Here is what is used in body shops to deal with welding repair panels together and have a primer in place too. This is just one example I could find easily and there are other brands.
http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-s-s...ru-primer.html

You will need to remove the POR in any areas where welding will need to be done and then spray with a product like the Eastwood product. It's a shame to do all you are doing and not do or finish this the right way the first time. Then, no need to deal with it in the future. You can make your own patch panel from a scap fender, hood, door or even buy a piece of metal from Home Depot if it's of similar thickness. The cost for someone to weld that patch in place would be minimal. You've put a lot of work into this, it's just a shame not to see you do this the right way and finish it once and for all.
Brian

 

We use strictly 3m weld through primer,i havent had a come back from it and have been useing it for 20 years.You only need two lite to medium coats and make sure it dries for about an hour before welding ,and yes you will have to spot blast the por15 off the weld area on both parts first.You can get the 3m in a spray or a can with a brush applicator,i like the brush for smaller areas and you only need one coat of it just make sure you get the blast areas completely covered.Glen

 

Thank You very much guys . I feel more at ease now that I know how to deal with the fender and brace before welding them . I will use my dremel to quickly buzz off the spots that will be spot welded without getting it too hot , and i will check into the cost on getting a patch welded in . I was at the hardware store , and they had many different thicknesses of weldable steel almost the right size for the job . The cost was about $8 or $10 for the metal . Now remember guys , I am going to attempt a restoration on this car eventually , so all this will have to come off anyhow , but I see your point .

 

OK.... It's all lined up , and It's only off about 1mm at the most in spots , so I'm happy with that . Now I have to figure out how to affix this nice and solid to the fender , so time to remove all the fingerprints ( kinda wish I was smart enough to have rubber gloves on while I was messing with this ) .....

 

The support is very solid , just like it was before I removed it .... of course I had to run back and forth to the hardware store a couple of times . I made sure that the one on top did not stick out much , so the closing of the hood would not scrape the machine screw head . I also used locking washers and removable threadlocker , so there is no chance it is coming loose . While I was at the hardware store I found a wallet in the parking lot with credit cards and money in it ..... so I had to make a pit stop at the local police station to drop it off ......





I realize this fender needs more work , like lubing the bolts so they are easier to get on and off , new bolt clips , new bolts and hardware ..... etc..... etc . I will get to that eventually . I know I should have a better plan to do all of this right the first time , but if you knew my situation you would understand .

 

I forgot to pick up some latex gloves for putting the POR 15 on the car parts , so this was the next best thing . I'm so ghetto .....



Well at least I didn't put it on my head .... right ?

 

Bryen,
You are a sick sick man ya know that? Surprised there's no happy face stenciled on the bag.

 

Well I got the darn fender on , but it took awhile . I could not better the gap that's by the door . It's off by about 1/16 inch . I had the whole front end off of it 8yrs ago , and I had to put it together in a hurry . I should of left the radiator support bolts loose until I got everything lined up .... or I have a shim under the wrong bolt .... or I'm missing a shim or two . I will have to mess with it a little more one day , not to mention I still need that missing hood bolt . I may have to go to the hardware store for a temporary one . I also could really use some new rubber on these rims , and another coat of ghetto primer ......

 

FYI .... In case you guys are wondering why I put the dark gray primer all over this car in the first place is ..... The trunk lid had bondo that was cracked all over it , so I sanded it all down to bare metal fearing the worst , and found slight surface scratches in the metal like someone took a angle grinder to it . There was also a dent on the right of the trunk lock . I also was making an attempt to restore the car back then ( thank god I had to stop ) There was also a hole in the fender and It had some rust of course . When I was done I had to put some kind of primer on it . So the car looked like a spotted cow after I was done , and that was when I went around the whole car with rattle can primer . I have no idea why someone would bondo the entire trunk lid . I don't know a ton about body work , but it seemed that was unnecessary IMO . There is a damage spot next to the mirror on the drivers door too , because there is some cracked bondo there too . I spent about 15 minutes putting some bondo on the dent on the trunk lid , and it's not easy to see where the damage is + three coats of rattle can primer pretty much filled the scratches in the trunk lid also . If it wasn't for these things the car would still be orange .

 

I'm just learning to navigate the " Wild about cars " online assembly manual , and was wondering where I would find the bolt size ( 3960314 ) . It's the brace assembly for fastening to the radiator support . Thanks

 

Not the easiest site to use is it? Even if you look in a parts manual, it will not have the bolt size - just the number and price. The bolt you're looking for is 1/2 inch. If you're interested look here on page 132. I bought a set and I'm very pleased with them.

 

Thanks once again Allen . I fell in love with that link you posted . I'm going to be replacing a lot of that stuff , and they seem to have everything I would need . That is great !

Is 1/2 inch the length of the bolt ? I was also wondering the thread size . I didn't notice it listed on that link .

I was browsing the site , and I just love it .

 

No, 1/2" is the bolt size (wrench size). The bolt length, without pulling mine out to measure is about 1" long IIRC. Don't know what the thread is. The nut that comes with it works, and the rad support to fender brace bolt works perfectly in the welded nut on the rad support. That link is from ILT (In Line Tube). It can also be somewhat of a pain to navigate. I use The Oldsmobile Catalogue and drill through their pictures to find the stuff I want. I do appreciate that they make an effort to give a visual on their products.

 

No worries , I have a variety of different bolts laying around so I'll figure it out .

ILT is a lot easier to navigate then the assembly manual IMHO .

I had to look up what IIRC means ..... The kids of today would be jealous of us older guys with our knowledge of internet slang .

 

Chances are it's a 5/16-18 thread.

 

Here I go again . I had a real hard time getting the bottom bolts loose as you can see . I think it's time to get a set of bolts and clips , so I don't have to go through this again ! .....



and here's the inner wheel well with the broken plastic tabs ....



Along with a small pile of crumbs that were in the fender ....



and here it is .... The fender .....

 

After reading a bunch of threads by the big hitters on this site , I now feel a bit overwhelmed ! I am sorry for weird posts lately , but things are taking a tailspin again for me . I wish my wife was more supportive like you guys seem to have it . I was on edge all weekend , and was exploding at everyone at the drop of a hat ..... Me and the family did manage to go to the pumpkin farm and had some fun which killed most of sunday( was gonna post some pics on this , but it seems like no one would give a rats **** anyways ) , but I did manage to get the stupid fender off ! I am being forced into jury duty tomorrow , and I will get out of it anyway I possibly can ! I'm going to dress as crappy as I possibly can , and make it clear I don't belong there . If they choose me , I'm not going back ! I need my overtime at work to get my bills paid off , and I'm not stopping that for some crackhead that belongs in jail ! They can send me a fine and I'll file it in the garbage ! Yes I'm pissed ! Everytime I get a chance to get ahead , some jackarse wants to screw it up for me ! Not this time Johnny ! It also seems that my underappreciated novice skills are going to stop quite short of any engine , rear axle , or transmission work from what I can see on the threads I have been reading lately . I will have to outsource that stuff along with a steering box restoration that I desperately need .... Of course none of this will even take place until I can find a place I can tear this car down at without getting screwed into putting it back together in a hurry , because someone decides to change their mind like the last time ! THIS IS NOT A RESTORATION THREAD YET , JUST RUST PREVENTIVE TO SOMEWHAT PRESERVE THE CAR TILL I CAN DO SOMETHING WITH IT ! I can tell you one thing to whoever is REALLY listening ( some mice maybe ) I sure as hell aint grinding , sanding , wire wheeling the bottom of my car ! I will sandblast it ! Seems like it would be a whole lot easier ! I know , I know , I have to plastic/seal everything off or things that turn and spin will be toast .

I still have a bunch of threads I have to start over and read from the beginning again , like Allans , and Oldzy's + many others to get any more input that I need .

 

It took like 6hrs of waiting , and about $15 in parking costs to get out of this crap , but don't think I just didn't want to do my civic duty . I have that heart conditon along with ADHD and anxiety , so my heart was not feeling real good by the time I was done telling the judge that in front of all those people . The case was a joke anyways ! The guy was a felon , and was caught with a gun along with selling pot ! GUILTY !!!!

I have to get ahold of my boss to see if I have the day off or what is going on . It looks like the court is paying me enough to at least pay for the parking , so if I have the day off I will do some work on the fender today .

 

Bryan,
Hope you are feeling better now that the jury thing has worked out for you.

The fender lower bolts you're having a tough time with? If you undo the one at the bottom of the rad support, you can undo those other ones when the fender is off the car. Gives better working room.

re: the inner liner torn mount? Seeing it's not a restoration I'd be inclined to just use a large thin washer on each side to allow the c clip something to mount to. Get new bolts if you can from Autozone. Take the old one with you as a reference. OR what you can do is just buy new c clips and bolts at AZ at the same time - just match them up.

Looks like you have the usual accumulation of crud that falls down into the fender by the cowl. If nothing else, I'd check the cowl on the side to make sure the metal there isn't rusting out too.

You sure seem to like storing car parts in the bathroom. ??? Bathrooms usually have a lot of moisture (shower). Any chance you could make this project work better at your Mom's? IIRC you said she has a garage?

 

We are not using the shower back there , or at least until I get the fender out of there . We have another full bathroom , so it's been working out . I was going to order a complete set of bolts and clips from inline tube this weekend now that I have a little money to play with .... I'm assuming they have those cowl clips that are now broke making the nut spin round and round .

 

I noticed the Buick was trying to cut out on me while pulling in the parking lot at work , and I knew what it meant . I had a real long night at work , and did not get out of there until 1:00A.M. I got about a block from work and I remembered about the car cutting out on the last corner as I headed into my works lot , and it was at that moment that I ran out of gas AGAIN!!!! I really have to get to the bottom of this problem/fix the stuck float ! ( ideas would be great .... Do I drop the tank , and remove the sending unit to get to the stuck float ? ) I had to hoof it only maybe three blocks at the most to the nearest gas station , and like a dumb **** I put like three gallons in the can .... so now I had fun lugging a 30lb gas can back toward the car . Some real cool dude stopped and gave me a lift the rest of the way . I couldn't beleive there are still good people out there after what i'm use to dealing with lately . It turns out he's a Taxidermist ,and he gave me his card , which may come in handy the next time i'm Walleye fishing . I have a real good fishing spot where I catch a lot of big Walleyes . ( not that I could afford to have it stuffed ) but who knows . I think that was a reminder from somewhere that there are good folk left in the world that would help someone carrying a 30lb gas can down the street . God Bless that guy !

I know I should pay more attention to my miles on the speedometer , but I can't use the tripometer because it gets stuck at 9 miles almost everytime , so it's not very accurate .

 

Ok , I figure I'm using about a gallon a day on average , and I usually get $20 dollars worth when I get gas , so I should put some in every 4 days to be safe . That's what I was doing pretty much , but I must of lost track of the days . I'll have to get one of those little calenders to stick on the dash , so I can mark it off .

 

20 bucks in Jersey gets you about 5 gallons and change? I think everytime you start the car you probably use more than you would idling , but you must be close to work, My truck has a 44 gallon tank... it gets about 11-13 mpg around town ( not to bad considering it is a v10) , but filling her is painful on the wallet, your should be getting similar. I agree it sucks not having a gas gauge, but if you don't remember when you put gas in last it's time to put some in..

 

Bryan, yes you have to drop the tank to replace the 'fuel pump'. The float is part of it. On some newer cars you can hear the pump working back there when the engine is running. Not cheap either- around 260.00. I believe your car

 

, Ouch !

 

Allan, I think the paint fumes from all your detailing is getting to you! His fuel pump is on the engine and it's the sending unit that needs to come out of the tank to deal with the float, which is all part of the sending unit. But you are correct, the new cars have the pump in the tank.

Bryan, I tend to believe your sending unit may be bad rather than the float sticking. If you want to test the gauge in the car, disconnect the wire coming from the sending unit (I think it connects in the trunk) and see if the gauge moves. Then ground the wire that runs to the gauge (not the one going to the sending unit) and see if it moves the opposite way. I forget which way the gauge will move for grounded VS non-grounded but the gauge will need to read F and E when doing those tests. If that works, the sending unit is where the problem is. You can use an ohm meter to see if the resistance of the sending unit changes as the float arm moves but you'll need to have it in your hands to test it. I think Allan showed this on his thread but I can't swear to it. The thing to keep in mind is that once you drop the tank, it would really suck to find out the sending unit is bad and you not have a replacement. Don't want to do that job more than you need to.

 

Just took a quick look and Fusick sells a new sending unit for $89.50. There may be other places that may be able to do better. I also think someone offers a rebuilding service for your original one. But the car would be off the road for a while waiting for that to be done.

 

ok , this is what I need from inline tube ... INL10261 + INL10260 + INL10262 would cover everything with a bunch of stuff left over . I will have to try and sell the rest or something . Some of the bolts and shims I have are in real good shape . I'd hate to toss them .... or I could give them to someone as a Christmas present

It's going to be a breeze locating and removing the spot welds on this fender . I remember trying to clean the fender up with the brace on like 6 or 7 yrs ago , and that's one thing I'm glad I did now ! I used a rattle can enamel . Even the cat wants to get in on the act ....





I'm not quite sure why I did not pull the fender at least to bondo the sizable hole that was on this fender What a mess ! ....



Looks like a turd .... I will use a fiberglass bondo this time , and do a much better job ! This is only temporary remember

 

Just to confirm . We are talking about my 93 Buick Lesabre

I just realized you beat me to it on the response

 

DUH!!! I just realized the problem was with your Buick.... So never mind. Looks like I'm the one suffering from paint fume exposure! Sorry Allan...

 

I have not looked under the Buick to see if this is feasable yet , but I'm sure it is . I have a annoying heat shield above the muffler that vibrates and makes an awful noise at a certain RPM . The shield can't be mounted anymore , because the small bolts that held it on are rusted away . I was going to cut the metal with a sawsall to get it out of there and use it to patch the hole I'm about to make in my trunk floor on the Buick . Then I can get at the sending unit much easier . That's where the piece of metal comes into play . Since I don't weld , I was going to rivet a piece of that metal to patch the hole I'll make in the floor . The wheel well is rotted out pretty good on one side of the trunk , so I was gonna use some more of that metal to patch that too . What do you guys think . Good idea or bad ?

 

Well once again the drill is set up with the extension , and I'm ready to rock ! ( on 4hrs of sleep again lol ) ......



Don't get your finger too close to the drill bit . I could not find the adult bandaids , so I had to use this one with a little duct tape . ( couldn't find my clear tape either ) Don't worry I cleaned the cut , and added some Neosporin before the bandaid ....



It only took me an hour and 15 minutes to get this brace off this time , but the brace is not looking to good ....



and here's the nice hole in the fender ....

 

Here's a close up of the brace damage ....



and the inner fender shot , which looks better then the other side except for the holes ....



The rest of the photos shows the minimal damage to the fender from drilling . What appears to be small holes are actually just bumps in the metal for the most part . I couldn't of done a better job of removing this brace I don't think ....

 

More pics ....



This was the worst hole I had to make in the fender itself , because of clearance issues ....



This looks worse then it actually is . There is a hole there in the first place for the bend in the metal from the factory ....

 

Are you kidding or really serious? There's NO WAY I would cut the floor of the trunk open to get to the fuel pump, no matter what! Follow the proper service procedure. Drain the tank and drop it out. That will give you the room to work with undoing the locking ring too. While it's out you can drill or grind the bolts that are causing the problem with the heat shield too. You do not want to be cutting corners on safety issues. Did you think about exhaust gases that can enter the car from a non sealed trunk? I would be more concerned about patching the holes already there than making new ones.

 

Although I wanted opinions , I think you're a bit overboard on this one . I found one source that said they actually did this in cars that had faulty sending units that kept failing . They even went as far as making a door with hinges in the patch itself , so when they had to do this again , it would be easier to fix . Removing the tank straps on this car is a real bear , and you end up having to sawsall the bolts off half the time . I would probably end up having to get new straps and hardware which would cost even more money . Besides I was planning on putting a gasket on the patch so there won't be fumes . If you read what else I said , I already have a big hole in the trunk wheel well anyhow , and never smelled any fumes ever . I also don't worry about every little thing that comes my way in life , and I'm still alive and have all my fingers and toes so screw the manual . I do see your point with the locking ring though and will use a brass bar or whatever that is they use , so there is no sparks . I'm not even sure that I'm even going to do this yet anyways .

 

I don't know if that was directed at me but I fully agree grinding etc is the pits and blasting will be much better , although it will also thin out the rusty metal to Swiss cheese but you will know what you have ....

Regarding jury duty usually if you ask them if there are any capital crimes to get on and if you get selected do you get to pull the switch or at least watch they seem to let u go early

I admire your determination I can not imagine putting things on and off practically daily to get this done.

And I am with Allan on cutting a hole near a gas tank. What would you use to guarantee no heat or sparks very dangerous IMHO

 

[QUOTE=Eddie Hansen;461644]I don't know if that was directed at me but I fully agree grinding etc is the pits and blasting will be much better , although it will also thin out the rusty metal to Swiss cheese but you will know what you have ....

Regarding jury duty usually if you ask them if there are any capital crimes to get on and if you get selected do you get to pull the switch or at least watch they seem to let u go early

I admire your determination I can not imagine putting things on and off practically daily to get this done.

And I am with Allan on cutting a hole near a gas tank. What would you use to guarantee no heat or sparks very dangerous IMHO

[/QUOTE

God no , it was not directed at you Eddie . I was on a rant that day , and did not have your thread in mind when I said that . Honest injun ( I say that because I'm part French Canadian Indian ) I do agree to an extent that sawing above the gas tank is a bit crazy , but so would grinding the bolts off to release the tank itself .... so pick your poison . I know I said that one should not take what one says on the internet to heart , because words can mean two different things , but I seem to be getting my ***** busted lately

 

Hopefully not by me.... mine are always in a sling and that is not what the good lord intended lol

Well the bolts are much further away from piping, potential leaks, etc you will be seeing exactly what you are doing, an impact gun from hf is cheap it,s not great but cheap and will work for a little while you have the compressor so have at the bolts first because it is the correct way to do it... I have heard tell folks using a dipstick to check fuel level it's been done but doesn't make it right

Oh btw the hand lotion comment to Allan was funny

 

I'll try getting the gas tank straps loose first and see what happens .