Panel Bonding?

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AK 99

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Also, I have used the Fusor brand stuff on bumper covers. It's been so long, I don't recall much about it or which type it was. It was probably about the time it first came to market. I only remember that I wasn't the happiest with the results all the time.

It could very well be different now.
 

SUBURBAN5

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We use fusor for trailer roofs and it holds up really well against the heat and weather. Prep is everything but I have seen guys not do a good prep work and the fusor starting to crack. But never a panel separation or leak in our case.
 

Kustombuilt1911

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Used the term "bury" in the terms of covering it with a uniform surface. Not filling a 1/2" seam....lol. The fusor stuff is great as long as you use the product for its intended use. They've got a ton of different products for different applications. Their flowable seam sealers are fantastic.
 

AK 99

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Used the term "bury" in the terms of covering it with a uniform surface. Not filling a 1/2" seam....lol. The fusor stuff is great as long as you use the product for its intended use. They've got a ton of different products for different applications. Their flowable seam sealers are fantastic.

Lol, that's what I assumed but wasn't positive.

Agreed, the flowable seam sealers are awesome.
 

Hipster

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There a big misconception that oem's use panel bond to assemble vehicles. With a few exceptions like Benz SMC trunk tubs bonded to steel and similar assemblies most cars are assembled with a weld-bond technique where the panels are also spot welded throughout the adhesive areas on quarter panel/rockers etc. The adhesives used are nothing like these epoxy based products. In the case of Benz the material is a 2 component activated urethane not totally unlike windshield urethane. Weld/bond can be duplicated at the bodyshop level with a Pro-Spot or similar machine.

For a cab corner probably just fine but you don't want to bond a structural component such as a quarter, rocker, or bedside on with the stuff. It happens all the time. Vehicles come in from other shops that have been glued together and they are coming apart and the Fusor rep will be standing there blaming the failure on the prep work. 3M now markets the stuff as "crash resistant" so that should tell you something right there.

I have also seen many times when used on the exterior a witness line appears when parked in the sun. Most of these products contain material in them to prevent over-clamping so the panels don't exactly sit flat and require a bit of filler over the seam. I have fixed more then a small number of vehicles that were put together with these type of products by somebody else. Your better bodyshops weld/bond.

Use the stuff carefully. It's not the miracle product it was first thought to be and if you read the fine print that comes with the stuff it still tells you to weld. So if you are not welding you are not using it as intended.

I say this stuff because people get stupid with the stuff and I have pulled a Honda in the shop where the trunk floor was glued in and on a subsequent collision the trunk floor punctured the rear seat alongside a baby seat.
 
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Rick Reid

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hope it works like they say it does, recently put shaved my door handles, still just in primer but looks good
 

Kustombuilt1911

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No way I'd try to shave door handles using a panel bond product. Your asking for failure. Welding then seam sealing the weld from inside the door to prevent moisture getting into your weld seam is the way to insure a good, lasting mod like shaving door handles.
 

Hipster

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hope it works like they say it does, recently put shaved my door handles, still just in primer but looks good

Like who says? The instructions that come with the stuff or the internet drivel?

I would have also welded the hole closed. The problem usually occurs when you park in the sun and the panel heats up and sometimes the repair "ghosts" and you see a halo around the repaired area where the glue is at. You might never see it in a garage and this ghosting is more pronounced with darker colors over it. You'd never see it painted white.

Maybe you'll get lucky. The stuff can be pretty sketchy. Like the bumper repair epoxies. Sometimes it works fine and the next time is like why do I keep doing this. When you do it for a living you step away from stuff that doesn't have repeatability and by the looks of some of the comments in this thread I'm not the only one that's been burned by the better then sliced bread approach some of these epoxy repair materials are marketed under. I've been through many of the training classes/seminars for these products when they are trying to sell a shop on their products. Fusor, 3M, Duramix, Kent and when it comes to the products other then the panel bond there is a lot of adhesion promotor/prep solution/plastic modifier involved. So you need these products to stick the glue to the part. It's bs. The adhesion promoter is what holds the repair material on. In many situations we've gone back to metal welding, plastic welding and other products that have been on the market for quite some time. Any time you mix dissimilar materials you can have unpredictable results. Epoxy to metal, epoxy to plastic. Different expansion and contraction rates come into play. The seam sealers work well but you're not using them to hold something together.
 

Hipster

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I'll add this, Kent, a brand probably pretty familiar with bodyshop guys, sent a Rep out to demo their products because we were having issues with them. He couldn't even make the stuff work during the demo. The free lunch they bought us meant very little lol.
 

AK 99

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The 3M panel bond was never meant to hold an entire structural panel without any welding. People evidently just did it anyway because they actually did think it was miracle glue.

Using an average car quarter panel as an example, you should still weld the seam at the sail panel, the seam at the rocker panel and also along where the quarter meets the rear body panel. But every situation is different and has it's own requirements. When used properly it is just as strong as welding. I've had enough repeat customers that obviously can't drive too well to see for myself that it's true.
 
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