Well, I took the carpet out of my 87 Camaro to replace it and to my surprise, found that I could see the ground through the floor . My window seals are bad and I get some water in the car which I think caused this. It just rusted through in a small 1/4 inch diameter hole. I am trying to decide whether to weld a new piece of metal over it or to just use some kind of adhesive to fill the hole after sanding it down. What do you guys think is the best way to do this? Thanks

 

what? an ohio car with rust?

if you have the welding ablities, cut the rust out and weld a patch. that'd be the proper way to do things.

if not, buy a por15 starter kit, and some epoxy putty. follow the directions and you'll have a decent "patch"

 

I did this a number of years ago. The 'patch' still looks as good as the day I repaired the hole.

JamesC

 

I second the welding idea. But if not possible, go to the patch.

I had to learn how to weld just fix my holes. Got a $200 welder and fixed all my holes and installed a 6 point while I was at it.

 

will a flux cored wire welder work on sheetmetal this thin?

 

Id go with welding it, as long as you have everything set right with your welder you should be alright with the thinner metal and itll last much longer

 

Yes, I did my entire car with flux cored wire. Totally fine. Not pretty but totally fine. I did a BIG patch job by the driver seat, the driver rear wheel well, some passenger side holes and a new battery tray to name a few places. Oh and then the roll bar install.... all done with a flux cored wire 0.035. First time welder too. And everything is holding strong. I am happy and if I ever need to do any other work on the car, I can finally weld anyhting myself. I have since made my own exhaust amongst other things.

Def got the way of the weld if you can. With a few jobs under my belt, fixing a small rust hole now takes me just and hour or so.

 

remove that spoiler and weld the holes shut while ur at it.

 

 

what brand welder for 200 did u get that works good enough for exaust????i tried a 200 schucks /checker/kragen one and it wouldnt weld no exaust

 

Ok, thanks for all the info, I think I will definitely go with the weld. I'll let you know how it turns out.lol, I don't like it, but am waiting until I redo the body to change it. I have a hatch with the holes for the correct Camaro spoiler with 3rd brake light that will go in when the car is painted and body kit added

 

If you can afford it, get a mig w/ gas. It will be worth it. Flux wire makes a huge mess and is much harder to use. It's better than nothing, but the gas is worth the extra expense.

 

Well, I do not personally have one, I am borrowing my uncles which I believe is a mig or tig welder. I am new to welding so he is also going to give me some pointers on how to do it properly since he has been fixing his dirt track cars for years . Its good to know people that have tools and knowledge.

 

Honestly I am on the same boat as Dennis over there. Did my entire patch job with flux cored, learned on flux cored, and still use flux cored. I am also working outside, so thats another main reason I didn't rig up mig. Honestly though, if you teach yourself to lay a really good bead with flux cored, imagine how much better you'll be when you use gas & steel. Like he said, they are butt-ugly welds, but since it's flux cored it gets good penetration.

I picked up the weld-pak 3200HD however, since it came with a regulator and all... just not the money to buy a gas bottle. With a cheap welding helmet, it cost a shy bit over $500. Which is a lot, however I have used my welder more than my phillips head screw driver.

Do it right once.

 

Go to home depot's website. I got mine there. Lincoln Electric or something like that. It was the only Mig they had in the place. So I grabbed it. It was $205 I still remember buying it 3 years ago.

I had to shop around as they seemed to be sold out at the local depot, so I had to drive 20 min to get to the next one over. It only has 2 heat settings, that both have low and high, so 4 total, but 1 is good for thin thin sheet, and 4 is great for installing a roll bar. And it has an analog feed speed that is easily adjustable. I can take a pic, or get a part # if you guys are that interested. I will do a google search real quick and link my results if I find it.

 

Would you/ did you have to buy a separate regulator for MIG? or did it come with one.

 

Me? No. I honestly don't even know what a regulator is used for when talking about migs and flux core. I paid $200, bought gloves and thats it. My MIG even came with a crappy mask. I later bought a better one for $30

 

Some migs come w/ the regulator, some that come set up for flux only have to buy a separate regulator. I use mig w/ gas outside all the time, and the small tank really did not cost much ($75 filled maybe). I don't see any excuse for not using gas. I use flux wire with my Lincoln SP 135 plus only when I need the penetration, like on 1/4" or something really thick.