Update by Tim Suddard to the
Austin-Healey Sprite project car
Mar 12, 2022
Photography by Chris Tropea
Our Bugeye Sprite spent years as a race car–and that was before it sat for several more trips around the sun.
Along the way, someone had installed a roll bar by cutting out two huge square holes on the rear decklid. We’d need to fix that issue before finishing our quarter panel install.
We formed a patch panel from the original corner panel, meaning the thickness would perfectly match.
The repair is pretty straight forward, and the details can be seen in this video:
The biggest tip we can provide: Take your time, make your patch perfectly fit, and weld it in very slowly to avoid excess heat and thus warpage.
Re: Fillings small holes in sheet metal
Old school: Clamp a piece of copper to the backside. Your puddle won't fall through, it won't stick to the copper, and when fit is firm against the metal (shaping to improve) it helps transfer heat for a fast bond to the parent metal. Works on aluminum too.
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