Glued my patch panels.

[Powerman5K]

Hey guys, I just finished my first attempt at gluing patch panels and I thought I'd share. I had the usual rust in the usual location. Cut the bad out then used the 3M body panel adhesive to attach a panel.

Process was pretty straight forward. Apply the glue and then I attached with sheet metal screws to secure the panel.



Hindsight being 20/20, I would have hammered down the seam after gluing to make filling the transition easier. I'll do that on the other side. Overall, I'm very happy with the results.

Glue is not cheap. $70 a tube and I had to by a special chalk gun to apply it. Took about half a tube for this one patch.

[81-F150-Explorer]

Looks really good.  

[1986F150Six]

Were the screws removed after the glue had set?

[Powerman5K]

Yes, I removed the screws then filled them.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Looks like a good repair, and you won't have any problems with water in the seam!  

If you have compressed air, a cheap punch and flange tool will set the patch flush with the rest of the body panel.
This won't work everywhere but can be very helpful keeping the lines straight.

A few companies (Eastwood?) that offer a pair of locking pliers with jaws that will joggle the panel too, but these are painfully slow .

[Powerman5K]

I have an air flange but it only makes a 1/2" seam. Do you think that's enough to glue the seam.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I think it certainly is for a non-structural patch like a wheel arch or cab corner.

[BigBrother-84]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

If you have compressed air, a cheap punch and flange tool will set the patch flush with the rest of the body panel.

Before restoration, Big Brother had more than one similar repairs (we live in a rust country here ).
At the end, it was so thick that Big Bro looked having woman hips...

So, after multiple layers of patches during his life, the restoration offered to Big Bro a plastic surgery and two new complete bed sides panels.
I thought it would be easy, but it wasn't:  It was difficult to get the bed perfectly straight and aligned, it required multiple adjustments before the final result was satisfying.

[tjmac]

Hi!  Great looking patch, there!
Where did you source your patch panels?

[Powerman5K]

I ordered from 2 different locations as LMC didn't have both sides in stock. The other side I ordered from Tabco. As it turns out, Tabco is the supplier for LMC and they are identical. LMC doesn't even take the Tabco sticker off. Funny thing though, LMC sells them cheaper!