Filling hole in steel-clad entrance door

Spray foam would be fine. After it expands, dig out 1/8" - 1/4" or so for the Bondo.

Or just fill the hole with bondo. It chemically cures so does not require air to "dry" It does heat when it cures, but less than 1 cubic inch of bondo won't make a lot of heat.

My first thought was excess of silicone caulk, and trim after it dried.

Hi, With piece of 1/2" dowel cut to length?

Sure, I can be bipartisan. Even with people like you....

. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

I've done it when I removed some of the 1970s plastic do-dads. I didn't bother filling the inside as the holes were about 5/16", but for larger holes, if you have some spray foam, or even just a piece of foam, cut and pushed in. Bondo worked pretty easy. After sanding and painting, unless you know where to look, you'd never see the spots.

If it were me, I would just use a 1/2 X 1 3/4 Chicago bolt (which go by several many names, including "sex bolt") to solve all the problems at the same time. In fact, all you need is a 1/2 inch diameter Chicago screw and a 1 3/4 inch long round head screw and a washer. But, it'd be better if you could get a 1 3/4 inch long by 1/2 inch diameter Chicago bolt. Then you could just use a stainless steel round head screw and a stainless steel washer.

In the above picture, the screw is a flat head screw. One could equally well use a round head screw here instead.

Any of the places listed under "Fasteners" in your yellow pages phone directory should be able to source this kind of screw for you.

I would put a touch of rusty metal primer on the bare metal before the Bondo, let it cure so rust doesn't percolate through the finish.

Check the instructions on the Bondo to see if anything more is needed. When I put Bondo of the roof of my '84 Buick, I used stainless steel wool for reinforcement, per advice of a kid at the auto supply shop :o) Worked fine; sold the old boat for $1000 in 2010.

Thanks, everyone, for the excellent suggestions.

R1