james_ross•10d agoMost Upvoted

Why does nobody talk about how bad aluminum filler is on older Ford vans?

I was working on a 1998 Ford Econoline last Tuesday, the one with the rotted out rear quarter panel. Figured I'd save some time and use aluminum body filler instead of steel patch panels, you know, just fill it up. Man was that a mistake... the stuff just wouldn't bond right to the old galvanized metal, kept popping off in chunks after I sanded it. I spent like 3 hours trying to feather it out and it still looked like a mess. Ended up cutting the whole section out and welding in a new piece anyway, wasted a whole afternoon and like $60 on filler. Has anyone else had a bad experience trying to shortcut with aluminum filler on rusty fleet vans?

2 comments

2 Comments

beth_green10d ago

Gotta respectfully disagree here. I've used aluminum filler on a bunch of old rusty vans and it worked fine for me as long as I really roughed up the metal first and used the right cleaner. Sounds like you just had bad luck with that particular spot or maybe didn't prep it enough.

avery_fox9310d ago

Gently gotta say though, aluminum filler isn't really meant for rusty spots long term. It's more for aluminum panels themselves. On steel with rust, you're better off with a regular body filler or just cutting out the rust and welding in new metal if you want it to hold up.