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In this Discussion
- Clutch guy June 2009
- coverton June 2009
- Fred C June 2009
- Geoff C., N.Z. June 2009
- htrdhudson June 2009
- rambos_ride June 2009
- RL Chilton June 2009
- Rob_Fayette June 2009
- TOM-WA- June 2009
What to do about leaded seams?
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Hi Folks,
I'm wondering what to do about the leaded seams near the upper corners of the trunklid opening on the stepdowns. Years ago I just primed and painted over the leaded areas and now the paint is peeling off in sheets where the lead was at. Im wondering if a person were to grind the lead down far enough to put a layer of bondo over the lead would that work? Ive started grinding the lead off on one side and it is really thick on there! If I take all the lead out and rebuild the area with bondo I'm afraid the bondo will be too weak and might crack out eventually. I did however order some Evercoat Eurosoft glazing putty from Autobody Toolmart that is supposed to be strong and meant for stress areas like door edges. If a person takes all of the lead out of the seams with a torch I dont see how you would have any choice but to fill it back in with Bondo. Thanks for your ideas. I've been working on the Pacemaker Convertible a lot lately. Its only been 11 years since I got the car!
Rob Fayette, Washington State -
#1
NEVER GRIND LEAD
#2
NEVER GRIND LEAD
.... REALLY! :mad:
IF the lead needs to be removed then you need to heat it and melt it out, don't get it too hot.
My personal opinion is "lead out, lead in" but I'm old school and know how to safely work with lead.
As far as a replacement materiaql at least use a product called "All-Metal" or something similar if you are not going to replace the lead. -
I guess I must have heard that somewhere before not to grind lead because i did use a dust mask, face shield, long gloves and long sleeves. Now that you have made it clear to me not to do it I sure won't ever do it again. Thanks for letting me know Dan. Rob
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Yes it is about time to "get the lead out" I do admit...LOL. I still need to find out what to put on the lead to make the paint stick. Seems like Ive heard Zinc Chromate? I dont know. I'm sure someone on here does know
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Rob-
I agree with Dan 99% of what he already told you. Melt it out, put new lead in it's place. Only thing I might change is that area you are talking about is 1) Deep, and 2) High stress area. For those reasons, I would only use the All-Metal as a skim coat before your final glazing coat. Lead is still best in high-stress areas if you want your work to last and be of a professional quality. My opinion is, Hudsons deserve no less! -
The only reason they didn't use fibreglass fillings back then was because they didn't have them. Use a marine type filler that has long strands of fibre in it, not just a paste. Harder to work, but immensely strong, and safer than using lead. And the golden rule is not to wet-sand filler, as it absorbs moistrued, and the paint will eventually bubble.If you're stuck in a hole, stop digging.
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I have found proper cleaning, eching with metal prep and then using epoxy primer seems to work fine.
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Rob Fayette wrote:I guess I must have heard that somewhere before not to grind lead because i did use a dust mask, face shield, long gloves and long sleeves. Now that you have made it clear to me not to do it I sure won't ever do it again. Thanks for letting me know Dan. Rob
Sounds like you tried to take adequate pre-cautions but keep in mind the atomized lead from grinding would have gotten in your clothes, etc.
I don't mean to sound so "Nanny State" on you - but it's very easy to get lead poisoning even if we do it so rarely that the risks are seemingly low.
The original lead seam most likely got contamination/oxidation which caused the failure of the paint.
Properly tinned, applied and cleaned a "new" lead seam will hold forever. -
hit it with 80 grit to give it some tooth and get down to clean material. if it all looks solid give it a skim coat of quality filler.
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Always eliminate the rust-either cut or grind out, having said that -Epoxy the whole car -and i mean any raw metal.go high build 2K next then once you are satisfies there are no hi or low spots and its slick use a two part sealer. I follow kosmosky's method of painting and use only the best colors and clear i can find. Just now doing this to my 51 and have had all i can stand of the Earl Scheib jobs.
And I had to learn this the hard way -
Thanks for the tips guys. I think I will melt out all of the lead with an oxy acetylene torch, weld up any rust out and splits or tears in the corners,fill back in with dura glass, skim coat with icing, polyester fill primer, epoxy primer and basecoat clearcoat paint. Rob
