The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop fixing rusted out panels

I have read an article in a magazine promoting a metal spray machine that will fix rusted through hard to find body panels and such. By the pictures that I have it looke like a big mig welder where the gun is fed two wires that come together at the gun end and arc. In the middle is high air pressure (1000 or more psi) that blows the molten metal at the surface to fill large and pin holes, also builds the metal up to be ground back to smooth. Here is a link that shows some results with an article for those who are interested

http://www.jellybeanhotrods.com/metalspray.htm

just an option to some who are looking for that hard to find piece that maybe now can be saved instead of replaced.

I wonder how much that thing costs? Probably would need to take the part to a shop that has one & pay them for the repair rather than buy one. I will look next time I go to Harbor Freight to see if they have one.

Do a search for a "metalizing gun" They were used to coat aircraft cylinders with aluminum in the '30's-'50's so there should be some floating around.

They are a pretty cool tool. The one I tried used aluminum or brass but might have been able to use steel. It connected to the oxy/act welder and shop air so it was easy to run except for the whistle of the air turbine that fed the wire. The strangest thing was the metal went on cool. We metalized a styrofoam cup with not problem,

A search on "metal spray" or "arc spray" gets a few good websites for the machines. They are mostly used for industrial repairs and reconditioning, not thought of much for automotive restoration.
Not sure what one would cost, probably cheaper to have it done by someone with the machine. :confused:

The company that does this service is called rust busters.

It is used in industrial settings a lot. My dad ran a paper mill and they used the process for reconditioning the rolls on the paper machine about every year or so. They would resurface the entire 26 foot diameter Yankee dryer in about 24 hours of work. That was a sight to behold.

Prolly similar to a process used in aircraft called "flamespray". It'll prolly work OK if yer not trying to reconstruct a whole panel using it. Also keep in mind that the underlying problem of the rust needs to be addressed or it'll simply re-rust around your "fix".