Anyone used this?

3M 8115 Panel Bonding Adhesive?

as an alternative to welding? I've been reading up on it and apparently it's commonly used in body shops and in some cases is stronger than welding

I used FUSOR adhesive
it really only works on perfectly fit, perfectly virgin metal from my experience.

I have been wondering about this myself. When I first got my car, the firewall had imploded around the clutch cable. I wanted to keep the car on the road so I didn't wish to remove the fuel lines, etc for the repair. I straightened the panel back out and then added an exterior piece of reinforcing metal (16G?) which I affixed with a good bi-metal epoxy. It shows no signs of budging.

I used it to mount flares on mine and have patched a hole in mt trunk with it. works great.

Metal flares or fiberglass?

fiberglass. structerally it will hold better than a weld, but they recomend welding one end of panel on web site. test show metal ripping before bond comes apart.

Rust cells can exert tremendous outward pressure, for example, rust bubbles can lift exterior paint and separate spotwelded metal if the bubble is between the layers.

Many rusty cars in Florida are patched with fiberglass, bondo and metal tape to make them look good before they are flipped. It usually takes a year or two before the latest owner is pissed with finding chunks of patching materials and paint separating from the rusty car hidden underneath.

Hence my preference for buying cars with old paint. Especially old Karmann built cars.

Caveat emptor and good luck.

But really?? for structural repairs in the Hellhole? Thats such a dangerous bodged cover up. Thanks

Like anyhting else, prep is the key. Same for welding.
If you don't clear the old rust, does not matter if you bond or weld, its going to come back and haunt you later.

The bad repairs are the slap jobs that just cover rust, Maaco and flip the car.

If you clear the rust and do the prep a bond can be as good as welding. most of us dont know how to do the right prep for bonding, but know how to weld (or think we do in my case.)

Zach

I used it to bond fiberglass flares on and to patch a hole PO cut to access starter in trunk. Works great when you follow instructions. It also seals bare metal.