Plugging abandoned A/C holes

[74cookiecutter]

I removed the A/C crap from my car and now I have these 4, 1.25+ dia holes in the front and rear wheel wells. What should I use to plug them?
I have found a fiberglass body filler that looked promising and another glass fiber based product used for gutters and pipes on houses. it comes in small sheets and requires UV light to harden. I originally thought about plugging the holes with a rubber grommet or plug but I couldn't find one.
Suggestions or experience comments welcome.

[snbush67]

Maybey you should take the plugs out and set them on a flat surface, fill them with epoxy and let it harden then reinstall the rubber plugs and insert the hardened epoxy, you could even paint the inserts to match. Bondo will work too.

[911pcars]

That depends on how anal you are. You could weld in a patch, grind to match, primer, then apply undercoat to match the factory finish (or what you have now - try that).

At the other end of the spectrum, you could find some plastic industrial caps of the correct size and push them in. Caplug is one brand name; there are others.

Sherwood

[74cookiecutter]

Thanks Sherwood,
Just looked at Caplug and liked what I saw except i don't need 500 of them. Have you done business with them and do they sell smaller units (4)?

[74cookiecutter]

snbush67- The front two grommets were too brittle to salvage and the rear ones may not survive the removal process either.

I wanted to leave the holes in case my wife and kids complained about the Ark heat or if I have trouble with the interior foging up this summer.
But given how little I drive it in rainy weather, and I like the top off most of the time, it probably would be worth my effort to use the fiberglas reinforced bondo and get a smooth clean finish and seal them up forever. I am fairly picky. not anal.

[911pcars]

"Just looked at Caplug and liked what I saw except i don't need 500 of them."

"I am fairly picky. not anal."

Nothing personal intended.

You can try an industrial supply company like McMaster or Grainger. They sell in smaller quantities or you can Google "plastic cap" for other sources.

Anther option is to fabricate an aluminum plate, add sealant (to prevent water intrusion, then pop-rivet in place. Paint and undercoat to match.

Sherwood

[74cookiecutter]

Grainger! Good idea and I like going in there.
No offense taken just like the word picky better.
I hate to leave the anal joke door open.

[bigchillcar]

robert..lol..guess i didn't understand your message earlier. i didn't know you were talking about those openings..was thinking about metal clips that are sometimes used to attach hoses to metal, so i was picturing little holes left by sheet metal screws! sounds like sherwood et al have you on the right track.. love the new avatar, btw...those damn cutters!
ryan

[HarryD]

I went to my local Ace Hardware and got those plastic plugs you use for furniture. A bit of sealant and some undercoating... unless you look, who knows?

[KFC911]

I didn't have those large holes when I removed the A/C from my car. I did however use JB Weld to plug all the screw holes left by removing all of the hose clamps. I was anal, and made sure the JB was smooth, and it was close enough to my car's color (Diamond Blue Metallic, but looks almost silver), that it's not even noticable. I don't think you want to leave those screw holes open underneath....

[s2per]

Home Depot (my 2nd home) has metal caps of various sizes in the electrical department that I've used for plugging varoius holes in my car. Occasionally, you'll need JB Weld or good-quality silicone adhesive to stick them, but they're another easy solution.

[74cookiecutter]

Affirmative on the JB weld for the small screw holes left by the hose clips. Washed the car late yesterday and scrubbed the undercarriage in preparation for the process (not anal just PPPPPPP). I purchased JB weld and some naval jelly (at Home Depot) to reduce the chance of letting existing rust (if any)develop.

Ryan, grew up on the Snoopy Ace (previous Avatar) but had to make something unique to my car. another late night, eh Ryan?

It's storming so looks like i may have to put off putting on the Nwe Fuel filter till the afternoon.

PPPPPPP=prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance.

[74cookiecutter]

NEW fuel filter. err i kaint spel

[na2ub]

I had to order some small clips for a non P-car issue and they only came in bulk. I only needed 5. I called the supplier, and the sent me some "samples". Might be worth a try if you like what you see in bulk quantities.

Doug

[javadog]

For small holes, I'd skip the naval jelly and use a phosphoric acid- type conversion coating to deal with any rust. Then prime and paint and fill with Wurth seam sealer, or the like. Paint on top of that if you like.

For big holes, please don't use fiberglass or Bondo type repairs. There are a zillion different plastic and rubber plugs available from any number of sources. Car manufacturers (yes, even Porsche,) parts houses, places that sell supplies to the body shop trade, Grainger's, Mcmaster Carr, electronics parts dealers, etc. You can also make your own out of sheet metal, as others have suggested.

JR

[bigchillcar]

I did however use JB Weld to plug all the screw holes left by removing all of the hose clamps.

it was late last night (yep, robert..in between meds right now and having withdrawal insomnia). anyway, this quote is what i was thinking you were doing..not sure my explanation last night was clear and lucid.

VERY GLAD to hear you finally got the new fuel filter fitted. any problems like i mentioned..little annoying leaks that you have to continue tightening to address? how about the old filter? did you pour out the sediment? much in there?
ryan

[rs6er]

74 cookie cutter. I've been thinking about removing the AC on my 81 SC. Do you notice much of a performance increase from the weight loss, handling etc?

[74cookiecutter]

rs6er- Can't say that I noticed any difference in the performance but I lost about 60lbs or more and that should help some. One thing is for sure it makes changing the plugs a lot easier and the engine bay looks better/cleaner. My mechanic friend said my ride ht is too high and though it handles fine enough in the corners he said it will do much better when reset and corner balanced back to lower/correct ht. and I might have noticed a difference then.

She's out of commission as of 6pm today. Fan Pulley/Alt shaft problem. Posting later.

[74cookiecutter]

Ryan, I did a bad thing. Should have started with the Fuel Filter. Decided to switch out the outer pulley half instead. Look for new post