MTFCA Forum

If you might recall (or maybe not, depending on if you’ve followed my build blog on wixsite), when I bolted the body sills of my sedan to the frame along with the cowl and firewall, there was a space of about 1 inch between the firewall and cowl that I couldn’t account for.

The picture below shows a remade sill for the Centerdoor that I did not build. It came with the body but isn’t the original. The body brace mount hole is in the wrong place and needs to be moved to a location 1/2 inch higher and 1 inch to the rear on centers. The drivers side has two holes in this location because they must have made a mistake when they remade that one.


So, woodworkers, what would you do to fill that hole and drill a new one?

William,

If you have a good forstner bit, you do not HAVE to fill the first hole. That is assuming, the first hole will not be inconvenient. IF you want/need to fill it, you'll need a wood plug the size of that hole and some Titebond 3 (I think), the waterproof one. IF you can match the wood species, great. If not, use what you have. Hardwood would be better than softwood but not essential. You are looking for a species that has about the same expansion/contraction rate as the original wood with respect to moisture absorption. I would suggest using a hole saw in a well powered drill motor. I like to drill a center hole the same size as the hole saw bit. Then start the cut with the hole saw. Stop when you're about 1/8" or so deep. Take a 1/4" bit and drill 3 or 4 holes, spaced around on that 1/8" cut. This will let the saw dust from the hole saw out of the cut and help keep the saw cooler. Heat will dull the blade very quickly.

Good Luck,
Terry Miller

Use hardwood or ash and cut a filler plug close to the hole size. Then use some Elmers or a good woodworkers glue and put a good coating of the glue in the hole and push or drive it in. If it were mine I would make the plug height a little taller then when dry use a belt sander and sand it even with your wood sill piece.
BUT Henry didn’t use wood glue I don’t think and that’s a big no-no if you’re a purist. But then again how can you see it! After the body is on it! That’s just my opinion from only a semi-amateur woodworker! This is a simple fix and no need to make it complicated. You can use a Forstner bit to drill a hole as you need. You might can buy an adjustable bit that would be cheaper than the exact size you need. Unless you need to use the exact sizes that would be the way to go.

This fix will way outlast the both of us.

I’ll check my hole saw stash and see if I have one that size. The floor should be painted a dull black anyway.

OR I could get a hardwood dowel the approximate diameter and do it that way.

If you don't have a plug cutter, then, yes, get a wood dowel slightly oversized and cut it slightly longer than your stock. Lightly sand the diameter of the dowl until it fits snugly. A little wood glue, not so much it oozes out the top, and then lightly tap into place with a little dowel sticking out the top. Chiesel off the top after the glue dries or sand smooth. Should be almost invisable when you are done.

Use a wood stairway handrail plug. They are tapered to tap in tight. They come in different woods and are easy to use.

Ideally, if you can obtain a face grain plug from the same piece of wood from an area that is covered and not visible, it will blend in much better, especially if the piece is not going to be painted. That is because of the age and weathered grain. The attached picture shows a plug cutter that cuts face grain plugs. Not end grain plugs.

A dowel plug is not the way I wood go! It will show as end grain when sanded and if any crush is applied over it by fastenings, it will not crush like the remainder of the timber around the hole. You need to use a plug cutter, timber of similar hardness and grain structure and the plug needs to have the grain aligned, especially if the repair is visible. Titebond 3 is the way to go.

Allan from down under.