Body work soldering/leading

Evening guys

Please excuse, real novice here.
I want to repair a steel panel that chequer plate has been fixed to. And want to fill in the holes. I'm not talented enough with a welder, and I think it will be too much heat.

I've been looking into bodywork soldering and leading, its something I've never done. Unfortunately, i cant gain access to the back of the panel being repaired, so filler and fiberglass isn't ideal.

Being as the solder is tin based, which I've read is an alloy. How does that work being a dissimilar metal next to the steel, isn't it a recipe for galvanic corrosion?

Anyone got any tips? Can I used plumbing solder? Lead or un leaded?

Cheers all

Can't help much but I used to work at a classic Jag place (mk11) and the sidelight pressing was blended in using lead. This was always melted off and redone and there was never any rust under it. It looked a pretty skilled job to me though, wooden paddles and soap stuff iirc.

Flossie said:

Can't help much but I used to work at a classic Jag place (mk11) and the sidelight pressing was blended in using lead. This was always melted off and redone and there was never any rust under it. It looked a pretty skilled job to me though, wooden paddles and soap stuff iirc.

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Same as the front wing joins on a Ford Corsair, lead loading it was called, very difficult with out distorting the metalwork ...

Lead loading is not for filling holes its for smoothing out joints/blemishes...buy the time youv'e bought the kit you might as well pay a welder to do it...you prep... they weld...you finish...

Agreed, I've tried leading on a Jaguar, they used it a lot to blend in seams, its very difficult and relies on getting the lead just soft enough to be wiped into shape. I would get it welded, its replacing steel with steel which solves the original problem.

I've seen a few vids on filling in holes with weld...Trevs Blogs is quite good...a good welder can fill small holes with a mig...others stepdrill out a larger hole and infill with a circle of steel cut to fit and held in place while tacking...all use compressor airgun to cool weld quickly...

Plumbing solder for pipe work is the wrong stuff you would need plumbers metal which is 60/40 lead tin and as said can be hard to get right it takes a bit of practice , i have not had to do any for a lot of years

brianp38dse said:

Plumbing solder for pipe work is the wrong stuff you would need plumbers metal which is 60/40 lead tin and as said can be hard to get right it takes a bit of practice , i have not had to do any for a lot of years

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You cant fill holes with it though as when you dress it back it will crack round edges same as filler...

Filling small holes with a welder isn't too hard, either rapidly "stitch/fill" around the hole, or, (as suggested) drill out bigger and weld larger circles into place.

Shippers said:

You cant fill holes with it though as when you dress it back it will crack round edges same as filler...

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Yes no good for actually filling holes but good for panel joins and dents if done right

Shippers said:

I've seen a few vids on filling in holes with weld...Trevs Blogs is quite good...a good welder can fill small holes with a mig...others stepdrill out a larger hole and infill with a circle of steel cut to fit and held in place while tacking...all use compressor airgun to cool weld quickly...

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Try brazing if you're bored ? ....

If your a non welder, look at permatex liquid metal filler.
For holes use a slightly bigger drill than the hole to put an angle on the metal
(might be best to use a blunt drill)
so when you come to sand it you cant push the filler through the hole.

kevstar said:

(might be best to use a blunt drill)

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Countersink bit?...

Shippers said:

Countersink bit?...

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Perfect that would work

Dippypud said:

Try brazing if you're bored ? ....

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I'm not thanks...

In terms of skill and time to get to an OK repair I'd say mig is a lot easier. Also the benefit of mastering mig is that you will be using the skill again, you're unlikely to do much lead filling. I bought an inverter mig a year ago and now the mower deck is fixed, the trailer is fixed, the series bulkhead is done (5p sized holes), the exhaust is fixed and next is to make a manifold. It will soon pay for itself.

Thanks guys.

General consensus is youve persuaded me to wig weld. Couple of concerns though.
1. I have no access to the back of the panel. Therefore any weld is just going to rust/rot so fast.
2. Lack of access behind, doesn't allow me to use a heat sink?
3. Should I be using 0.6mm welding wire? Its a Clarke 160TE welder. I fear blowing holes and just having a birds nest of wire.

One last thing regarding leading. I can get hold of 70/30 lead stick. Is that still not suitable to fill 6mm holes? Noticed quite a few videos on YouTube of people using solder to fill bullet holes :S with success. So surely my repair should be a walk in the park

Cheers

Is the panel flat? One way is to joggle the edge then lay the repair plate on top of the joggled edge. You can punch holes in the edge of the repair plate and fill each hole to make a spot weld.
Re heat - tack it in, then weld short sections not near each other.
Rust proofing, can you get in to spray waxoil? Is there somewhere you can put a hole and bung?

A lot of messing for a screw hole.
I’d use a small wire bottle brush through the hole and give it a coat of JB weld on the inside with a bent bit of wire. Follow up with a blob in the hole and smooth at will.
JB is very slow curing so it’s an overnight wait but if you manage to cover all the bare metal then rust shouldn’t be a problem.

This is a steel backplate from a lamp. Or at least what’s left of it.



Cleaned up with a wire wheel and a squirt of etch primer the JB weld was smeared over the missing bits in stages and sanded back to flat.



It’s an epoxy with added Americanism but works a treat.