filling the roof channels (With lead)

[Ron at bunch.org (Ron@bunch.org)]

I'm going to mention an old school technique here that I have yet to 
master, so can't tell you how. That's using molten lead as a body filler. 
It doesn't crack.

As recently as the 1970s and maybe even in the 1980s,  higher end German 
auto manufacturers used it as a technique to sculpt final fit of parts. 
(USA manufacturers used it in the 50s.) A craftsman would apply molten lead 
to an area needing filling and then use an insulated glove on his other 
hand to to wipe it smooth.

As far as I know, no lead filled Mercedes or Porsche ever cracked, but I 
have seen a lot of failed synthetic fillers only a couple years out.

Yes, lead can be dangerous, but I've been exposed to lead paints (spraying 
them at 8 years old) and lead bullet casting for more than a decade beyond 
a half century: and I'm still here. (Sorry, but my Mom never taught me to 
chew on the woodwork.)

If you want to try it, visit your local library and look for the very 
earliest body repair manuals. As a disappearing art, it is doubtful you 
will find any Internet reference.

A critical point is using a proper flux to prepare the steel so as to avoid 
corrosion. (Solder flux doesn't work.) I'm still working on that and intend 
to use it for smoothing repair on my 86 8V rear quarter panel.

If I were repainting a Scirocco, I'd invest in original factory filler 
pieces (or lead).
That's my opinion and your car. However, if you were selling it a few years 
from now with a beautiful paint job and a W30 conversion, my attention 
would focus on the roof.

At 08:41 AM 2/16/04 -0600, Mark Langford wrote:
>I'm about to paint my 87 Scirocco, and spent Friday removing everything
>that's not a faded-to-pink version of Tornado red.  After peeling off the
>black "drip rails" from the roof (that's all I can think they'd be for),  I
>called the VW stealership, where I was told these were available only if you
>bought the entire roof.  Well, I'd already been thinking of getting rid of
>them anyway, so that confirmed it.
>
>I was thinking of mixing up some epoxy with microballoons and filling them
>completely with this stuff (same stuff composite aircraft builders use), as
>it's not as prone to cracking as polyester type body fillers.  Has anybody
>filled these channels with something, and did it last without eventually
>cracking? And what did you use?
>
>Thanks a lot,
>
>Mark Langford, markl "at"  hiwaay.net
>1974 2110cc Karmann Ghia  (http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford/ghia2.jpg)
>1987 2.0L 16V Scirocco
>1999 1.8T Audi A4 Avant
>2001 1.8T GTI w/APR chip
>see Corvair powered KR2S project at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Scirocco-l mailing list
>Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
>http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l