I was talking to a friend about the possibility of using a product like Weld Bond instead of butt welding quarter skins on my 70 Cutlass. Have any of you used this method and what is your feeling on it? The best benefit would be IMO eliminating warping panels. I'm not doing whole quarters but using patch panels since my jams and tops are in good shape.

 

DONT !!!!!! you can use panel bond on seams like the pinch weld with anchor welds but if you bond panels on with out welding you will see a nasty halo. Butt weld and save your self the trouble. I been doing body work long enough to know its not gonna work. I have tried panel bonding patch panels and was not happy and re did them by butt welding. I rarely overlap anything and have learned the hard way why butt welding is the best way to go.

 

^^^THIS! It's one thing to bond at factory overlaps that won't show. It's bad practice to do this in the middle of a fender. Any lap joint (bonded or welded) will show on the quarter panel, which is one reason why the Chinesium partial quarters suck so badly. The lap joint will definitely telegraph through the paint, and since the bond has a different stiffness and thermal expansion rate than steel, parking the car in the sun will quickly cause paint cracks at the seam.

 

thanks for your responses. Butt welding it's going ot be