Remember when you had to choose between a lead sled and a plastic filler job?

I picked the lead for a '57 Chevy fender repair about 15 years ago, just to keep the old skills alive. It took twice as long as modern filler but the owner loved that authentic feel. Anyone still do lead work on classic cars, or is it all gone now?

3 comments

3 Comments

kelly.daniel1mo ago

Oh man, that's awesome you did that. I mean, it's a total pain but it just feels right on an old car. I tried it on a '65 Mustang quarter panel a few years back, just a small section. It took me forever to get it smooth, and I probably burned through a pound of solder. But seeing that finished metal, no filler hiding under the paint, man it was worth the hassle. Feels like you're really saving a piece of the car's history, you know? I don't do it often, but for the right project I'll still break out the torch.

paul_owens251mo ago

A pound of solder on one quarter panel?

morgan_butler1mo ago

My grampa had this old 1950 Ford he was always working on when I was a kid, and I remember him having a whole torch setup for lead. He used to say that filling a quarter panel with lead was about the closest you could get to the way things were built back then, that it was like honoring the original workers. It got me thinking about how we do that in so many parts of life, not just cars. I see the same thing with people who still use manual tools in woodworking or even folks who insist on typing letters on a real typewriter. There is something about keeping those old methods alive, it connects you to a time when everything was more hands-on and less about just slapping something together fast.