Topic: How should I fill and paint these small holes?

[gimmea250swb]

One is on the firewall.  The hole is in the incorrect spot.  I'd like to fill it and put the wire where it belongs.  How would you fill it and repaint it?  The good news is I could hide the filled hole with the overspray filler stuff.

The second one is above teh door latch.  It's an odd spot and I can't imagine what was there before.  How should I fill it?  Could I get by with painting it with a color matched pen?  Thoughts much appreciated!

[67gtasanjose]

...The second one is above teh door latch.  It's an odd spot and I can't imagine what was there before.  How should I fill it?  Could I get by with painting it with a color matched pen?  Thoughts much appreciated!

I imagine the hole was used for a door- mounted speaker of sorts, not really an uncommon area for radio upgrades to have mounted speakers in the doors or trim panels.

I would think the best way to repair it is to weld the hole, grind it and fill it but that may be more than you wish to do on an assembled vehicle. Spot-repair with body filler may crack or resurface from rusting but could be done as a temporary repair too, I suppose.

[Bossbill]

I was a bit disoriented by pic 2 until I realized its orientation was wrong. And your description has the wrong end of the door in that this is the passenger door hinge area, not door latch.

Welding any of this is difficult on an assembled car. Fire hazard is a real concern.

I would take a dremel with a wire wheel and try to get into each hole. The wire style I have in mind is not the wheel type, but one of these:


Put some phosphate 'clean and etch' on a Q-tip and soak the hole for a bit to remove any trace of rust.
Let the etch dry and dab primer in the hole. 2K is best but I find rustoleum works ok for this. Just spray the paint into the cap and use a Q-tip to get the paint into the hole and behind it.
Cut down a bondo spreader so it's real small and mix a very small amount of Duraglas for both holes. Make the repair as small as possible. If you spread the Duraglas small enough and if it's smooth enough you rarely need to sand it.
Do not use Bondo. Duraglas does not have an affinity for water. Bondo does.
Primer and Q tip on the bondo and then use a marking pen style paint stick to do the color match in the piller. Semi-gloss on the firewall.

You can weld these shut if you ever have the car apart.

Just my nickel that's worth two cents.

[gimmea250swb]

Hi Bossbill!!  Thank you very much for this.  I was hoping there'd be a moderately legitimate way to do this without welding because I think it may be more than I want to pull off with an assembled car. 

I'll try what you suggested and we'll see how it plays out.  Thanks!

[KevinK]

My suggestion would be to fill the hole with seam sealer after cleaning it up. It might take a couple of filling attempts.  Hopefully you have some touch up paint.