[baddbob]

I use solder for certain areas where more strength is needed. I never solder over an open seam-make sure to weld all seams up solid or the acid will come back out to haunt you someday.


The steel needs to be spotlessly clean, a wire wheel works well.
If you do get the tinning down and get the solder applied with the right amount of heat just make sure you don't fold any impurities into the solder when paddling it into shape, the heat needs to be just right to keep these impurities on the top. When it's all cooled down make sure to wash off all of the rosin and acid from the area with lacquer thinner first then follow up with a waterbased wax and grease remover- this must be done before any filing, grinding or sanding. If you don't clean it well then the rosin and any acid around the solder will be ground into the surface of the solder causing some major headaches down the road. Final sand the solder with 80 grit and apply two coats of epoxy primer then finish it off with bodyfiller, polyester glaze, or just primer surfacer. 70/30 is easier to work with, 80/20 is stronger. Bob

[Riot Racing]

Originally Posted by baddbob

I use solder for certain areas where more strength is needed. I never solder over an open seam-make sure to weld all seams up solid or the acid will come back out to haunt you someday.


The steel needs to be spotlessly clean, a wire wheel works well.
If you do get the tinning down and get the solder applied with the right amount of heat just make sure you don't fold any impurities into the solder when paddling it into shape, the heat needs to be just right to keep these impurities on the top. When it's all cooled down make sure to wash off all of the rosin and acid from the area with lacquer thinner first then follow up with a waterbased wax and grease remover- this must be done before any filing, grinding or sanding. If you don't clean it well then the rosin and any acid around the solder will be ground into the surface of the solder causing some major headaches down the road. Final sand the solder with 80 grit and apply two coats of epoxy primer then finish it off with bodyfiller, polyester glaze, or just primer surfacer. 70/30 is easier to work with, 80/20 is stronger. Bob

I guess i should really dig up that info about the leading work. They had a kit in there that was similar to lead but was not as posionous. Ill post back when i have some time to dig it up.
thanks guys, Ill look into eastwoods kit

[BarryK]

Grouch,
I think six guns just answered your question.

Nice job, six guns!

[adtkart]

Yes... That is a nice job. I will revise my comment about needing some kind of filler over it. Obviously some people can work it so they don't. I personally don't like to sand lead, and have all of those small particles in the air. I will say that I have not worked around any "lead Masters", in fact not around anyone doing lead work in many years.

I don't think we even knew about hazards back then.

Aaron

[baddbob]

Originally Posted by grouch

Please excuse my ignorance, but why in the world would anyone want to use lead, anyway?

Lead/body solder works well in some areas where bodyfillers wouldn't hold up as well. I often work on areas like door striker mounting areas that are stress cracked where I section out the damaged area then butt weld in a replacement piece- If the patch doesn't weld in and grind off for a perfect fit I'll use solder in this area to finish it off-I wouldn't want to put filler in this area where the striker bolts on with so much torque. Some factory sail panel seams are so deep that I wouldn't want to use filler 1/4-3/8" thick so I'll build that area first with solder then finish off with a skim coat of bodyfiller- or do like I've been doing lately and just section that whole lap joint out and weld in a flush fit piece to eliminate almost all need for fillers. Another area where solder works good is panel edges-some reproduction junk is shaped so poorly that it may require building and edge of a quarter panel 1/4" or more-in this situation the solder also works well-same goes for custom work.

Is solder for everybody?-no I've seen it bite people in the arse with trapped acid coming back to haunt them after the car is painted. I had two sail panel seams go bad one time on a 69 Chevelle SS resto because the acid was trapped in the overlapped seams-now if I solder anything the seam gests welded completely closed before I acid the area. When I went to bodyshop school years ago the first thing we learned was metal finishing and solder technique-now I bet they don't teach either. Back then it was picking and filing-which now I know isn't the best approach.

[jimk]

Originally Posted by ChevyTruckGuy

No kidding, lead very bad. I saw a old guy customizer working on a car on Monster Garage he was like 75 smoking a cigar and filling with lead, one of the lucky ones. It seems to be a better way to fill in low spots and door edges.

Does any one make a lead free product?


Craig

Yup,good ol' Bill Hines.Greatest Kustomizer ever.

[jimk]

Originally Posted by oldred

Eastwood has some "lead free" body filler, not sure what the content is but it comes in a kit. Like most everything else some people have a higher tolerance to lead than others but make no mistake lead poisoning is real and it is bad news. One of the problems with lead is that unlike ISOs and the solvents in paint the lead will not evaporate and go away but can contaminate an area for years and get you when you don't expect it. Some people will argue that lead is safe and point to the "oldtimer" as proof but when they get sick they seem to run straight to the doctors who are warning us instead of the the old guy who managed to beat the odds.

The lead free stuff from eastwood is good.But...you have to heat the metal another 150 degrees or so to get it to flow out good.It is a little better than lead,but,god,you'll warp the whole thing.

[ChevyTruckGuy]

Originally Posted by Sixguns

Old cars have lead in the welded seams, back in the day the factory did not do a good job of cleaning the acid off when the lead work was done. why would they take the time, who would think the cars built in the 30"s would still be around today. you need to remove all the old lead to get that acid and old lead out from under that nice new paint job your about to put on. I enjoy lead work over bondo and when done well bondo is not needed over the lead at all. Here are some shots of my LaSalle reworking all the leaded body seams.

Nice work,
The only thing I built with lead was an x-ray cabinet for welding inspection.
it was 8'x8' with a 2"x2"x1/4" angle frame with 4'x8'x1\2" lead sheets bolted to it. Cut the sheets with a skill saw drilled and counter sunk the bolts. never used a mask but did use gloves and safety glass I should have use a mask I bet I got some lead exposer but only build two of them years a go. like you say you never know what you have been exposed to over the years.

Any one remember when MSDS sheet came out. And you found out all the junk you were exposed to


Craig