I have never gotten too deep into body patch work and especially all on my own.

Looking for advise here that might be helpful in the future ... below is a small job I did and some narrative on what I did. It's too late to change any of this now, but I am a rookie for sure and could use any input about better ways to go about things for future projects.

(Disclaimer: I know I went a lot further on this than I should have with the chrome trim in place, I didn't have the tool to remove it when I started and just got a bit carried away.)

My wife's Camaro had a crack in the paint above the W/S pillar for as long as we have owned the car. I always knew I'd be getting into a full on paint job one day so I never worried about it too much. Once I began grinding some problem areas on the rear quarter I decided to take the grinder up front before I stopped work one day.

I couldn't believe how thick the bondo was and I finally hit a wad of fiberglass cloth which had been crammed in there to hold back the flow of filler ...Once it was cleaned up this is what I had.


I formed a patch from some suitable sheet metal I had on hand using the top of the car as a mold. It took me a little time to decide how to make it using only one piece of steel



I then cut the roof out to match the outer edge of the patch panel so it could sit flush with the roof line. I then tweaked the patch as needed to get the best fit I was capable of.



This is the patch in the opening ... it's the last PIC I have of the patch job.


It is all welded in and actually looks quite good ... I'll make an effort to get a PIC of the finished off weld job today and get it posted here as well.

Patch looks great. The real question is, what did you do to stop the rust on the underside of the patch and the metal that was under the patch?

dablack wrote:The real question is, what did you do to stop the rust on the underside of the patch and the metal that was under the patch?

Thanks for the response

The answer to that is ... "not much" ... the thought certainly did cross my mind, but in examining the interior of the area was clear that whatever skills I had were not going to allow me to do much beyond the part visible through the hole itself.

I will be doing some interior work and removing the headliner which might possibly allow for better access to the beam inside there.

I do have phosphoric acid treatment on hand .

I suppose I am also hoping the fact that I live in one of the hottest driest parts of the country will provide me with longevity that folks in wetter parts of the country could never rely on.

As I have said on this and other posts ... "my skills and knowledge are moderate at best" ... That's why I'm here asking questions ... hoping to be better work as time passes

Ah, I missed the vegas point. Yeah, you do have dry on your side.

I have no idea what should be done under the repair. I would do something though. Lets see what the more experienced guys suggest.

Acid would worry me because it would be hard to rinse correctly. If it was just a shell, then maybe but I wouldn't try it on a spot like that.

It sucks that a lot of these old muscle cars have cancer around the windows and pillars like that. A buddy of mine in highschool rebuilt a 69 Mach1 and had to buy 1/3rd new sheetmetal for the car: all floor pans, rear quarter panels, and door skins. About a year later he got into an accident and the A-pillar split open, revealing a ton of hidden rust rot throughout the A-pillar.

I'ts kinda sad to see these old cars rot away like that.

I have to agree. Really you should remove the patch and all the rust under it. or neutralize the rust under it somehow. You'll be looking at far worse than a failing paint job 5-10 years down the road. It sucks to hear it, but i think you will be happy if you buy the replacement sheet metal production parts and get them all welded in place and the rest of the rust.. neutralize it. Spray a ton of 3M weldthru on the backside so all rust and metal is covered in it, after you neutralize the remaining rust. It's a big job.

Does the weld thru primer really work as advertised?
Doesn't the primer bubble up from the heat of welding, just like any other primer, exposing bare metal underneath?

CoolasIce wrote:Does the weld thru primer really work as advertised?
Doesn't the primer bubble up from the heat of welding, just like any other primer, exposing bare metal underneath?

Yes it does bubble up around the heat affected zone but its supposed to still leave a layer of zinc behind that will offer some protection, IMO its better than not doing anything so its worth using.

Why havent you removed the moulding yet?

Here are the PICs I promised of the partch panel welded in.

In the bottom PIC you can see the are still needing repair in the window recess ... so still some work to do in this area.