patch panels

[mdphillips]

Hey new to the forum.
Just did a CL deal and got a 82 C20. Typical rust in typical places. I'm skeptical of my body fat skills. But their is only one way to learn. Yeah....
Now my question is. Would I if at all be able to weld in patch panels with a 110v 90amp flux core welder. It seams pretty straight forward. Squarely cut out rot. Cut panel to match. Tack weld to avoid warping. Grind smooth. Filler. Sand. Paint.
Not expecting pro results, but I don't want a giant F mess of a job that looks like cancer.
Any tips would be appreciated
Thanx

 

[89Suburban]

I need to learn this too. What is a best tool to use to cut these?

 

[mdphillips]

My plan was to use a cutoff wheel and figure it out from then

 

[hinkv10]

My truck isn't too bad but I've got a little cancer started in those same places. I've watched a bunch of videos online and most people use an angle grinder with a cut off wheel. Of course there are many other tools but that seems to be the one that everyone has. People here recommended the Hobart 140 welder and it is probably the one I'm going to get this summer.

 

[Konas new ride]

Hey new to the forum.
Just did a CL deal and got a 82 C20. Typical rust in typical places. I'm skeptical of my body fat skills. But their is only one way to learn. Yeah....
Now my question is. Would I if at all be able to weld in patch panels with a 110v 90amp flux core welder. It seams pretty straight forward. Squarely cut out rot. Cut panel to match. Tack weld to avoid warping. Grind smooth. Filler. Sand. Paint.
Not expecting pro results, but I don't want a giant F mess of a job that looks like cancer.
Any tips would be appreciated
Thanx

I would practise on some flat sheet metal before i tried my hand on the truck. Can it be done with what you have?? YES.. is it time consuming YES..

What works for me is cutting my patch panel a little bit smaller then the hole I cut. This way when i tack weld it fills in the space between the panel and the patch. This way when i grind smooth the panel there is no bump left behind. Uses less filler also. makes for a better patch i find.


Keep in mind this is just one guys way to do it. Lots of guys will do it differently. I'm not a body man.. I'm used to welding on 1/4 inch and thicker farm equipment.


By a little smaller i mean the thickness of the wire or even a little less..

 

[77 K20]

Perhaps this is the dumbest idea anyone has ever heard, but I too have some holes in the front fenders and the bottom rear corner of a door. LMC makes patch panels. I thought about cutting out the rust and welding them in like mentioned above. But was worried that under the patch would rust... as welding burns off the paint.

What if I used some anti-rust bedliner/rust bullet stuff and "glued" the panel on? Coat the area on the truck, coat the back of the patch and stick it on. Wait for it to dry then for over the top will be a few coats of bedliner. (I'm going to use bedliner on the outside of the truck). It is a work/off road truck so I'm looking for functional not pretty.

The truck already has some dents- which I'm ok with. But I hate rust holes. They get bigger by the day.

Here is the color and what it would look like:

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[bobkyle2]

You'll have to cut the out, to stop it from going on.Once you cut the rust out, you'lld have to prep and cover it with something. I've seen people prep/prime and glue the two panels together, Rivit them together and give it a few days to set up, and grind/blend everything together.

Maybe not the right way to do things...

 

[ScottyB]

I'm not sure how much of these car shows is crap and how much is really good advise but I do enjoy watching them. Anyway, Sunday mornings on Spike they have their PowerBlock which is 2 hours of auto repair type shows. This week they showed doing cab corner repairs. They sprayed the inside with what they said was a weld safe primer so they didn't have bare metal inside anymore. Like I said, I'm not familiar with what they used as I am not a welder but it may be something to look into.

 

[Lugnut]

The weld safe primer is pretty good stuff it has a lot of zinc in it so the arc will start good without grinding to bare metal. Once it is welded only the area right next the weld and the weld will not be coated.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

 

[HAZZARDJOHN]

I am going to say something that may not be popular here, but I speak the truth. Unless you have some emotional attachment to the truck, buy a rust free southern truck and move on. These trucks are not in short supply, and they are not worth the cost of doing a proper rust repair and a proper paint job. This is of course if you want to fix it right so it never comes back. If you want to stuff it, fluff it and paint it on the cheap to get by a couple years before the body work starts to fail then by all means you can do OK. But to eliminate rust so that it will never come back and is as good as new, you will quickly exceed the value of the truck.

My Cadillac is a prime example. I need to fix some hidden rust and respray it one of these years, it will take at least $10-15K to do it right and when I am done it will be worth about $8K max. I will do it because I have an emotional attachment, but if I didn’t I would sell it, and buy a rust free survivor car from a dry climate and never have to deal with rust. I am repainting my suburban one of these years, but I am doing it as cheap as possible and my suburban has no rust except for the tailgate crossmember, and if I find one down south exactly like my Burban for less than the $4K the paint job will cost me I might buy it and sell my truck in a heartbeat. Been looking but it is a weird optioned truck and I want the exact rig.

 

[robert8096]

Use a cut off wheel, weld primer and for better results use a welder with the correct gas to shield the weld. You can use flux core but the weld is going to require more work to finish and more of a chance of blow thru.

Find good metal around the repair. If possible place the patch panel over the rusted area and secure to good metal using sheet metal screws. Then using the cut off wheel trim the patch panel and rusted truck area at one time. This will make sure the repair panel will fit in the cut out area and also give you the correct gap like mentioned above for a smooth almost invisible weld.

Practice on the same gauge sheet metal to get the hang of it and to also set the welder up correctly.

Do spot welds and move around the area. You don't want to weld in the same place for too long. It will cause warping and blow thru. You can use compress air to help cool the metal. Use a hammer and dolly to fix any warping in the area welded then move to a different area and weld,cool and dolly until done.

Practice, practice, minimize warping and patience is the key.

Lots of good videos and books on the subject.

 

[bucket]

That welder will do the job but it will be a pain in the ass, you will have a hard time not 'blowing' through the metal. Being a beginner, you may want to kinda flange the sheetmetal on the truck so the patch panel can overlap a small amount of the old metal. Forming a bit of a flange will let it sit flush and it will be easier for you to weld it.

I need to learn this too. What is a best tool to use to cut these?

I find a small air saw to be just as useful as the cutoff, if not more useful. I also use the air hammer with various cutting bits, but something like that maybe isn't the best thing for a beginner to use. It can get ugly real quick.

Perhaps this is the dumbest idea anyone has ever heard, but I too have some holes in the front fenders and the bottom rear corner of a door. LMC makes patch panels. I thought about cutting out the rust and welding them in like mentioned above. But was worried that under the patch would rust... as welding burns off the paint.

What if I used some anti-rust bedliner/rust bullet stuff and "glued" the panel on? Coat the area on the truck, coat the back of the patch and stick it on. Wait for it to dry then for over the top will be a few coats of bedliner. (I'm going to use bedliner on the outside of the truck). It is a work/off road truck so I'm looking for functional not pretty.

The truck already has some dents- which I'm ok with. But I hate rust holes. They get bigger by the day.

Please don't do that. You can use 3M panel bonding adhesive (I prefer this method most of the time), but it is expensive and requires the use of a special applicator gun that is also expensive.