I was talking to some mechanics/body people today about replacing my rear quarter panel wheel well lip. I was thinking that I would just cut the bad piece out then get another piece from a good car and MIG weld it in. They told me that would probably be ok if it was just tacked in, but would probably cause warping. They told me about some new glue that is supposed to be stronger than welding and is used for gluing cars together. I was a little skeptical of the idea of gluing a car together, but multiple people told me about cars being in accidents where the metal around the glue tore, but the glue held. Has anyone heard of this stuff and know what it is called? Seems like a descent idea if it really works.

I had the same problem in my wheel arch. Just watch your heat and dont run a continuous bead and you will be fine. I would never use glue to hold metal to metal.

Well engineered adhesives work fine in these applications provided you use the correct product. Aston Martin, Lotus, and other high-end manufacturers use these products on their production and race vehicles with a high level of success. Just do your homework and find a good product for your application. As far as the metal failing around the glue, weld material is typically stronger than the base metal in the heat affected zone unless some specific heat treatments are applied, so I don't see the failure mode being substantially different. I hope you aren't planning on sheet metal keeping you safe anyway. It is the underlying structure that will be doing all the work in an impact.

I saw a panel adhesive used on the Trucks! show last year and asked about it at the local paint place. Said they've seen tests where the sheet metal failed before the glued joint did on a pull test. Interesting stuff.

weld it, just find a good welder. I had a welder that was gonna do mine and guarantee the work but once the car got stripped it was fine.

if it is a structual area-frame rockers and so on- weld

if it does not hold a ton of wieght glue it

but now a days cars have glue on everything with very few welds

I've been curious about this myself. I have sheetmetal that is non-load bearng and I do not have access or the money to pay for it to be welded. What is this stuff called? Metal Glue? What is the generic name I guess, unless someone knows the brand name?

On some 3rd gens (not sure when they switched over) the panels were glued together, not welded anyways.

Rusted wheel opening were repaired with a glued replacement metal 10 yrs ago. No problems in all that time and no rust after a por-15 coating also.

Thanks for all the responses. It sounds like the glue may not be a bad way to go with this section. I think it will at least work better than just tacking the panel in + bondo work. Now to find out what this stuff is called and where to buy it

yea, alot of new cars, i think 90 and newer, but don't quote me on that, use glue to hold the panels and other things on instead of welding. it helps with sound and creaks. it just keeps the car quieter. this is just what i believe, like i said don't quote me on it. but yea if it doesn't hold much weight or structural stuff glue it.

I think you misunderstood my post. I didnt mean just tacking the edges or something. I always just do low heat tack welds all the way around until the whole thing is welded up. But i guess try the glue, since it seems some people here have had good experiences with it

Weldin the patch piece in shouldnt cause warping if the person welding is good. Just keep an eye on the heat and dont weld a bead, just tack lil at a time. As far as the glue, Ive used it to put new quarters on. Ive seen cars with glued on quarters get hit and the glue seam doesnt budge. I use SEM Weld Bond Adhesive, good stuff
Matt

Sorry, I wasn't referring to your suggestion when I said that. I was talking about what a few people I talked to had suggested. Sorry I wasn't clear on that one

Well, I don't have the welding skills to do this job and can't really afford to have someone do it. That basically leaves my uncle and he doesn't seem to think he can do it without warping the metal.

Where can you buy some SEM Weld Bond Adhesive? Is it something carried at your average auto parts store such as AutoZone, Advance, etc.?

Thanks again

You wont find this at any chain auto parts stores. Any auto body supply shop should carry it, anywhere that carries SEM will be able to get it. Its a two part epoxy so your gonna need a special gun to apply it.
Matt

I copy pasted "SEM weld bond adhesive" into google and the first results had the product for sale.

http://www.restockit.com/Weld-Bond-M...source=froogle

If you do it and take more than 30 seconds to look you can probably find it cheaper. Good luck and let us know how the panel bonding goes. BTW...does anybody know what to use over the edges? I was thinking this could be a fun to attach some random *** ugly scoop to my spare hood for shits and grins. STI scoop anybody?

i have seen the glue in action, it works, and i work at a body shop, but its just faster and easier to weld it ...at least for me

First thing most all new cars use glue and welds. I have not came a cross any make of car that has only glued on panels.

if it were my car I would glue the wheel well and weld the rest. The prob with gluing i 1st thing you have to overlap the metal. mean its going to be higher so now u have to use more filler.
2nd alot of fillers will not stick to the glue. And I know for a fact that if u use SEM glue in a few months u will see the seam.

3M 8115 u can use and filler will stick to it that would be the one I would use.
make sure were ever there is going to be glue its bare metal. And fit , fit ,fit, than glue.
Hope that helps some
jay

also u have to buy the gun to get the glue out of the tube there like 75 bucks

Weld it - its really the only proper way to do it. Glue might work, but not forever. It will eventually crack or lose its 'grip' on the panel, unless its a really soft adhesive like seam sealer, but then it looks like s*it and will be really flimsy, and tear off slowly instead of just breaking.

Are the ones GM built are real flimsy & falling apart? No. In fact, they are stiffer than the early 3rd gens that are "just" welded instead of "glued".

It is not the same type of glue you used on your model airplanes.

That's why they make flanging tools

There are new cars that are only glued together. What about the new jags. They are all aluminum and after replacing the quarters on a few I can tell you they are glued together
Matt

3M also makes this stuff, it's called panel bonding adhesive. It works great, I have used it several times for non-structural rust repairs where I didn't want to burn off the rust preventative paint I applied behind the replacement panel. Napa can get it, as well as any auto body supply.

I've found this thread useful, and I'm buying the SEM stuff to help patch some areas on my car. Here's the things I've found out, for those who want more info:

The SEM version costs about 30% less than the 3M version. Both look the same, but I have no idea what the difference (if at all) is in performance.

If you don't want to pay for shipping online, go to Automotive Finishes (its CarQuest's paint and body division) and ask them for it. Their prices seem to be as good as online, if not better, and they can overnight the stuff at no cost to you. They carry both the 3M and SEM brands, as well as another I did not recognize.