Rust repair

[CA Victoria]

This piece is a header cover for a Victoria.

If it were a cowl or rear panel it would be cut out and replaced. The metal is thin and there are complex bends in this piece. Putting a patch behind may not work so well due to the header clearance at the 90 deg bend.
The header covers are usu not found without a car attached, I would presume a donor may suffer the same issues due to moisture, dirt, and the proximity to the wood.

My thought is to finish media blasting and lead in the damaged area.

How are these types of repairs handled in the restoration world?

 

[Kevin in NJ]

Complex non structural metal can be effectively repaired with various 'steel' epoxies.

You have a few deep pits with like 50% pits and not tight together. The metal is structurally sound (at least from what I see in the picture). If you attempt a weld then you will cause the metal to shrink in that area (see my website to learn more). This can warp the piece if not effectively worked back flat. A lot of work and a lot of risk.

My recommendation is to sandblast the till the pit bottoms are no longer dark, fill with an epoxy paste type glue. Then seal with an epoxy paint on both sides.

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Tim, my position is that I would fix it correctly by making a new piece out of sheetmetal and welding it in, however only you can determine what is right for you.

Are you planning on taking the cap off of the vehicle and make repairs to the header behind it? I would presume that if the header has that much damage, the wood infrastructure must share similar issues. I would remove the cap and then make your repairs from the backside.

 

[Mike V. Florida]

You are going to have one heck of a job replecating that header in a home shop.

May I suggest a call to Berts? It is a standard slant windshield header piece.

Other wise why not, try to lead it. Various companies have kits for leading.

 

[1930fordor]

If you have access to a TIG welder, silicon bronze welding rod works great on small holes

 

[Duffy1]

Second Kevin in NJ .Once you warp it you have vreal problems.

 

[Craig Lewis]

Hold a heavy piece of copper behind the hole and you can weld a nice flat little puddle which will fill each hole and require almost no grinding. My welder of choice would be the wire feed (mig). Crank up the heat and hit it hot then cool with a blast from the air hose.
Next I would dig out the rust pits with a diegrinder & pointy bit then scrub with a phosphoric acid metal conditioner like rustmort.
I would tin and lead it providing there is no closed seams nearby that the flux could creep into.
An easier approach would epoxy primer followed up with Marglass or bondo spread into the pits and sanded smooth. If you have all the holes welded shut and rust removed the repair will outlast you.

 

[Richard Wilson]

From a home based hobbiest point of view (who recently had this same problem on my Victoria) I would remove the header cover, mig the holes using a copper backer as has been mentioned, sandblast and bondo the pits, and reinstall. More of a concern in my opinion is the condition of the wood header and top side wood pieces. If that is a leatherback vicky, and I think it is, you are going to have a problem when installing the top and the gutters. PM me and I can send you pic's of how I fixed mine.

 

[DaveB]

I recently had a smiilar problem on my leather back Victoria where the top seal leaked and the metal above the rear window was about like yours. No completely rust though holes but very very thin. A body guy recommended I use some "Kitty Hair" body plastic. Kinda like the old bondo but MUCH better. It has fiberglass fibers imbedded in the plastic material and is very strong and hard to sand. Extremely strong when finished. Make sure the metal is clean and coated with one of the new rust converting chemicals. Turns the metal black. No need to grind it all out. Paint with a new metal primer such as you can get from Wurth or a body shop ... the epoxy primer is the best. Then apply the Kitty Hair body filler. You will be impressed with the results and how strong this material is. Make sure you use a mask when grinding and sanding smooth.
Dave Bockman

 

[TD]

If you have access to a mig welder you can replace a complex area by small tacks, so not to over heat and warp, and replace with small pieces of metal to duplicate each surface. You can then add more tacks moving around the area and even use some heat dam or a wet rag to keep warpage down. You don't have to weld solid and you can grind and dress up with a good grade of hard two part filler. It takes a lot of time but that's what craftsmanship is all about. Or farm it out.
TD

 

[CA Victoria]

I took a leap of faith today and repaired my Victoria's header cover.

I used a piece of copper bar clamped to the front side of the cover under the areas to repair. I used my Miller 180 MIG welder to spot in the areas with holes and large pits. I ground the exterior smooth and removed most of the puddle from the back side with a small grinder and dremel tool.

Overall it worked well, the welding imperfections will fill with primer. The only problem that i did not anticipate was end to end warping. I should have anchored the entire piece. It is minimal thought and should pull out when installed.
(learned that the warping could have been minimized by peening the small welds....)
Thanks for the tips and suggestions~

 

[Mike V. Florida]

Pat yourself on the back! Fine job!!!

 

[CA Victoria]

Finally I had a chance to do the final fit on the header and weld in the header cover. Classic Wood Manufacturing took my original leatherback header and machined a correct header. They now have a pattern for the leatherback. After fitting the wood into the body I re fitted the repaired header cover and welded it into place with a MIG welder. While not perfect only a minimal amount of filler will be needed.

 

[Richard Wilson]

Good job Tim. Eastwood sells a low temp body solder (similar to lead) that can be applied with a propane torch and flux. This is what I used to slick up my Victoria header cover corners. It worked good and hopefully will be a little stronger than bondo type filler.

 

[Not George]

You are going to have one heck of a job replecating that header in a home shop.

May I suggest a call to Berts? It is a standard slant windshield header piece.

Other wise why not, try to lead it. Various companies have kits for leading.

I would try Bert's

Sorry! I should have read the entire post. ooops

 

[Dana Barlow]

Looks and sounds great to me as a good fix.

 

[PetesPonies]

Tim I use Master Series in restorations. It is a urethane primer that is moisture cured. It is great in areas like these. It would be my first line of defense into the pits and welded metal. Follow use with epoxy primer over the MS and go from there. I have used this technique for over 15 years now.