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Lead for bodywork

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Rut

Rut

Obi Wan
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Has anyone use lead vs 'bondo' to fill small imperfections on bodywork...to fill pinholes after all the rust has been removed? I started researching the subject and the new no lead sticks used with flux look very user friendly and might be an option vs welding or brazing thinned sheet metal. Just for kicks I used plumbing flux and a lead wheel weight along with a wooden paint stirrer to see how difficult working with a propane torch is. I played with a file after the lead cooled and found it very workable...even knowing the hazards of lead it looks like something I might try. Thoughts?
Thanks, Rut
 

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I learned how in the early 70s. Only used that knowledge once a few years ago. That was to teach another guy how because he was restoring a collector car and the car's owner demanded it. The funny part was that I was the mechanic in a shop with 2 body men and the shop owner had many years experience going back to the early days of restoration and customizing in Arizona had never used it.
I don't care for it even though it is not that difficult to do. The most important of the job would be to make sure the area being worked on needs to be thoroughly tinned. Any area not properly tinned is a place for rust to start especially if acid flux is used and a weakness in the adhesion of the lead.
A caution, be sure there is nothing flammable on the back side of the area you are working on.
 
I have done a tiny bit of lead work on rough surfaces and also to patch screw holes previous owners put in cars I was working on. As Tom said, if you get the tinning right it goes well. Tinning a rough surface is difficult if you cannot get all the oxide out of the pits.

Like you, I tried using my propane torch. It really puts out too much concentrated heat. When I have watched people do this they were typically using a soft acetylene flame with little or no oxygen. Supposedly that keeps the flame from re-oxidizing the surface.

I would not hesitate to use lead on small holes. For large, rough surfaces I will stay with traditional modern body fillers.
 
Thanks guys, the voices of experience! Like I first posted I have pin holes that need to be filled and I really dont want to use bondo. The areas that need work are on my TR4a and they are in the typical spots...the doglegs and areas that fit over/adjacent to the sills. Lead and no lead metal fillers look like they fit the bill...more so than the plastics since they can be worked without cracking. As with everything, preparation is the key since they don't tolerate rust any better than the plastic fillers and my only other option is a patch panel and I prefer not to go that direction.
Thanks, Rut
 
and, I believe Eastwood sells "non lead" lead
 
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