or "fiber-fill" on their cars, and some people just leave the exposed lead on their nostalgic hot rods (RAT RODS ) bare

 

I vote gas/mig for sure. I have done a lot of this, and there is no other logical way IMO.

 

yeah mig for sure, flux core is quick and convient but has more contamination, slag, splatter what ever u want to call it.

 

I used this two part epoxy and worked really good. It gets into the threads of the holes and you can shave the top smooth.

 

hmm hows the expoxy holding up to the elements? sounds like a good idea. the resin with the glass already in it also sounds like a good solution.

 

They used lead to fix dents back in the day so I dont see why it would not work.

 

first off i have used lead filler before and its not a good idea for this, its not needed, not imposible but hard to find good rod, not worth the time and prep work needed, you have to clean with acid, etc etc etc...just mig it

edit: i would pay 10 bucks to sit there , drink a few beers and watch you try and solder up a hole

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by new2novas &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">first off i have used lead filler before and its not a good idea for this, its not needed, not imposible but hard to find good rod, not worth the time and prep work needed, you have to clean with acid, etc etc etc...just mig it

edit: i would pay 10 bucks to sit there , drink a few beers and watch you try and solder up a hole</TD></TR></TABLE>

After alot of consideration, I decided to try using a metal based body filler. What I found was USC All Metal, which is supposed to be as close to be very close lead filler.

I've been using it all day today, the stuff has the look and feel of an aluminum slug. It fills the holes well and is seems very strong. I dont see this stuff failing at all, but I suppose only time will tell.

 

Now you have to post pics.

 

Use a welder and a grinder

 

welder and grinder x32