67/68/69 cuda dilemma
I gave a lot of thought to how i intended to fill these 2 holes where a gage panel was mounted to the cowl when this was a drag race car. I have no access from the underside, and if i weld onto it to fill it, the holes are so big, all i would do is warp the metal and put a blobby mess on the inside of the cowl. The cowl plenum and standpipes are super solid, and so theres really no reason to remove the upper cowl skin. Heres what i came up with.
I used a screwdriver and carefully hit it with a hammer on the eges of the holes to slightly concave the holes a little more. Using a ball rotary file i cleaned up the edges of the holes, then hand sanded them with 80 grit to rough up the metal. I originally thought about applying JB weld directly to the holes with a bondo spreader but thought if i did that, i would have globs of JB weld push through the holes. Well theres more than one way to skin a cat so to speak. LoL.
What i came up with was using squares of sandwich bag plastic. I applied the mixed up JB weld to flat unwrinkled plastic sandwich bag and smoothed it out leaving it a little high in the middle. Then i stuck the plastic and JB weld over the 2 holes in the cowl, and rubbed down the edges of the JB weld on the plastic sandwich bag fairing it into the sheetmetal. I pressed lightly in the middle to make sure it was stuck down but did not so hard it would make stalagtites on the underside of the cowl.
My theory if i am correct, is that the plastic will peel right off when the JB weld dries leaving it intact. I can then sand it to shape, and apply a skim coat of body filler over it if need be.
I gave a lot of thought to how i intended to fill these 2 holes where a gage panel was mounted to the cowl when this was a drag race car. I have no access from the underside, and if i weld onto it to fill it, the holes are so big, all i would do is warp the metal and put a blobby mess on the inside of the cowl. The cowl plenum and standpipes are super solid, and so theres really no reason to remove the upper cowl skin. Heres what i came up with.
I used a screwdriver and carefully hit it with a hammer on the eges of the holes to slightly concave the holes a little more. Using a ball rotary file i cleaned up the edges of the holes, then hand sanded them with 80 grit to rough up the metal. I originally thought about applying JB weld directly to the holes with a bondo spreader but thought if i did that, i would have globs of JB weld push through the holes. Well theres more than one way to skin a cat so to speak. LoL.
What i came up with was using squares of sandwich bag plastic. I applied the mixed up JB weld to flat unwrinkled plastic sandwich bag and smoothed it out leaving it a little high in the middle. Then i stuck the plastic and JB weld over the 2 holes in the cowl, and rubbed down the edges of the JB weld on the plastic sandwich bag fairing it into the sheetmetal. I pressed lightly in the middle to make sure it was stuck down but did not so hard it would make stalagtites on the underside of the cowl.
My theory if i am correct, is that the plastic will peel right off when the JB weld dries leaving it intact. I can then sand it to shape, and apply a skim coat of body filler over it if need be.