Epoxy vs Welding

[dumb_doggy]

I'm in the process of a body off heater channel replacement. I was practicing with my new MIG welder yesterday when the thought ocurred to me... They use glues and epoxies to hold airplanes together these days, has anyone replaced a heater channel using JB Weld, or some other epoxy?

[swhitcomb]

I'm not an expert but here goes:
Airplanes need to be as light as possible and are not designed for crash worthiness. Our cars are. The heater channel is the main structual support. If you jb weld it, what happens in a crash?
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My 71 Ghia Been in my family since 1980
My Patina 66
My 74 Ghia
07 Boxster

[DrDarby]

While there are some good structural adhesives I think that the consensus will be you will want to weld the heater channels in. I've used body adhesive for example when replacing a lower door skin on my nephew's Chevy and other things similar and it works great but my fear would be on a heater channel you'd really need it to be "as one" with the body in case of trouble.

I've done floor pans "in the field" with 3-M Superfast Eurethane and aircraft rivets every 8" along the flange and this had held up well for almost 20 years.
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Midwest Autosavers, Inc. Woodstock, IL

[dumb_doggy]

Thanks for the comments. Those were pretty much my feeling too, guess I was just wondering if there was some super tech glue/weld/epoxy that I hadn't heard of yet.

Back to my scrap heap and some more welding practice.

[JonF]

[Cheapo]

[oibovveroi]

I would not use epoxy myself.
we are not working on airplanes so who cares what the facts are on that...go to the "whos a pilot"thread.

[drscope]

Basic rule of thumb - When working on old technology, use old technology. When working on new technology, use new technology.

A lot of cars are glued together in todays production practice, but you need to remember, the entire package is designed to work that way.

We are dealing with older technology and build practices and nothing was designed with glueing in mind.

Follow the practices used when the car was built and you will retain it's integrity and it's value.
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Mother Nature is a Mean Evil Bitch!

[Ghoti]

Sure!!

When I was in the Air Force, we used various mixtures of duct tape and speed tape to keep the C-141's in the air!! Worked like a charm.

Little known fact: we had special tool kits that did not include duct tape...but did indeed have left-handed screw drivers and metric hammers.
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OH SNAP!

[swhitcomb]

[fastinradford]

[MrUnix]

The problem with using epoxy is it's bonding properties, particularly with a non-porous material like metal. Sure, it will stick, but nothing anywhere like the bond that you get with a weld where the metals are actually fused together. I guess you _could_ use an epoxy if you took your time and prepared the areas properly, but I wouldn't trust it half as much as I would trust a weld, particularly on a structural area.

Cheers,
Brad

[discochris]

I've used professional body panel adhesive for patch panels before. I just did one under my fender, because I didn't want to pull the fuel tank, and I didn't want to weld that close to the tank. This is the really expensive stuff that uses a special applicator gun. I would not use it on a heater channel though - maybe if you were patching a small hole or something, but not to attach a whole channel - that would be bad news.

[twotires]

While we're on the subject - not trying to hijack this thread - but I'm curious to know if panel adhesives will bond on top of paint -

I want to remove the sheet metal piece that holds the decklid hinges, then paint the car (getting up in behind those vents under the rear window) then panel adhesive the decklid hinge piece back in.

[Baja Champ SE]

Is "stop spreading your ignorance as fact" a new burn that I'm not aware of?

I've seen it in like 3 or 4 posts in the past week...or maybe it's the same person that likes to step on everyone who has an honest question or comment.

Can we keep this place a little more civilized than the real world.

And my motto is "do it right the first time," so I'd have to say go with the German way (aka welding).
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-1972 Baja Champion SE Super Beetle "Frank the Freak"

SOLD
-1969 Deluxe Bus "Warhaul" aka "Project Whitestock"

Air Speed VW Club of So Cal
Member Since July 2007

[johnnypan]

Thes Samba is quaint with its "Lord of the Flies"tribal atmosphere...I like the way the late model owners are looked down upon... like we are not allowed to supper with the gods....And the shamless groveling to the ancients,and the pettiness...God if our mothers could see how we act on here....

[planefixer]

I am a licensed aircraft mechanic. I work on part 121 transport category planes. Been working on them for 10 years. All epoxy’s we use, Even Ciba Fastweld 10 would eventually melt with enough heat, Therefore, I would avoid them structurally.

Oh and by the way, the comment "planes are not designed for crash worthiness" is not true, Planes have crumple zones, just like cars.
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2018 Atlas- Mommas kid Hauler
2010 GTI- The daily Driver
1966 Bug- Current Project
2010 "VW" Routan- Traded in for Atlas.
1977 Bus. 2.0 F.I. GD- SOLD.
2001 BMW 325I- RIP.
1967 Beetle - Sold
2001 Jetta GLS -Sold
2001 Cabrio - Sold
1987 Porsche 944S- Sold
1986 Porsche 944- Sold
72 SB Vert- Sold
71 SB Vert- Sold

Titusville FL.

[planefixer]

[Zeen]

[MrUnix]