bondo jobs/ body work

[007jpang]

anyone know any tips or websites on "do it your self body work/ bondo jobs?"

cause the horrible bondo job my dad did is making my trunk fill up like a swimming pool when it rains.

john

[Silverbullet]

i really can't recommend anything but practice on your own. Im no pro but i'd say im fairly good at it.

[90sr]

yah man the only way to learn is to practice, i been into auto body work for a few years now and its awesome trade to get into, i been dealing with bondo, fiberglass, fiberglass bondo, resins, glues, adhesives, all that good stuff, and its not hard, get yourself some sand paper a spreader at your local paint shop and keep it flat and even ass possible, sand it down good to go. good luck.

chris

[Shin_Kudo]

If you really want some tips and such, there are books available on doing body work, I think we have them at my Kragen.

[HyperTek]

whats the strongest body filler?? fiberglass resin? I need to patch some holes and smoth out my rear quater panal....

[kazuo]

Fog Town? You live in SF?

If you have a coupe, I have an old trunk lid I can sell you.. perfect shape, even has dynamat on the bottom... only thing is it has a S13 Silvia K's OEM Spoiler on it.. so you can buy it w or w/o the spoiler.

I can have my friend fill the spoiler holes with some body filler if you dont want the spoiler... PM me :P

[papershot]

i just welded my spoiler holes and third brake light, and used bodyfiller to smooth it out.

three sandings + regrings later, its almost good...

[2JZGTE]

Yes, practice is best. The fundamentals are easy to understand, but doing it isn't so easy.

If there is a dent you want to repair, sand it down to metal with 40grit, then blend it out with 80, then 180. After that, apply the filler, sand the filler down, repeat if necessary until completely flat (use a ruler if you can't feel the imperfections). Then, spray primer on the sanded down area and sand the primer. Then, longblock with some 400-600 grit and you're ready to paint.

This is very basic, and works for my stuff, but might not work so good for you. Good luck, and keep practicing.

Billy

[007jpang]

the dent is the size of a wok... those chinese frying pans. that's how big the damage is... it's most of the left rear quarter panel.

it that still bondoable??? or should i just fill the hole with foam from the inside?

[SlowCoupe]

foam will hold in moisture is the "dent" leaks like you said above...and your trunk i'm assuming will rust later down the road

[morpheus8486]

Originally Posted by 007jpang

the dent is the size of a wok... those chinese frying pans. that's how big the damage is... it's most of the left rear quarter panel.

it that still bondoable??? or should i just fill the hole with foam from the inside?

Is it a hole or just a big dent? If its a hole I would say to weld in another piece of metal and try to get the contour close to stock and smooth it out with bondo. If its a big dent I would pull as much of it out as possible and then shrink the metal by heating it and then quenching it (rapid cooling). I wouldn't recommend bondoing anything more than 1/4 inch deep.

[Thunderchicken]

http://www.autobody101.com/

Check out this site. Some good info + forums for additional help.

[007jpang]

its a giant dent

that's for all the info... and if anyone has anymore keep it coming

john

[the head]

hammer it out from behind to get out as much as possible then bondo the last bit of the dent

[96twofourty]

for an area that big you need to use a product called everglass fiberglass filler and use evercoat filler glaze for the topping. never use Bondo brand....it is crap. this is what the everglass looks like:

this is the glazing compound


buy these two and a block sander and some GOOD primer to fill over the glazing compound. Sand the fiberglass with something like 600 grit and the glazing with 1000 grit and you can use 1200 or higher for sanding the primer. Use wet sandpaper through every step

[andrave]

try and pound as much of the dent out as possible. The less filler you need to use the better.
Use fiberglass if you have fill any area deeper than a half inch or so, bondo fillers will crack over time. glass can too but it lasts much longer and is usually much more durable.

I would use a much more aggressive grit then recommended above...
using 600 grit to sand fiberglass will take you a long long time. Start off with something agressive to knock the high edges off. 60 grit works well. Then you can step down to 120 or so, and then down to 240. going much smoother then that isn't so great if you want to paint it. You never want to go with something as fine as 1000 grit before you paint. Thats something you might want to use for wet sanding to take off orange peel after painting, but I'd try and avoid anything north of 400 grit before painting.

Also don't use a sanding block... its good to have one, and you may use it some for corners and stuff, but what you need is a board sander. They sell them everywhere auto parts are sold. they are usually long (6-12 inches) so that they sand evenly and match the body lines of your car. If you use a short rubber sanding block over a larger repair it is going to be wavy and inconsitent.
these tips aren't stuff I've read in books, but I've done my fair share of body work over the years and I've learned a lot of that through trial and error and personal experience.
If anyone has any better suggestions, mine aren't the word of a bodyman, just someone who has fixed a few dents.

Also: when working with bondo, go ahead and buy the flexible mixing board, the spreaders, and a cheese grater. It makes it so much easier. I like to wear the thick rubber kitchen style gloves too, as you can crack the bondo off them once its dry and reuse them.

[dvdevo]

blah u have a black car, i never notice the dent when i pass by.

[mixxamike]

AAAAHHH...evercoat. I hat seeing that stuff (used to be a warehouse bitch at NAPA last summer) I do know we sell a lot of that stuff though.

I'm actually going to be using bondo for the first time this week, not for my car though. I've got a 3-cut industrial design project coming up and we're using bondo to make a wooden sculpture appear as plastic would.

[andrave]

why are you using bondo? I think it'd be easier to just coat it with resin using a paintbrush...