Side moulding

[Mr Camouflage]

Those datsun dealers were Butchers. Riveting on side stripes? Drilling holes in pristine just off the boat new datsuns. And those VW style overider tubular bars are just damn ugly. Glad Aussie Dealers had more sense.

[EScanlon]

The thickness of the metal is usually sufficient for what you leave behind AFTER you grind off the excess.

For those who are wondering what this refers to, here is a fast description of when this procedure saves time and effort.

Many times when you have a dent with a crease, or body moulding that's been riveted in place, you may end up with holes in the sheet metal. You could try to weld them shut, or braze them, but both of those procedures generate HIGH heat. Enough that if you're not quick and careful, AHEM! excuse me, EXTREMELY careful, you're going to warp the sheet metal.

You've now compounded the problem. You've gone from a simple 1/8" diameter hole, to a 3" diameter dome OR dent. Now you have to use your shrinking body hammer to tap down, hoping to shrink the metal smoothly so that the dent can now be filled with body filler.

Multiply that by 11 or more, PER SIDE of the vehicle (Note: this is presuming 4 rivets on each of the front and rear fenders and 3 on the door, I've seen as many as 1 rivet per 10" of moulding.), and you can see that you have a MAJOR PITA body working night mare.

Here's a simplified fix procedure.

Put a scalloped edge on your air grinder sanding pad by clipping the round edge with a pair of shears leaving a multipointed star shape. Then using just the edge to remove just a tad of paint around the hole to the bare metal. You don't need a lot of removal, just enough so that about 1/16" of the surrounding area is bare.

Your soldering iron should preferably be one of those extreme heavy duty ones about 125 to 150 watts. I have one that's probably 30+ years old, but I've been told that it's similar to the ones used by folks who do stained glass windows. What you want is one that has a fat tip with a taper down to a point. Similar to a sharpened pencil that's been sharpened at an angle.

Then apply some tinning solution to the holes. This is a caustic acid that will etch the metal so that the solder will flow and adhere. Don't use a lot as you don't want to have to chase it down to neutralize it as it WILL cause rust if allowed to just seep into the car. A drop is sufficient, or get a cheap metal epoxy mixing brush and just wet the hole.

Heat your soldering iron. Once hot, insert the tip of the iron into the hole, wait a couple SECONDS and using Acid Core Solder (Rosin will NOT work here as the rosin will make it impossible to paint over without problems), touch the solder to the iron, let it melt and flow down until it surrounds the hole. Then smoothly but quicklly remove the iron while keeping it in contact with the edge so that the solder "films" over the hole. With practice this should only take a few seconds per hole. Don't worry about the excess solder, you'll grind that smooth later. Be careful NOT to overheat, as that will cause the solder to bead and not adhere.

If you have problems getting the solder to film over, you probably have some impurities in the area or are either heating up too much or removing the iron too fast.

Go around the car and fill in all your holes. Again with practice, this should take probably 5-10 minutes. When you're done, use the scalloped edge of your grinder to smooth off the bulk of the solder to conform with the body line.

That's it. Done properly, you will have sealed the hole, not splashed a ton of Acid or Tinning solution and will have metal to back up your primer and paint.

In case you DID get excess tinning solution or acid splashing on the surface, give it a quick wipe with either lacquer thinner (works best and fastest) or just water, but in either case make sure you neutralize that stuff or it will come back to haunt you.

I'll explain the reason for drilling holes to remove a creased dent in another post if anyone is interested.

Hope this helps.

[Ed]

Originally posted by Mr Camouflage

Those datsun dealers were Butchers. Riveting on side stripes? Drilling holes in pristine just off the boat new datsuns.

So the moldings were a dealer add on?

[ZmeFly]

love that idea of the soldering for the holes.

i ll have to do that on my next Z:classic:

[Mr Camouflage]

I expect so. Just like the mag wheels, rear louvers, and anything else the dealer wanted to put on the car to jack up the price.