Okay, guys with bodywork experience and "creativity"...

I'm rebuilding the windshield frame on my Swinger, much of which was rotted out due to trapped water under the vinyl top. I have neither the money nor experience to do the repairs "correctly" (fabricating new pieces of sheetmetal and welding them in), nor would it be cost-effective to pay someone else to do the repairs on a car that, lets face it, will never be worth much. Besides, I just want to get the car back on the road, even if it's only for a few years.

I was able to rebuild some of the missing sections at the top of the windshield by cutting out the rotted areas, cleaning everything I could reach down to bare metal, and filling the areas with epoxy putty. We'll see how long it lasts (at least I'm no worse off than when I started).

Before:

After:


Since I've never done bodywork before in my life, I'm pretty proud of myself. Try not to rain on my parade too much...

Anyway, the problem is, I can't figure out how to fill two holes at the base of the frame on the driver's side corner of the windshield. They reach into areas that I can't reach from behind, and there's no support for epoxy.




Any poor man's ideas? I'm worried that if I just slap epoxy on and smooth it out, it will shrink the channel and/or interfere with windshield fitting/sealing. Patches would need to go in from behind. I'm assuming just leaving the holes would be a bad idea, too.... I'm open to suggestions.

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vm

Assuming there is not a huge void behind the holes try stuffing some bronze wool (won't rust) in the hole for backing the epoxy.

This will also give the epoxy some surface "purchase".

If you cram a sufficient amount (of wool) in there, I don't think the epoxy shrinking will do any harm.

-my 2 cents

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<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3173/2992308402_5481afb26e_t.jpg">

Aluminum foil maybe?

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ski

I had a simular problem on the Duster and Bronze wool worked good. I epoxied over it and made sure to really pack it into the wool. It been about a year and its still ok here in the Arkansas Heat.
Frank
PS do several thin coats of epoxy it cures better.

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Scrapple: Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
73 Duster - Race Car
66 Dart Wagon - DD
178" FED
82 D150
All Slant powered

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!

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vm