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So I’m learning being overly ambitious is a bit of stretch for me sometimes especially when I foolishly make it a steeeep learning curve. I decided I wanted to weld all the seams in my engine bay so it’ll be shaved. I did a bunch of welding on the passenger side and grinded everything down. It’s flat and smooth but it’s porous. There’s a couple pin holes but for the most part, it’s just porous on top of the metal. I already applied body filler over the metal work on one small portion to see how it’ll look.
Am I doing something wrong? I’m aware I gotta address the pin holes so moisture doesn’t make the bondo bubble or something of that nature. If I could just reverse time and decide to just prep the bay for paint, I would but at least I guess I’m learning from this. It’s a lot of work.
You'll be fine. There'll be more of an issue with underhood heat than with moisture.
Thanks, I’m new to welding and body work in general, so I wasn’t sure if I was doing anything right. I’m putting a cowl and some exhaust wrap so I don’t burn up any plug wires but I don’t think that’ll help a lot.
When you do that, you want to treat the metal first with an acid. PHIX is the name of the stuff we use at our body shop. Then use a fiberglass filler FIRST, smooth out, and then apply your regular filler.
The PHIX will treat the metal to remove impurities and prevent premature rusting. You want to use a fiberglass filler first because regular body filler will hold in moisture....and that will also accelerate rust forming. Those steps are CRUCIAL. If you don't do those steps, you COULD have rust start coming through that within a few months.
When you do that, you want to treat the metal first with an acid. PHIX is the name of the stuff we use at our body shop. Then use a fiberglass filler FIRST, smooth out, and then apply your regular filler.
The PHIX will treat the metal to remove impurities and prevent premature rusting. You want to use a fiberglass filler first because regular body filler will hold in moisture....and that will also accelerate rust forming. Those steps are CRUCIAL. If you don't do those steps, you COULD have rust start coming through that within a few months.
Dang, that sounds scary. Thanks for the tips. Would a 20 oz of PHIX be enough for the bay? Any alternatives to PHIX I can find in person? It’s been in the 40-50s for a while now and about in the 20-30s during the night but no snow. The car is located in the garage for the mean time. Probably won’t be able to work on it until Monday
If anybody’s interested in how it turned out. I’m not done with this side but hopefully the driver side should come along quicker now. When I drop in the motor, gonna relocate the battery to the passenger side and fix the body rot on the driver side battery tray before I paint the bay.
02-17-2021, 09:15 AM
