Body bond vs. Welding

[JLM]

I've got a bit more body work to do to my firebird before it can be prepped for paint. My father who owns an aircraft repair facility was tipped off by his painter to a 3m product that will bond panels together rather than welding. I've picked up a tube of this stuff and I'm wanting to know if anybody has used it before. What are your impressions of the product?

[Midwest Performance]

The new Gm truck if I remember right bond their door hinges on. I have a friend who does builders and he tore the metal around the hinge trying to separate the hinge from the truck. From my understanding it has to be good and clean(bare steel). Some body shops use it to put quarters on to eliminate warping from welding.

Kevin

[Matt@RFR]

Call 3M. They are very friendly and willing to help...even us little guys. Tell them what product you bought, and they'll email or fax you the spec sheet(s) on it.

The reason you should do this is because a lot of 3M's stuff is very specific on what materials it will work on, temp ranges it can be applied, curing times, material prep and so on.

[Poopy]

A friend of mine bobbed (shortened) the back of his 4runner a few years ago, and used a similar product, I dont know if it was 3M or not, but it has stood up to countless rock crawling trips which flexes the crap out of everything and it still looks like new, it even survived a roll where the exo cage smacked the side of the body. The seam that has been "glued" is just below the oval "camrock" sticker going parallel with the short 8" piece of tube.

This pick isnt the roll where it got smoked...

[Boyd]

Which product is it? 40/40 or 80/15? I've used both types, they are about the same performance wise. The 80/15 sets up quicker. You better not have to move the panel you're bonding very much once it's in place. Alot of the old-timers grossly misunderstand this type of product. I have actually seen product tests where 2 similiar examples (two 4" square 18g sheet steel tags) were pull-tested. The welded example failed first, tearing around the welds. The bonded example never failed, presumable because the force was dispersed over a greater surface area. Enough ramblin', the stuff simply works.........

[68protouring454]

the new urethane adhesives are good, but most note they should note be used for anything structual, such as rockers on unibody cars, etc, they work great , but they are not intended for everything.also alot of times when say bonding a patch panel on or glueing a 1/4 on, the seems that will be bodyworked should be fully welded and use plastic filler, if you glue the joint then use a urethane filler etc you will get ghost lines after time, it will be smooth but you will see the line where the seam is, because of expantion and contraction and metal moves alot less then the urethane fillers, where as welding and using plastic filler will never show when done right.
jake

[HILROD]

I have personally seen a car that had a bonded on quarter after another accedent. The quarter had come almost off. The same job but welded is much stronger if done right. FRANK

[ViperBlue68]

JLM,
The interior shop used it on my rear deck lid to make it stop rattling from the subwoofers it worked great!! the decklid seems like its one solid piece...no rattle what so ever and the trunk actually makes a thud now when closing..

[69 Hugger 396]

I bought a rear ended S10 pickup for parts to fix another which had been hit in the nose. The left bedside had been replaced using some type of body adhesive. It was flapping in the breeze on my flatbed on the way down the highway. The only thing holding it on was a few tack welds around the taillight opening and the lower support rods. It's tough to draw a conclusion from this though as it could have been poorly prepped etc, but it looked like it was all ground down to bare metal before it was glued on. Call me old fashioned but I'm sticking to my welders.

[MoeBawlz]

I believe the Viper uses aircraft adhesive glue to bond its panels together.

[BRIAN]

If applied correctly it is incredibly strong bond and many OEM cars are using in non structural applications. But just like bondo it gets judged by those who are not using properly. It is actually good to flow into inner body seams for added rigidity. Next time when you do a whelhouse throw a little in seam. You will never hear a creak again. No warping and a 30 minute job rather than hours.