Hi everybody first time poster, I have a 67 chevelle ss that needs body work. Aside from the areas you can buy repro. and reweld in would you suggest fixing rust with lead or putty? I have areas around the roof to the rain drip edge that are bad. The only reason I'm asking a guess originally things were fixed with lead. Is lead hard to do, or does it do a nicer job. I did alittle putty work before so I think I can manage that. Help me out Thanks

It's not really lead although a lot of people do call it that.
Body Solder has a lower melting temperature than lead.

There are probably many professional body men now days who have little or no experience working with "lead" (and probably don't want any experience for that matter)
Just too many newer more modern body fillers that are so much easier to use.

Rust should be cut out and have new metal welded in.

Hey Robinsons, I did the lead work on the sail pannels on my Chevelle and it wasn't that bad. I got the kit from eastwood.

Dean's right though. Anything that's rusted should be replaced with new metal. Lead is just a filler. Anything that will see any stress should be leaded, and anything that's sensitive to heat and may warp sould use putty.

David

They used lead in the sail panel seam because the quarter panel is only spot welded to the roof. I think if you weld it solid and use plastic filler, you should be okay.

"Body solder" is most certainly "lead". Pure lead actually has even a lower melting point. I am miles from a "metallurgist" and have never tried to melt pure lead. But I do know that "body solder" is made up of lead and tin. I know tin has a much higher melting point than "body solder" seems to have so I have to assume that its the lead that is bringing the melting point down in the body solder.


"Body solder" is rated by the 80/20 90/10 you will see when purchasing it. "80/20" means 80 percent lead 20 percent tin. The tin is what RAISES the melting point and makes it stronger.

I personally feel that the modern polyester filler is nearly (very nearly) as good as properly applied lead.

Lead if not properly applied is a big failure waiting to happen. If not from the flux than from the wax. It has to be applied RIGHT ON THE MONEY to last. Polyester filler on the other hand has MUCH more wiggle room for error.

Polyester filler applied anywhere near close to correct will out last us all. The car will be in the wrecking yard rusting away and it will still be there.

Thanks for all the replies I'll just stick with putty seems easier, Well have alot of work ahead and I'm sure I'll be posting again, Thanks Again

My vinyl top car had putty in the sail panel seam. Was in there under the original top from 1969. Obviously couldn't see it with paint (all that was on it was the factory red-brown primer), but it was still intact and appeared to be structurally sound. I will refill this seam with a filler also - either a glass reinforced or the Metal-Metal fillers.

Body solder can be your best friend or your worst enemy if not used correctly. The worst place to use it is on open seems or filling holes IMO. The acid in the tinning flux will leach it's way into seems and through any holes that are present to later come back and haunt you. My first experience with failure using solder was in bodyshop school- I had just finished a 69 chevelle ss and the quarter to roof seams started blistering. I had installed two GM quarters just as the factory did with solder and the acid that was trapped came through and blistered.

Don't use solder over any open seams, weld them up completely. The area has to be perfectly clean and able to accept a perfect tin before building up with solder. Use enough heat so you don't fold any rosin into the solder. And before you file or grind to shape be sure to completely clean all the rosin and flux from the solder and surrounding area with laquer thinner.

Everglass would be the easiest way to go.