do you have some pictures of what you got there that would help
good job never replaced a cowl panel the only thing I would have done different is to not use a spot weld cutter. I grind the spot welds and leave as much pinch weld as I can. but that's not to say you did wrong we all do things different. Good job I would like to see some of the new bodymen out there do what you did.
Hold on I'll send you some pic's
I grind the spot weld down through the first layer or close then use a hammer and big knife to separate the two. when I get it apart then I use the small grinder to finish it smooth. spot weld cutters cost to much and are to easy to go through both layers and you have less area to weld to when you go through to far
never tried the sanding belts is it good
They work good and it's really fast but It's a pricey way to go
George I was looking through some post and saw that you restore cars at your shop for 35 an hour At first I thought that was way to cheep our labor rate is 60 an hour and in the oil field it's 70. when I really look at the way you do It I'd rather do what you are doing than deal with the insurance co. they are getting more and more harder to deal with and I'm tired of there bull
good discs and they do make a big difference on the brand you buy
POR-15 was wet when I took picture. No top coat,
and then 2 for the whole rest of the skin. And sure, you’ll punch through a few times too but if you can’t weld up a 3/8” hole you probably shouldn’t be doing whatever it is you’re doing anyway. The holes in the top layer make for easy welding when it comes time to reinstall the panel, the surrounding metal is the original thickness and the flanges aren’t all bent out of shape from prying the layers apart.
For the thick ones I stay with the 3m, I've had cheap ones explode on me. The thin Blue Hawk ones are ok(Harbor Freight). Not as good as 3m but not as bad as some others.
POR 15 makes a metal prep. rust remover and pre primer that I have used on some projects and It works really good so far. Did a tanker truck the tank was really rusty, the tank was solid rust and the only thing I did before putting the POR 15 paint on was use the metal prep no sanding no wire brush. that was 2 years ago and no rust showing on the tank yet.
That's good being able to make a spot weld cutter last that long, not me I'm hard on them and break to many. I can use a grinder faster and better. But it is all in what you get use too.Spot weld cutters are super easy. Yeah sure, you’ll break a couple before you get the hang of it, but after that they last a long time. I think I used 4 to do the 200 spot welds to remove the roof skin from my parts Dart. Two in the first 10 minutes
And when you’re done everything is held together with welds that are about as similar to the originals as you’re going to get without a brand new panel and a fancy spot welder. Same size, same placement, same number.
