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Tried welding on quarter panel replacements from fixmyrust and seemed to have some warping. My thoughts of fixing this would be to bang the small indents with body panel dollies and slap on some body filler.
If anyone has any experience with fixing warping, please chime in and help.
All comments appreciated!
Those tack welds are way too big from the looks of it. I prefer to tack randomly all over then split gaps until it's just about welded up. Regardless you will be using filler.
I had to make the welds a little big because they would not penetrate through. It would sort of just sit on top of the metal and break off.. I'm not sure if it's my welder or if my ground isn't making proper contact.
the problem isn't that it is warped, the problem is that the panel didn't fit in the first place...it looks to be well lined up with the taillight opening, but up front, there was too much material, which caused the center to bow out...fitment is EVERYTHING when welding in patch panels...for a typical welder, your settings should be "B" and probably "5", with quick bursts, several inches apart at a time, and work your way around the panel
and when grinding down your welds, be sure to do it in segments, as you don't want to apply too much heat to the area at a time. skim some off the top, all around, then a little more and a little more. I like to use a cutoff wheel on each tack after I get around the panel with my first round of tacks (typically 3-5 inches apart) grinding them close to the surface, then doing the second round of tack and doing the same, so on and so forth
the problem isn't that it is warped, the problem is that the panel didn't fit in the first place...it looks to be well lined up with the taillight opening, but up front, there was too much material, which caused the center to bow out...fitment is EVERYTHING when welding in patch panels...for a typical welder, your settings should be "B" and probably "5", with quick bursts, several inches apart at a time, and work your way around the panel
and when grinding down your welds, be sure to do it in segments, as you don't want to apply too much heat to the area at a time. skim some off the top, all around, then a little more and a little more. I like to use a cutoff wheel on each tack after I get around the panel with my first round of tacks (typically 3-5 inches apart) grinding them close to the surface, then doing the second round of tack and doing the same, so on and so forth
Thanks for the info, i will try to post more pics along the way.
I figured there was something wrong with the panel because it was rough trying to get it to fit perfectly.
Would have used 3M panel bond way better than welding and very easy to work with and dry. Look it up definitely worth the small investment.
that was a cheaper alternative, but i wanted to completely remove the rusted parts instead of just using filler. I am going to use filler to cover up the welds though.
3m panel bond isn't a filler but a glue. its suppose to be stronger then a weld, when done right. is the part towards the front of the car over lapping? You are going to have a little warping when doing such a large panel. make sure to use kitty hair bondo as its water resistant and will help fill any gaps after grinding. then do your normal light weight body filler next. make sure to finish tour sanding in 180 or you can have sanding scratches left when the paint shrinks down.
one way to combat warping when welding is having a filler strip on the edge and using that to help strengthen the area.
3m panel bond isn't a filler but a glue. its suppose to be stronger then a weld, when done right. is the part towards the front of the car over lapping? You are going to have a little warping when doing such a large panel. make sure to use kitty hair bondo as its water resistant and will help fill any gaps after grinding. then do your normal light weight body filler next. make sure to finish tour sanding in 180 or you can have sanding scratches left when the paint shrinks down.
one way to combat warping when welding is having a filler strip on the edge and using that to help strengthen the area.
would it work over the welds?
the part towards the front is not overlapping but its sort of popping out.
i tried using a clamp to push it back down.
yeaa i need to find quality fiberglass hair filler.
what do you mean by a filler strip?
as in metal plating behind the weld?
I don't know about it working over welds but it holds just as good as welds for certain panels ex:1/4 panel...it also seals both panels so there is no chance of rust between the 2 which is something that needs to be addressed after you weld any panel in place.
I don't know about it working over welds but it holds just as good as welds for certain panels ex:1/4 panel...it also seals both panels so there is no chance of rust between the 2 which is something that needs to be addressed after you weld any panel in place.
thats true, but I was thinking I could maybe use it for the spots that arent welded in. for example, the wheel wells are only spot welded in a couple places and then usually you would use seam sealer to seal the unwelded parts and protect the welds from rust.
06-23-2015, 08:25 PM
Fixing warped quarter panels
