TheSamba.com :: View topic - Eastwood No-Weld Panel Repair Kit

Fri Jan 24, 2014 10:39 am

I need to do both lower rear quarter panels and the battery tray on my bus. I was just talking myself into a low priced flux core welding setup when I stumbled across this product;

http://www.eastwood.com/ew-no-weld-panel-repair-kit.html

I did a bunch of searching and there are threads on the other Eastwood repair kits but nothing on this.

Anyone done a decent size repair w/ this product or seen the results?

Fri Jan 24, 2014 11:40 am

You are just asking for future problems with that type of repair. But weld in the panels if replacing center sections or the plugs to replace the spot welds if changing out an entire panel.
Don't go flux. Save and get the gas. I got a little eastwood 135 and started welding about 8 months ago. Once you find the setting for the metal it is easy as pie with the gas.
Lots of spot welds in interval spacing, keep the panels cool. It is not hard at all.

Fri Jan 24, 2014 11:55 am

Thanks for confirming what I really knew already. If that kit was so great we would hear about a lot more people using it.

I'll seriously consider the MIG setup.

Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:41 pm

djway3474 wrote: You are just asking for future problems with that type of repair.

Don't go flux. Save and get the gas.

X2 on both of the above!
I almost gave up welding when I was using flux-core . . . the gas makes all the difference in the world for me . . . that and my auto-dimming helmet!

Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:37 pm

Not sure about the Eastwood Kit, but Wurth, 3M, and Lord all make two part panel bonding adhesives that work well. Panel adhesive is great when heat will damage a repair, or you aren't able to get on the back side of a repaired panel's weld to rust proof it like in a rocker panel. The areas you mention are all accessible on both sides of the repair, so you could just as easily weld it.

Wed Jan 29, 2014 7:28 pm

Lots of manufactures have been gluing on body panels for years - Its a very valid method. When we did the VW woodie - we did quite a bit of glue on panels. We used the Lord system and it aint cheap, but it works great. No panel warpage and no tack - wait, tack - wait , tack - wait.

Read the reviews and talk to a couple body shops - bet they all use similar systems for a lot of their work.

Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:53 pm

New cars are designed to be bonded together ie with lord fusor 112B is one /product.crash/ stress points are engineered in design and factored into when glueing these panels.

Vintage vehicles were not designed with these modern joining methods in mind.Welding is the only way to go when doing a stock restoration.

Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:29 am

What specific way/area have you found the panel bonding not to be beneficial?

Sun Feb 02, 2014 4:10 pm

[email protected] wrote: What specific way/area have you found the panel bonding not to be beneficial?
Every panel adhesive rep will tell you that the modern adhesives will work better than welding on older cars.
A few collision guys will say the same thing.

I've used it quite a bit on newer cars without any issues. It's fantastic for replacing pick-up truck box sides. :)

But there is no way I'd use it on an older ride, except for maybe a roof skin.
Simply for the fact that I know for sure that welding the old car properly will yield excellent results, while panel bonding is an unknown, at least in my mind.

If anyone has done it and it's withstood a few years and some miles, I'd love to hear about it. :)

Mike

Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:29 pm

I have an Acura Integra I center punched one of the older wooden post guardrail sections with, and heaved up the lower radiator support. I straightened what I could, and glued on a new piece of sheet metal on top of the bulkhead for the rad to sit on with the Lord Fusor. I've been doing some rust repair work on other areas of the car, and it hasn't been driven for the last 5-6 years. I did the support repair in the late 90's, and the section had not separated, or rusted in the 6+ years it was driven in Pennsylvania Winters.

Yes, it is true that the design of 30+ year old VW's isn't the same as a modern car, and you may not have that exact 1/4 inch flange around the panel for easy bonding like on a modern car, but I don't see why that would make panel bonding be any lesser of a solution for metal repair. I have two Beetles that need heater channels. I plan on using panel bonding adhesive to close off the final areas of the front bulkhead/firewall to allow priming/painting of the repaired cavities for rustproofing. I will probably weld in the channels to duplicate the weld seams visible in the door openings, but could just as easily bond the remaining areas of the channel. I had also thought of fully welding in the channel, then remove the lower plate to finish the inside of the channel for rustproofing, and bond the painted/finished bottom plate back on for the ultimate in durability.

Tue Feb 04, 2014 12:45 pm

Just a word of caution:
The last time I talked to the 3M rep at work he said 3M was still recommending NOT using panel adhesives only in structural repair areas.
This was July or August of 2012, so maybe things have changed... ?

Keep us updated on what you do. The more feedback the better.

Mike