Repairing pinholes in aluminum?

[rclifton]

Hi,

  Back with more questions!

Im going to be working on the exterior of my '78 Chieftain later in the week and had questions about some small pinholes in 2 areas.  It appears that a tarp that had been used to cover the rig was allowing water to sit in 2 small areas, one on the passenger side rear, just above the Chieftain logo and below the midline seam (see photo).  The other was on the same side just above the aluminum trim that runs along the bottom of the sides.

  I plan to sand the area down, clean it thoroughly and then fill the holes prior to priming/re-painting.  Is there a consensus on which filler works the best for small repairs such as this?

Here's a pic of the area in the rear above the Chieftain logo.


Thanks in advance!

[Gary Eddy]

I will be doing the same thing and researched it. Dynaglass is a bondo with fiberglass mixed in. It is waterproof and will not allow moisture through it. I bought a 3M product.
My plan is to ;
1. Grind area for good adhesion
2. With a pointed body hammer, pound in the pin hole area
3. Fill with Dynaglass and grind it low
4. Fill with high quality body filler to level
5. Prime


Hope this helps ya!

[Gary Eddy]

Also, in my case, my windows are square and not very well sealed at the inside track of the corners.  Water was leaking down inside the walls and causing the wood to rot which rots pinholes in the siding.


Fix all leaks first.

[Oz]

I used off-the-shelf, fiberglass repair putty from Wal-Mart and did the same as above, except I didn't use any bondo body filler.  Just the fiberglass putty.  Worked fabulous. 

Prior to that, I used white, sandable caulk and that worked well too except you really can't feather the edges very well so you see small "bumps" where the repairs were done, even after painting.

[cosmic]

if the wood is rotten and water is getting into the walls and it sits. it will keep happening.
you need to fix the leak. (more then likely windows) then seal it up.
pull up my album "cosmic" and you will see the pictures of how I changed all the rotten wood around the rigs bottom.

[Froggy1936]

Pin hole problem is also exaserbated by electrolosis as the skin is part of the 12V ground circuit Frank