Well, despite what everyone said I cut out the badly damaged panel and welded in a new piece. I had the piece laying around and it seemed the right thing to use it for. Here are the results. Not too bad for my first time. Here is the spot cut out.

Here is the panel welded in. One low spot on the very rear top part of the panel. I will try hammer and dolly to get it closer.

From the rear looking forward.

The part I was worried wouldnt come out right. Very nice.

Looks good Scott. Now hold a piece of copper or Brass behind those holes and weld them up. Looks like you'll have very little filler now.

QUOTE (rick 918-S @ Mar 23 2005, 04:04 PM)

Looks good Scott. Now hold a piece of copper or Brass behind those holes and weld them up. Looks like you'll have very little filler now.

Ok, This is the first time I have tried this on a car. I used to do production welding but never on a car. Could you elaborate on that a little with an explanation of why? I am always up for good free advice.

looks good!

maybe i can bribe you to do my front fender name your price

I'm guessing that holding some brass behind it will let you fill the hole easily because it will support the weld without sticking and thus welding said support piece to the fender. Haven't tried that... I usually do a couple of short tack bursts to build it across, but I can see how this trick would make it easier to lay down a nice consistent flat base.

Looks really good Scott!

The copper or the brass won't mix with the rod, so you can fill the holes.

Ok, I will try that. My goal is to get this part done today and then DA the whole car and get it ready to paint. Still have some spots to smooth out on other areas of the car. I will get it all in primer for the WCC and then afterwards I will take the car down to Mexico with the engine removed and have them paint the whole car. It only took me 2 hours to cut out the old dented panel and weld this one in. I didnt think that was too bad.

QUOTE (seanery @ Mar 23 2005, 04:13 PM)

Looks really good Scott! The copper or the brass won't mix with the rod, so you can fill the holes.

As the other guy's said. It allows the holes to be bridged easier. Helps reduce the over heating and resulting panel warpage. Acts like a heat sink.

I guess I did ok, I got very little warpage. The only place I did was that top rear corner. There was a little more of a gap there and the metal shrank or something and seperated. I tried pushing it up with my hand in the glove but it got hot pretty quick. That is why I was going to hammer and dolly it more into shape.

Scott let me know if ya need some copper or brass sheet I have some pcs and I can ups tommorow to ya .CYA

Thanks for the offer, I got it handled. All the holes welded up and hammered and dollied it till it was pretty nice. Now I am applying the filler for the parts that were not so smooth. Should be done or really close tonightt. I will take pictures of the finished panel. Gimme just another hour or so. The sun is going down now so Iw ill have to close the garage door soon so as not to upset the neighbors with the grinding and sanding.

QUOTE (seanery @ Mar 23 2005, 07:13 PM)

Looks really good Scott! The copper or the brass won't mix with the rod, so you can fill the holes.

Great idea... now, how will he hold the brass/copper and weld at the same time?

BTW, my 800th post...

I had a piece about 2x8 that I clamped to the metal with some fancy vice grips with big jaws. Then I just welded in the holes one at a time. Did a lower one, then went to the other side and did one and then came back and did a top one and so on till they were all done. Piece of cake. Thanks for the tips guys.

Ouch!!! There is nothing like the feel of a wire wheel racing across your knuckles to wake you right up. Damn that hurts!!

Nice job Scott! Looks great!

QUOTE (skline @ Mar 23 2005, 09:05 PM)

Ouch!!! There is nothing like the feel of a wire wheel racing across your knuckles to wake you right up. Damn that hurts!!

Yep, feels like crap. Really after the first douse of soapy water.

I didnt put anything on it yet, I have too much to do yet before cleaning up. The blood is just running down my hand and clotting so it will push any bacteria out as it bleeds. Right?

QUOTE (skline @ Mar 23 2005, 11:28 PM)

I didnt put anything on it yet, I have too much to do yet before cleaning up. The blood is just running down my hand and clotting so it will push any bacteria out as it bleeds. Right?

Yeah you should be fine. But just to be safe... when you are all done working, be sure and scrub that area with thinner to get it good and clean.