I have been making enquiries, and finally I have an answer for you. A friend of mine is an auto body repair professional, owning his own facility in Milwaukee. I felt that he was the man to ask on your behalf, and his input and advice is as follows:-
There are different types of adhesive, for metal, plastic, and glassfibre. The rule of thumb is that if you don't know what you're doing with them, stay away, but for an experienced user, they are very effective, and do their job well. The upside is that they are a tremendous time saver, and reduce the amount of man/hours needed considerably, in addition to their effectiveness. The downside is that they are being used by the less scrupulous businesses as a cheap 'bodge'.
He warns that unless the vehicle in question was assembled by the factory using adhesives, do not use them. The main reason for this is that a vehicle that was designed as a unibody relies on the strength of the bodywork, often using panels to contribute to its structural integrity. Adhesives instead of welds can compromise that strength. If the car was welded by the factory, use welds in repairs. Even though the technology for these adhesives was not around when the majority of our cars were built, it does not mean that they would be an improvement if they were used on our cars today.
The rule should be that a car should be assembled in the same way
that it came apart. Adhesives can be used for repairs, but once again, only where there is no structural panel. I can see it working on door skins, maybe rear wings, but I would be reluctant to use it anywhere it might matter in a crash.
Does that help? I hope I haven't confused the message.
Steve
[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: Steve ]</p>