I just picked up a high rise spoiler and was wondering what the best way would be to fill in all those holes I am gonna have. Is it something I can do myself or should I take it down to a shop and have them do it?

 

can you weld?

 

no

 

I honestly would not weld the holes shut. You'd most likely just warp the hell outta they decklid trying :P I would put a small fiberglass patch on the inside covering the hole, then bondo the top, and sand smooth.

 

Guess it just depends if you a descent welder of not. My old Camaro was an 84 Z28, I fully cloned it to a 91-92 Z28. I welded up all the holes and the holes in the qaurter panels with no problems at all....not even the slightest warp. I welded the holes, ground them down, applied duraglass, bondo, then some glazing icing.....looked great...couldn't even tell it ever had holes. I wouldn't trust anything other then weld on any kind of holes. You might have some luck with fiberglass or some kind of stronger, strand-like material....but it won't last as long as weld. Just a lil info for ya

 

Yeah.
Weld them up. Tack small plates in place and then fill in the gaps with more tacks. I waited a few minutes between each weld so there would be no chance of warping. Then ground down (slowly-no excess heat build up please) and then filled and flatted and painted. I even sealed the plates in from behind with seam sealer, so no water or moisture gets under it and bubbles the paint. No sign they were there now.

Good luck.
Andy.

 

Sexy or what?!!
Well worth the effort.

 

Ya, you have to weld in small metal plates!! If you don't, you have a very good chance of the body work cracking.

 

so let me get this straight . you put a peice of metal behind the hole from the inside then weld it from the outside ? then body fill over it... Please i need step to step instructions i'm abotu to tackle this project . i have a nice migwelder that will make this easier. please i would appreciate the help.

 

You could tack the metel from inside, then weld over the holes from the outside. It'll be as solid as a rock then. Once you have it welded, grind it down, and do the body work...simple as that. As long as you have a backround on how to weld and how to do some simple body work....it's a breeze.

 

you dont think the welds will burn right threw the sheet metal i put on the inside?

 

if you know how to weld...then no

 

I wouldn't do a full bead strait around at once, ide stop and let it cool down to prevent warping. And why would you tack it from the inside?? You should just weld over the tack, your going to have to sand it down either way. Also, put the mig settings all the way down and make sure you have a good clean ground. I heard once you weld and sand, you should should dent in the small metal nickel sized patches and fill with body filler. Is this correct? I'll be doing my fillings this week.

 

not sand, grind.. ^

 

well....how are you going to even weld the piece of metal if it's not tacked somehow? Just hold the metl form the inside and put just maybe 2 tacks on it so it's held in to place....that the only reason to tack it from the inside....

There is no reason to beat your quarter panel in.....just weld the holes....don't do it all all once beause you could warp the metal...pause between welds. Then just grind the welds down flush and do the body work. When I shaved my antenna hole...I didn't even use any metal..I just welded the hole up completely with weld..doing a "cris cross" action and it worked out great...didn't warp or anything. I'm in college right now for welding and I've experimented on tons of different types of metal.

 

hey.. do you think filling in a hole with just welds will work with a mig welder?

 

not sure if I would recommend it....but I've done it many times with no problems. The main thing to focus on is heat. You can't get it to hot or it will warp. The only reason I filled my antenna whole like that is because I couldn't get a piece of metal behind the hole. You can do what you think would be best....but...just adding a piece of metal is probably the better thing to do.

 

so for the holes where the old tail was. should i just put a peice of metal behind the hole then hold it there somehow, then tack weld it in place from the outside? or should i weld all the way around so the seem is totally sealed? then i'll juust body fill over it. then after that is there anything i should do to protect this metal and what not... w/b

 

I welded mine also used a magnet to hold it in place from the inside.

 

thats the best way i have seen is to take a magnet and place it on the fender so it holds your little disc put one or two tacks on it and then move the magnet and finish your welds.

 

How big are these holes? If they are small enough (I dunno how big they are, I haven't seen them myself) you could just use the welder to fill in the holes if you work slowly and let everything stay as cool as possible. I've done it before on bolt holes for other things... you just use the welder to "fill in" the hole, then grind it smooth... then it looks like it was never there. Only thing is you can't let it get really hot. You 'zap' quickly once, let it cool for a few seconds, then do another, let it cool.... untill its filled in, then use a grinder to shave it down smooth.

But again, I haven't seen the size of these holes, and the metal there might be too thin to do this well.

 

There too big for that u needa patch. They are like a inch wide .

 

Ok, yea, thats way to big to do what I suggested.

 

YEAH my wing just came today : ) awsome stuff