Lead Wiping/Loading Advice

[OldMan's Lacky]

Anybody done this in their restoration?

I have quite a few pin holes around the fuel tank (not the tank itself). A suggestion was that we could lead wipe? What are some of the things we would need to be aware of?

Have googled lead wiping and this looks to be easy enough:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7pM6Fndahc

[Trev]

I did it in a Tafe (basic panel beating) coarse, and used it on the wagon when doing it up.

It was not that difficult to do with the rite equipment, getting the surface 100% clean before tinning is crucial to the quality of outcome.

[mr bean]

Hi OldMan's Lack

I also used to Leadwipe when I was an apprentice back in the late seventies, No safety gear back than . We used the old oxy set ( size 8 or 10 tip)
low heat, and a wooden paddle about 40mm wide which we sat in an old hubcap half filled with old sump oil to stop it fron burning.
As Trev wrote, the area must be very clean, a die grinder will do the trick. and we were taught to one wave with the oxy one wave with the paddle.

I still remember my boss yelling at us if we got the vertical panels to hot and ended up with a pile of lead on the floor. Lead wasn't cheap even back than.

Good luck Andy

[Blacky]

There's an article on lead wiping in the latest street machine mag , with the white Camaro on the cover.

[OldMan's Lacky]

Thanks Trev and Andy.

Think I might try it on some of the leftover bits before tackling the ute.

Cheers Blacky, will have to make a trip to the newsagent - it must be sign as the guy who did the interior for the white Camaro did my seats, door cards and visors

[Blacky]

Thanks Trev and Andy.

Think I might try it on some of the leftover bits before tackling the ute.

Cheers Blacky, will have to make a trip to the newsagent - it must be sign as the guy who did the interior for the white Camaro did my seats, door cards and visors

.......... And the guy doing the lead wiping in the mag is a good mate of mine

[Nekro63]

Pulled all of it out of my ute, it's old technology and can easily cause rust or cracks.

[Trev]

Pulled all of it out of my ute, it's old technology and can easily cause rust or cracks.

Hi Luke, what did you replace it with? Trev.

[Nekro63]

Haven't yet! Gave it a super dooper clean, two coats of epoxy and will probably fibre fill the areas. Some people like to seam weld them before doing this but I don't think it's necessary.

[Trev]

When I learned to do this at Tafe, there was a bloke that was always saying why bother with led when you can use filler, because filler doesn't rust
It was good to learn anyway.

[reidy]

Pulled all of it out of my ute, it's old technology and can easily cause rust or cracks.

Personally I'd rather use lead as I've found it stronger in high stress areas such as the 1/4 panel to beaver panel area where the boot closes. As Trev said it's crucial to have the area 100% clean otherwise you get poor adhesion which causes cracking and rust starting. Obviously it is more work than filler but if the panels are tinned correctly I've had no problems at all and like the finish. One thing to be careful of is that the proper etch primer is used.
Just my two bob's worth
Bill

[bootlegger]

Ive recently finished micks austin a40 van. I replaced the bottom six inches around the car. I found wherever the lead was there was rust behind it. Im pretty sure the metal was rusted from the other side rather than the lead side.
Personally i think lead is a good product but not economically viable.
Whnever i do a rust patch i first skin the weld with fibre nicky and then go over that with normal nicky.
My theory is the fibre will hold down any porosity that might be left behind from the weld.
Ive also used fibre nicky where dissimilar materials meet like an alloy panel meeting a steel one.
And before you say im bodgy or shonky using bog jjust ask yourself if you would foot the bill for file finishing.

[reidy]

I think you have to look at jobs differently. Some customers may be satisfied with bog which obviously has a cheaper outcome compared to lead work. On my own repairs i'm happy to use lead because it's my own time. If a panel is going to rust from the other side of the repair, it doesn't matter if it's lead or bog. I think the word here is "prevention". I don't think any of us will be around when the old A40 rusts out again

Ive recently finished micks austin a40 van. I replaced the bottom six inches around the car. I found wherever the lead was there was rust behind it. I'm pretty sure the metal was rusted from the other side rather than the lead side.
Personally i think lead is a good product but not economically viable.

Hey? we all have different opinions, that's what makes it interesting
Regards Bill

[bootlegger]

I think you have to look at jobs differently. Some customers may be satisfied with bog which obviously has a cheaper outcome compared to lead work. On my own repairs i'm happy to use lead because it's my own time. If a panel is going to rust from the other side of the repair, it doesn't matter if it's lead or bog. I think the word here is "prevention". I don't think any of us will be around when the old A40 rusts out again

Ive recently finished micks austin a40 van. I replaced the bottom six inches around the car. I found wherever the lead was there was rust behind it. I'm pretty sure the metal was rusted from the other side rather than the lead side.
Personally i think lead is a good product but not economically viable.

Hey? we all have different opinions, that's what makes it interesting
Regards Bill

Im hearing you bill but in reality lead is a thing of the past. The nickys are pretty good now compared to 20 year ago. The problem is when they are abused.
I saw a mercedes gullwing recently that had a skin all over it and that was after it was filed up.
In the old days the body work was skinned with layers of pink and grey hand putty.
That process has now been replaced by polyester spray fillers.

[reidy]

Interesting things i've heard from a number of panel beaters and spray painters is that the new fillers and high fills have a tendency to shrink after a sometimes short while. Had this happen on my daughters car and had to rub out and re polish.
Bill