The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Weld or Glue?

I need to install patch panels on the lower rear of the front fenders of my 56 behind the wheel well. I can weld them, but I also have a glue gun and two-part body adhesive that I bought a while back for a Mustang project and then never used. Any opinions on which way to go? Which is easier and achieves batter looking results?

I dunno, but my buddy who works in a body shop loves the glue, uses it to put bedsides & door skins on all the time. If you are just patching & its not structural I would say go for it. Brian

body shops aroud here seem to love it too .... of course they're tryin to make the fastest buck possible on patchin up new cars for insurance companies

Bill

I used the glue a few years ago on a Nova we had. Worked great.

with the glue all distorition is gone,,I offset flange the panel to be repaired so the repair panel is flush when glued...doc

Sounds like the glues have it. I've always welded before, and you're right -- had to deal with some distortion. I think I'll try the glue this time and see.

Is that glue expensive? I have never used it before but I would love to use in on my cowl patch I am planning on doing. I am very afraid of distortion in this area. Is it easy to use?

It ain't real cheap, the gun is a one time cost-ya grind the area to rough it up & apply. Clamp til set. Couldn't be easier.

Something seems inately wrong with gluing patch panels on. I am unfamiluar with the technique, but my gut tells me no.

I don't even like to overlapine patches when welding (seams), would rather butt my joints, which can't be done with glue.

I'm with you Tom if it ain't done right ,it ain't done right.PERIOD

If you guys don't have welding capabilities, the actual welding isn't that expensive. Cut, fit, get everything ready, then take your project to a local body shop. You might get it back the same day if you take it in early. Tell them just weld. Do all the cleanup etc yourselves. I think you will be suprised how inexpensive and fast this part of the job can be done if everything is completely ready to go for them. I'd leave the glue for furniture.

You would glue a piece of metal on the inside of the panel to get a butt joint. Took an autobody class a few years ago. Most of the newer vehicles on the road today have panels that are glued on.I thought the same thing about glue until I saw it done by a professional. I am not a pro at welding, but not bad either. In certain situations glue is the way to go.

Thats cool, to each his own, but I'm gonna stick to good ol fashioned welded butt joints where you can't even tell its been done.

I have never done the glue thing, but I have a friend who does a ton of body work, and he has a 55 BelAir and tried gluing a right rear quarter panel in, I saw the car two weeks after it was painted at a car show and the glue had allowed the panel to raise higher than the original metal, not far enough to crack the paint, but far enough to have a eyesore of a seam in a otherwise beautiful black paint job. Ive never seen him so angry. Anyway, I would weld it 10 times outta 10 if it were mine, but thats only my $.02

Old Trucks are welded.New ones are glued made out of plastic,they have more gadgets and seating room than most cars.I do body work all day and I still weld everthing,tried glue once on a quarter,never again.these are my thoughts on glue! :rolleyes:

When I worked in the body shop at a Chevy dealership in the late 1970's, GM made a structural cement to bond metal hood braces to the fiberglass hoods on the Brigadier and Bison trucks.This stuff would bond anything. Knowing how well some of the glue's hold, I personally would still weld a metal panel together on a rust repair. That's the way we always did it. Oh No, I sound just like my father did when I was a kid.(ha)

We have glue in the body shop...its just expired from sitting on the shelf for 3 years.
My boss says the glue is good stuff, just that we can weld, and we know it's going to last that way.

-shrug-

Gluing is best at 1/25 scale! 1/1 scale should be welded, unless it is new and made of plastic, resin, fiberglass and vinal.

the local bodyshops are all gluing cab corners, etc.. on newer pickups. Not for me, but they love it.

I was lookign at a suzuki sidekick - it had been rolled - they glued on new roof skin - it got rolled again (no surprise there) and the roof held perfectly. Stuff must be strong.

full outer bead or eventually finish filler will start to crack at the seam.

Robin 58 Ah welding near the glue releases it! the glue that is!

I guess you could use it to stick it in place and do a few quick tac welds around the panel, then weld.