Restoring a severely pitted non structural steel part

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moparmat2000

moparmat2000

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Hi Y'all

I have a spare tire board metal cup that holds the board in place. When i can find these they always seem to be deeply pitted from corrosion. Since these only exist to keep the spare tire cover board in place its not really a critical structural item, plus theres enough metal left that it will work without failure for its task, why not try to fix it?

I decided to sandblast the part to completely remove all the corrosion which left a pockmarked texture, and a few tiny pinholes, then i proceeded to apply JB weld with a cut down acid brush. When the epoxy was dry, i sanded it smooth with an air powered DA sander and 180 grit sandpaper, and reapplied more JB weld to the low spots. Once dry i will sand smooth and apply some epoxy primer, scuff and paint. I will add more pix as i progress through this. Hopefully this will help other people to be able to save stuff like this that is not being reproduced.

Pic #2 shows the bottom side of the cup with first layer of jb weld sanded, and pic #3 shows a small reapplication of additional jb weld to the low spots on the bottom side of the cup. Once smooth, i will apply a good epoxy based etch primer

Matt

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moparmat2000 said:
Hi Y'all

I have a spare tire board metal cup that holds the board in place. When i can find these they always seem to be deeply pitted from corrosion. Since these only exist to keep the spare tire cover board in place its not really a critical structural item, plus theres enough metal left that it will work without failure for its task, why not try to fix it?

I decided to sandblast the part to completely remove all the corrosion which left a pockmarked texture, and a few tiny pinholes, then i proceeded to apply JB weld with a cut down acid brush. When the epoxy was dry, i sanded it smooth with an air powered DA sander and 180 grit sandpaper, and reapplied more JB weld to the low spots. Once dry i will sand smooth and apply some epoxy primer, scuff and paint. I will add more pix as i progress through this. Hopefully this will help other people to be able to save stuff like this that is not being reproduced.

Pic #2 shows the bottom side of the cup with first layer of jb weld sanded, and pic #3 shows a small reapplication of additional jb weld to the low spots on the bottom side of the cup. Once smooth, i will apply a good epoxy based etch primer

Matt

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Slick sand, a filler primer would make the job a bit easier.
 
Yes a filler primer would work if it was less pitted. That was the route i would have went if the rust wasnt so severe. However in some places on this part there were pinholes. In this case something stronger and thicker is needed to fill in the missing metal. Plus a filler primer isnt as strong as a metal based epoxy.
 
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moparmat2000 said:
Yes a filler primer would work if it was less pitted. That was the route i would have went if the rust wasnt so severe. However in some places on this part there were pinholes. In this case something stronger and thicker is needed to fill in the missing metal. Plus a filler primer isnt as strong as a metal based epoxy.
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That makes sense. Good work.
 
JBweld is wonderful! I used it to close up holes in my dash. I removed the ugly woodgrain panels & holes were eye sores! So I chamfered holes round file and scuffed front & rear of hole. Then took some old pennies scuffed them put a good drop if JB stuck from behind with duck tape.Front side of hole had tape first to avoid drips. After epoxy dried sanded with 40 or 60 grit to knock down.Then repeat skim fill to fill pinholes. Presto holes gone finish area with high build primer!
 
Yep, i used it to mod the column shift on my 67 cuda to floor shift. Knocked the warts off the collars with a cutoff wheel, grind down, and fill up with JB weld, sand, skim coat body filler. Prime n paint
 
Sanded second touch up coat of jb weld on underside , and applied an epoxy etch primer, also started sanding the top side

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I finally sanded the rest of the JB weld, and applied epoxy etch primer to the top side of the cup. Next step, scuff and black paint.

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That is pretty,but anal? I guess I would clean it with wire cup, spray it down with phosporic acid to neutralize any rust, spray it with etching primer, then with polyester primer ( sorta like boy filler in the spray gun), the pant with heavy solid spray can like rustoleums. I can be anal too! ha
 
I am very OCD with everything. Even stuff that cannot normally be seen like this spare tire board cup which would be hiding under a trunk mat. What i was trying to show was that stuff thats pitted all to hell like this was can be fixed/restored instead of tossed.
 
I was making fun of the both of us. I admit the satisfaction of working on these old cars is "fixing" something, no mater how small it may seem.
 
I now wonder if JB weld would hold up successfully on the a pillars where the caulking type filler fell out after i removed vinyl top. This is area around top outer area of windshield. Or maybe fill it in with welding rod. Just a thought/ doubt that is looming in my mind folks!:eek:
 
QuickDart360 said:
I now wonder if JB weld would hold up successfully on the a pillars where the caulking type filler fell out after i removed vinyl top. This is area around top outer area of windshield. Or maybe fill it in with welding rod. Just a thought/ doubt that is looming in my mind folks!:eek:
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Where the A pillars meet the roof and cowl on A bodys thru 68 it should be lead fill, 69 up they used body filler i believe. I terms of strength and grip I would put the JB weld somewhere between body filler and lead filler.
 
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moparmat2000 said:
Where the A pillars meet the roof and cowl on A bodys thru 68 it should be lead fill, 69 up they used body filler i believe. I terms of strength and grip I would put the JB weld somewhere between body filler and lead filler.
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Nope, there's lead in the A-pillars & in all high-stress structural joints (like rocker panel overlaps) well into the '70's, can't say what year they actually stopped tho'. The
roof/ C-pillars got a little of both on the few I've stripped down, at least up to '73. The factory Bondo was some coarse looking stuff, & the pass door on My '72 Swinger
/6 ride had a big "eye" shaped spot under the original paint! It had been repainted once, but it looks like an assembly-line "OOOPS" that someone plastered when they
did the roof seam, same type/quality bondo, and under the original paint layer. The surface underneath looked like they hit it w/a 4" grinding disc,LOL!!!
 
Nice job restoring a piece that nobody will see.
I am the same way, my neighbor and co-worker says I will never finish my Duster because I am too "picky"
 
Good idea Moparmat, I think I will attempt your method on some severely pitted KH disc brake dust shields. Thinking this will be much more durable than just body filler.

Scott
 
Thats true love, thats say it with krylon. I put it a little thick and it wrinkled in the middle where the wing nut goes, but at this point i dont care. Its way better than what i started with.

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That came out slick!!:thumbsup: bet it looks even better in person. My car had bondo like filler on pillar area. It was shriveled and falling out on it's own! No paint or primer was present under vinyl!! So it developed surface rust under filler and has indent both sides. Everyone that has had a look think it rusted down to indent. Not so!! But need to fill in with something better than that talc bondo crap!!:rolleyes:
 
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