body and interior Milestone Crossed - My 1St Leading Effort

[jerry]

i've taken a couple days off work to devote to my 'project'.  i finally took the plunge and decided to tackle the job of soldering the weld seam at the top of the C-pillar just like the factory.  i have to say that there is a wealth of info on youtube and written text on various sites. 

autobody solder is pricey if purchased from sources like Eastwood or from regular vendors on eBay.  i kept an eye out for the occasional listing on eBay from someone selling 'grampa's stuff from the basement' and purchased about 15 lbs of the toxic stuff for a better price.  i did buy some tinning paste, a couple maple paddles and tallow from Eastwood. 

Prior to today, i had visions of leading all my visable weld seams.  Not gonna happen.  not because i can't do it, but rather, i don't want to expose myself to anymore fumes than i need to. 

 

anyhow, i spent about 40 minutes on a scrap piece of sheetmetal getting the hang of it.  it really is a matter of managing the heat source and semi-molten metal.  it took several attempts to actually get the tinning butter to coat the metal.  cleanliness is key.  i sanded, then wiped with Xylene/Xylol?  (cuz i had it available). 

 

once i got a blob of solder on the metal it was a joy to actually use the paddle to smooth it around just like frosting a cake. 

 

my next location is soldering the seam between the rear quarter panel and tailpanel.  i did a rust patch there and am a little concerned about getting the seam clean.  wish me luck. 

 

as an aside, i am having a lot of fun and satisfaction working the dents out with hammers, dollies and spoons.  it is amazing how little force is necessary to move the metal.  again, i learned most of this on youtube. 

[Cyclone101]

I'm also on a learning phase, with hammer and dolly, and it really is rewarding. To see the metal take some shape again after some (ok, a lot) of work makes me smile every time.

I want to lead as well after I'm done with the shaping. I knew and old friend of my grandfather that said he would teach me, but unfortunately he passed away.

YouTube might be my only other option.

[RogueDriver]

Would you share some pics of you c-pillar repair.

[jerry]

Would you share some pics of you c-pillar repair.

will do, but all my photos are on a memory stick at work right now.  actually, i plan to document this project when i get done with all the rust repairs.  it's been a 2+ year effort on and off so far and i wanted to avoid the big gaps in updating a project blog.  done two so far, so i know how it is.  but i do have a couple snippets i can post that i think can help others..  stay tuned.

[TR]

Hopefully I too will be following in your foot steps with the correct way to connect the body panels. Thanks!

[Mike Self]

Ain't leading seams fun?  It's really very cool when you have the solder just at the right temperature and it's the consistency of Bondo--you can actually spread it around with a wood paddle.  The trick is to keep the torch playing over the area with your left hand, and wield the paddle with your right. ( kinda like rubbing your tummy and patting your head simultaneously)  

 

But a second of inattention and you can ruin 15 minutes worth of work (ask me how I know this).  Try it on a vertical seam sometime. 

 

My Fiat Topolino station wagon must have ten lbs of lead in it, as the sheet metal portion of the body is made from very small panels welded together with leaded seams.  Thank goodness I only had to mess with one small seam!  But it was next to the wood body, so I had to be even more cautious. 

 

But it's soooooo satisfying when you're done!

 

mike

[jerry]

mike,  what did you use for your heat source?   i've been using a handheld MAPP gas torch but it's too hot and the flame is too big i think.  my first attempt was more sucessful than my 2nd attempt yesterday.  i think it's a heating issue because i actually got a better result when the bottle was running out and the flame got cooler.  i'm gonna try propane next.  i've seen oxy-acetelene welders used on the videos, but i don't have my bottles up and running at present. 

 

i thought i was being clever when i remelted my practice solder into an ingot, but its melting characteristic changed.  Depending on the activation energy difference between the lead and tin, i'd expect one would oxidize more readily and  would come out in the dross that was skimmed off upon cooling.  The effect was a decrease in the mushy zone.  it tended to flake off rather than stick as the original stuff did.