filling the roof channels (With lead)

[asbfooh at yahoo.com (A J)]

They showed that on that Hot rod show on Discovery ,
really trippy -





--- Ron@bunch.org wrote:
> 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
> >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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> >Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> >http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l
> 
> 
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