Author Topic: How to french the hole... (Read 2703 times)

H8PVMNT · « **on:** Mar 22, 2017, 12:52:32 PM »

Ever get tired of that wonky antennae hanging off the side of your Toyota at an odd angle after a trail ride? I like to take them off entirely and use those hot rod style power antennae that stick to the inside of your windshield. Then you are left with the hole. Probably stupid to worry about a hole when our rigs look like a raisin after a few years anyway but I like body work so I like to french (fill in) the antennae hole.

Last time I just welded a little piece in there and used filler to finish but this time I am refurbishing a set of fenders on my lunch break in the parking lot, so I decided to try something that didn't require a 220 plug. The local hardware had this stuff called Fiberfix on close out for about 5 bucks. It comes in a few different sizes. I got a 4 pack of 3"x3" patches.

First thing to do is to clean up the hole. The hole is usually bent with jagged edges from the stock antennae getting nearly peeled off repeatedly. Bang on it a little bit (with a hammer and dolly or a similar improvised tool) to get the edges straight and ideally just a little concave to create a spot for a skiff of body filler to live later.

H8PVMNT · « **Reply #1 on:** Mar 22, 2017, 12:59:42 PM »

Then you scuff and clean the back side so the fiber glass patch will have something to stick to.

This product dries quickly in sunlight. The directions say this stuff dries fast and boy they weren't kidding. The first patch I mistakenly left the black backing on and after about 30 seconds when I figured it out it was all ready stiff and almost dry.

The second go I was ready and after rubbing the air out of the patch it dried and stuck hard after about 30 seconds. After a couple minutes you have a rock hard patch and you can peel the cellophane backing off.

The cool part is that the fiber glass kind of works its way up into the hole and is nearly flush with the sheet metal. This will take just a little sanding and just a tiny amount of body filler to conceal.

H8PVMNT · « **Reply #2 on:** Mar 22, 2017, 01:03:39 PM »

This stuff is pretty hard and seems tough but I was still paranoid about a rock chipping it out from the back side so I added one more patch.

That's about it. I was pretty impressed with this product and I think it would work well for filling various holes you need plugged up, like the one in your floor boards that you get that burning oil smoke through, extra holes in your fire wall after the engine swap, the rust holes in the bottom of your 1st gen doors, etc.

300k · « **Reply #3 on:** Mar 22, 2017, 01:27:01 PM »

Sweet! i was thinking about body filling that hole in when I was doing the thumb-sized torch holes in the bed. I used the mesh product from Bondo, it worked alright.