I am looking for some advice on the best way to fix this area.
I do not have any experience doing lead work.
Thanks
Greg
Neither did I and it takes a little time to learn but it's well worth it.
That looks like it would be pretty thick if you filled it with body filler. When body filler is thick, it'll expand at a different rate then the metal around it. This is referred to as telegraphing or the band aid effect.
For the best results doing leadwork, I recommend using a propane pencil tip for the torch. Use the thin lead bars like Eatwood sells. You don't need the flame up high. In fact a low adjustment is best. Heat the area gradually by moving the flame over the entire area in a moving circular pattern. Apply tinning paste. Let cool. Now do heat again over the area above, on, and below. The tinning paste should turn the metal to a chrome look where you plan to lead. Let it cool off again. Clean the area now with a watered down baking soda paste and let it dry. Wipe that off and clean with either a laquer thinner or better; a metal cleaner like Eatwood sells. Now it's ready to begin leadwork.
Re heat the area again in a large circular moving pattern. Figure 8's is what I was doing. After heating the metal up, you need to alternate at the same time to the lead bar heating it up. The goal is to get the lead bar to get to the consistency of soft butter; like butter that has sat out at room temp. With your wood paddle that was dipped in tallow and looks like a glazed donut; it's ready now to spread the lead on. Heat the metal, lay the heated bar section on the area and spread the lead on. This will be your main learning curve. Don't let it feel like your'e not doing it right. Just keep trying till you get the groove on working with the lead. Once the lead is to your liking, you'll need to file it off with an aggresive file. I recommend doing leadwork in a very well ventilated area, preferrably outside.
I suggest you look at videos on youtube regarding leadwork.
Resto Rick has a page on leadwork also.
From his website:
8. Follow by scrubbing with a paste made using baking soda and water. This step is to neutralize any remaining acid residue and further clean the surface.
9. The last step before soldering is to wipe the area down with a solvent such as Glasurit
360-4 Metal Cleaner or equivalent.
10. The entire area to be leaded should now have a shiny tin coating.
11. Here’s the part where it gets tricky! Apply heat evenly over a couple square inch
at a time until a solder bar can be melted by the metal. You don’t want to melt the
bar with the torch flame! The solder is applied by melting it into the panel much
like putting out a cigarette. Warm the panel, remove the heat and push the bar on.
This is repeated over the whole area until enough solder is applied to fill the area.
12. The last step is to re-warm the solder until it gets just to the “plastic” stage.
Too much heat and it will run to the floor; not enough and the paddle won’t move
the solder or it will crumble. The paddle has to be coated by melting wax in a
tub and sliding it into it. “In the day” oil was used, but the wax works much
better. In this step it’s important to heat the solder well enough so that while
spreading it, minimal air pockets form and that the coating all melts together.
This was my first attempt.
I re-did it a second time and it came out way better then once I improved my technique.
