thats why I post pics.. they speak volumes about what I am tryin to say.. Hope it helps you out.

 

There is a show that airs on the SPIKE channel called TRUCKS that has done a number of segments on how to repair rusted metal, including welding in floor pans and patch panel on the body. They offer great instruction.

Place your spot welds at least 1 inch apart, keeping in mind that what you are trying to do is keep the heat to a minimum on the panel to avoid warping.

Give it at try and let us know how you do.

 

Doing the quater patch above I was actually shrinking it a bit too using air from my compressor to sorta quench it. You gotta be carefull doing that on a quarter panel, because a red hot weld can all of a sudden become a plasma cutter if you hit it with compressed air. Easy way to put a hole where a weld just was, and possibly cut a groove in the sheetmetal.

When the floor pans arrive for the Cougar, I will document the whole process, shouldnt take me much more than a day or two to do both of them. I may as well start up on the Mustang again too, it needs a lot of welding done. I might burn up this little welder doing all of it..lol.

Someone call me tomorrow and get me out of bed early, ok?

 

hey where do you get all your metal at??? im thinking of gettin a mig welder for christmas but never really bought metal before...its always just been in the metal closet thing at school so i dont even know where to get sheet metal....

ive heard u can even use computer cases to make patch pieces....i have a few places where its like a quarter size hole and it would be pretty easy to fix i think....might as well try....its either that or replace the whole fender anyways so i guess if i eff it up it was going to need to be replaced anyways.....cant very well paint and what not with holes in your car....

 

Old computer cases make excellent pieces to patch. They are especially good to practice on before you start on the car, and it's a good way to determine the heat you will need to use when you do go after the car.

 

My driver's side torque box was born a electrical panel box. It was pretty heavy gauge so I thought what the heck.

 

Excellent choice of metal for a torque box. You could also use the fender off of a '52 Buick too, but that might be hard to find.

 

I have been cutting patches and stuff from fenders and hoods I have pulled off cars. The patches on the Cougars 1/4 panel, there are two in the pic, came from the passenger side fender that came off the 71 fastback. Since it was dented and rusted in a few places, I bought a new one. the hood was rusted and bent in a nasty spot, so I separated it from the underhood bracing and will use it for patches as well. Hoods are usually a nice large flat piece.

I have also cut up BMW and Mercedes doors, and hoods when I was stationed in Germany, since I could get a hood from the on base junkyard for $15 they were excellent sources of straight decent guage metal. There is a 77 Trans AM I left in Germany that had a trunk and rear quarters fabricated from a BMW 318. I painted it with spray bombs, it was gloss black and actually looked decent considering the amount of bondo, fiberglass, and BMW that was in it.

Before throwing away the old parts, I salvage and reuse what I can. A hood the size of a 735i or a 71 mustang will go a long way making pieces needed. If you need a certain curve, angle or body line, you can often find a piece that will come closse or match it perfectly on a different part of the car.

Look at the wheel well lip on the Cougar, there is a shiny spot straight back from the large square patch. That was smashed in for about 4 inches, some moron attempted to pull it out and then just filled it with bondo. So I cut tue bad stuff out, and used a good portion of the mustang fender to make a patch that already had the body line in it. No need to go bending stuff that is curved when its already done for me. I just massaged it into place. I still gotta to the passenger side, since it has a hasty dent in it too. The door is still bothering me, since it doesnt line up with the quarter very well, and its stretched quite a bit from the original impact. not sure what to do there.

I dont have any old computers I can cut up, I ususally gave them away when I upgraded well beyond the capability of them. Always had a friend who didnt have one, and i would pawn off the really slow ones to them. They were just happy to have one, even if it was slow.

 

I spent many hours in the auto hobby shops at Spangdahlem, Germany AFB, and at Giessen Army base where I taught school. Yeah, we would cut out a chunk of an old Mercedes door or fender and patch up our old Mercedes or Beamer to keep them running on the Autobahn. We really need to get together over a few cold ones to discuss where we have been and compare scars on our hands.

 

wow....and i just threw away like 5 computers....oh well...still have one....and a fairly solid hood, but it has rust holes in some places so its sorta irreparable, probably a good candidate to be donor metal? how do you suggest i go about seperating the two hood pieces....?