Science Project: Panel Bonding Adhesives Options

[shuie]

Has anyone ever done a floor pan replacement or other major structural metal replacement with panel bonding adhesives instead of spot & seam welding?

The bond is supposed to be as strong as a proper weld, there would be no worries about overheating and warping the metal, the entire seam would be joined & sealed which should make the tub A LOT stiffer. It would certainly be cheaper than buying a welding rig. I guess the downsides would be that working within the setup time for the adhesives could be difficult and you would need a lot of clamps. Maybe the unibody would be too stiff if every seam was joined like this?

My interest in this is academic. This is not something I am planning on trying since I've already welded almost all of my replacement panels in. I do need to use an adhesive to attach a fiberglass piece to my steel hood and I've seen threads on the forums where reputable shops have attached metal flares with adhesives so I thought I would ask about it. I'm sure there is a good reason why I have never seen anyone use the adhesives for something like a floor pan.

[gothspeed]

Modern adhesives are great and have many uses. Though for the 914 floor board I am not certain there is enough 'interface' area to get a strong enough bond. Being as it is the floorboard, I would weld it ...... maybe you can rent a welder if you do not see using it long term.

But if you want to experiment with this adhesive idea, one good metal to metal epoxy I am aware of that may suit this application is 3M DP-420 ........ I am certain there are others but that is a great one I know off hand.