Incendier

Need a little advice on a DIY fix, if possible.

The driver's trim strip was missing when I got the car. I always planned to replace it, but now both of the rear quarter trim strips have acquired some minor paint bubbling around the trailing edge. Not acceptable!

I removed one of the strips to fix the bubbling using documented paint-chip techniques - the tape and the plastic sockets were lose anyway - and since I think the car looks better without the trim anyway...why not go too far with this

Is it possible and/or practical to use a little body filler to plug the trim holes and to make them disappear with some patient paint, or do I need to enlist a body shop to help? Anyone have some BTDT techinque on not-minor paint touch-up?

Thanks.

Nicole

I talked to a body and paint guy about this, and he said these holes must be welded to be permanantly and durably closed. Of course, this requires the ability to weld aluminum. i'd be curious to hear if anyone did it with filler, and got lasting results. In any case, I feel the holes are too large to cover them without professional painting. It's probably best to eliminate them when a paint job is due anyway.

Dave H.

you need to weld them.

filler will come loose from the metal and you'll end up with ring shaped cracks in your paint. eventually they'll come free completely or some punk will push on them and they'll fall into the door, leaving you holes again.

dr bob

The best solution is welding them, but it is possible to do them by dinging the holes and filling the ding. Use a pick (that's a tapered body hammer) to the hole, and tap on the face of that with another hammer. You need to end up with a dent that's at least 3x the size of the original hole. Be sure do grind off the paint before you dent, by the way. Anyway, you can then fill the dent and be on your way. Dangers are that your dings will distort the good metal sections if you aren't careful. Note also that, in spite of the ad literature to the contrary, body filler does in fact shrink slightly over time. Do your filling, leave the patch a little proud, prime for rust prevention. Come back in a month or two, after the bulk of the shrinkage is done, and do the final block to level.

Welding may be a lot quicker!

Incendier

That's a good idea, Dr., but I've got enough troubles without intentionally denting her.

Guess I'll pony up for the missing trim piece and do the removal on a repaint. Thanks for the input, all.

drnick

i just pulled the trim off, the holes arent so bad! it definitely looks meaner without the bump strips.

Incendier

No, they're not that bad.

But the door trim holes drain water directly into the door, and sure do increase the wind and road noise into the cabin.

They gotta be filled, and without a good method, mine are going to be filled with trim.

CarreraFour

OOOKay, BTDT! When i <a href="http://patedwards.net/images/restoration/exterior6.jpg" target="_blank">removed the body side molding from "The Predator"</a> and had the holes welded I had no idea just how much of a pain in the **** this was going to be. I will save you the 6 months of stories and share the solution after TIG welding the holes closed ( and I would highly reccomend having someone do it that can weld auliminum with the itegerity required for aviation welds). If even the slightest bit of corrosion finds its way into the weld you will be back for a re-weld and paint...Trust me you don't want to mess with this if you are an amatuer. Once you have welded and painted you will need to treat the inside of the fender in the wheel well with a good water proof sealant (Mercs Benz makes some great stuff that can be purchased from the dealer and is used under every weld in a Mercs to prevent water penetrating welds). Beleive me, this too is very important because once you get rolling in that puppy and the first water that finds its way into the pores if the aluminum weld will show up as ugly *** water blisters under the paint job. You know what's next... back to the paint shop!

Recap- weld good and seal in the fender well with a good waterproof sealant