Welders Save My Sanity Please

Your fitup and welding looks fine. The grinding is good, just watch for heat which causes warping.
When I get to the stage in your pictures, a little porus but structurally solid, I usually dust the weld areas with my sandblaster. This cleans out all the soot and crusties the nooks and crannies left from welding, and conditions the metal surface where coatings can get a "bite".
I then skim the area with 3M 8115 panel bond, using it just like bondo filler. It sands like polyester filler, but bonds REALLY well. After rough blocking, I spray the whole thing with 2 part epoxy primer, then use glaze to finish before final paint. With this process, there are no issues with rust or corrosion creeping in years later.
-Donny

 

This is a great thread and I am learning a lot. Thanks all.

Any suggestions on what are the best stranded glass fillers? I am relatively new to body work and am just starting to learn about this stuff. I have used bondo before. Is the stranded glass filler more difficult to work with?

 

its more rugged to spread kinda lumpy and stringy,mix it well and really smash it into the gaps dont worry about smooth. after it hardens grind or sand with coarse (36 grit ) till its smooth enough to apply filler . i prefer marson brand fillers( mar glass is the brand name for the glass filler)but they are all about the same. the proper mixture of hardener to product will help with cure , sanding and long term durability..

 

I've used the USC Duraglas filler and it does not have a stringy consistency - pretty close to regular bondo, maybe a little stiffer. Probably does not skim as easily as the high-end fillers, but I have not used it that way. Long fiber filler is popular for rust repair, and I expect that would have a stringier texture.

 

they are all about the same i just prefer the long strand stuff Ive found the chopped doesn't hold up as well long term.Someone told me years ago that a repaint usually lasts five years or so, i never bought that and have been aiming for ten at least.So far im doing good got a bunch older than ten that are still hanging in there,as long as the customer keeps them on the road and avoids crashing them.lost at least a dozen nice ones(70.5 trans am and the Dan Gurney fairlane stand out as two tragic ends to beautiful jobs)

 

Just put this in my build thread too. figured I'll put it here too

I wanted to try using panel clamps this weekend but of course no one local sells them and I didn't want to wait to have them shipped so of course I built some


just took some 1" square stock and cut it in 1" lengths






I cut the slot with a 1/16"grinder wheel



And look at that they work came to 41 cents a pc not including labor of course....who counts that anyway

 

Wow, those panel clamps look like they would do the job. Nice work. I usually just use welding magnets (have three of them) to get it tacked but it takes a while to get everything set and if you bump it you start again.

Ultimate Welding Arrow Magnet Set

 

They worked well