wondered if anyone here has put on an upper dash panel with that glue they install door panel's and have even heard of putting on 1/4's with it , my 67 is gonna need the upper dash panel replaced may as well go ahead and do it , also has anyone done this without taking the fender's off , I have done it before but had the fenders off , can't remember if you have room to grind on the side's with the fender's on ,,, thank's

The adhesive you are referring to is Duramix by 3M and is a two part urethane adhesive. It has an impact fatigue rating higher than any conventional weld. It is applied with a special aplicator gun that dispenses the two parts thru a special tip that is discarded after each use. It is being used more frequently today to prevent metal warping in the thinner gauges of steel found in today's vehicles and to eliminate the need to remove surrounding trim and interior upholstery. I used it to repair a small section of the drivers side floor pan and it work like a charm. A friend who reccommended it to me attached two pieces of scrap metal together and after curing, the good metal actually tore when trying to separate the adhesive seam.

hey thank's , now how much is it and where can I get it , I will have to buy the gun and the two part mix ,,, this is going to be my route , because I don't want to dissasemble my whole car to do this , no welding will be great ,, I still think I will weld stuff like 1/4's ,,,

I also did my q/panels using 2 part epoxy. I got mine from Len at www.autobodystore.com,,, (http://www.autobodystore.com,,,)
he sells everything body work and paint related tools and materials. He also has an excellent paint & body forum.

I glued my upper dash panel using the Duramix adhesive. I am in the process of painting the car (frame Off resto, no drive train) so I can't tell you how it is going to hold up under extreme driving conditions, but it appears to be very strong. You need to clean both surfaces properly or you will not get the adhesion you need, so you may need to remove the fenders to accomplish this. I also used it to glue the roof panel along the drip rails, the 1/4 panels along the wheel openings, and door skins; really works well for door skins.

You can get it at most of the larger paint and body supliers or on-line. The two-part is about 38-42 bucks for the 2 tubes and the gun runs about $90. I can't recall how much the disposable tips are. I agree on the larger panels, I would weld them as well. I'm sure the adhesive would work just fine for them as GM uses it for quarters as well, but it's still has a stigma attached to it. Some people might be leery to buy a car that had most of the panels "glued" on. I'm sure that over the course of time, the adhesive repairs will become more accepted.

another thing I was thinking is that the upper dash panel has no real pressure on it , I think this durramix will be fine on this ,,

I glued my dash in about 5 years and 14k ago with no problems

I was a little sceptical at first, then my buddy used it to install lower patch panels, then I was kind of wishing I used it!

anyone have pics of the process?

Rick

The following is a copy of a GM bulletin. It is very important you follow the instuctions for the product you actully buy. I have used some where you apply it over epoxy primer or Ecoat. Others you want to apply it to 24 grit grinding scratches on bare metal. All I know is I use it almost everyday as well as dozens of other cars at the shop per week by other guys and we have never had a failure. That dash job is the perfect first use job as far as I am concerned. http://members.aol.com/whatcouldiknow/gluepatchpanel.jpg

I didn't realize how thick the application was. 3/8" bead with light clamping must leave a fair coating thickness?

That "light clamping" is going to press it out pretty thin. It may say 3/8" bead, but how wide does that go when clamped? It ends up being about a mil thick I think.

In my area you can buy "Panel Bond" from NAPA stores that carry paint and body supplies. They also have the gun available for around 30 bucks. I think a tube cost $25.00 with a tip.

Don't know if other NAPA's carry it but you may give them a try.

BTW:
The use of adhesives has been used in the aerospace industry for many years. I don't know body work but I have been in the aerospace industry for 22 years and what Martin says about surface prep and folling the directions for the product you are using can't be stressed enough. Surface prep and clamping pressures and mil thickness is very important. You may thing more is better and with that thinking you could have major problems with cure and adhesive strenght. Remember this stuff was desinged to be used as stated in directions so follow them the best you can and ask questions if you don't know what something means or how it is supposed to work.

Joe

yea I am getting ready to try it , I will check a couple place's here that sell's body and paint supplies , whatever kind I get I will use it like it read's , with this site though I don't think it will be any problem , I have put on plenty of panel's but this glue is new to me ,,