Projects When to apply body filler?

I’m in the south. No salt but very humid.
Keeping em movin dries em out.

 

Trips to Bonneville aren't very good for them. Driving around up north in the winter isn't very good for them. Sitting in a garage around here, as long as there aren't any mice/rats etc that can get inside, doesn't hurt anything.

 

As if the salt wasn't bad enough, now they have a brine solution which is even worse. And from what I researched nothing really holds up well with the brine and then the salt. I have been told that this brine solution is the waste when they purify salt water for drinking purposes. I don't know that to be fact yet. This could be my next mission.

 

I'll throw my hat in the ring on this one. I am a bodyman, I work at a shop that does both production work and restoration work. On all production work, I'm going over either bare metal or sanded paint(80grit). On restoration work we epoxy prime first, but it is not usually for any corrosion resistance in the long run. It is mostly because restoration work takes so long, epoxy prevents flash rust in the weeks, months, or years between blasting/ stripping and priming of the vehicle. That being said, epoxy IS great for corrosion resistance, the only thing better is OEM e-coat. So if you're not in any rush, epoxy it first and do bodywork over that.


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Filler can shrink, but a lot of times what is shrinking is the primer. Some guys will not sand up to a fine enough grit, and they rely on the primer to fill scratches. I usually sand up to 220 or 320 before priming and it is extremely rare that my bodywork shrinks. If you have the time to let is sit for a week I'm sure that's a great way to prevent shrinkage, but isn't it hard to sand after that long?


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I've only seen it happen a few times. It can happen if the bodywork is done in extreme humidity. The panel was stripped to bare metal and sat for a few hours before filler was applied, that trapped moisture between the metal and the body filler. It took years to show up though.


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Nope. All done by weight, every time.

 

To add to the many many ideas and opinions. I was taught kitty hair over welded patched areas. then standard lightweight filler, then prime, more filler if needed, prime, color clear.
I also always use wax/schultz coatings on the back sides of any panel I put in. The better its sealed from both sides the longer it will last, and probably make the order in which you layer your final finishes irrelevant.

 

How about metal prep then primer then filler on bare sanded older metal?? The metal prep is an acid so should you neutralize it some way or just not use it ? metal is in Az climate, lots of sun & dry heat.

 

No kitty hair is needed for a butt welded panel.

 

https://buyat.ppg.com/RefinishProdu...x?FileId=B855D85B-7150-489A-A98C-B5346E6E6904
Ppg instructions for metal cleaners.
Recommended for use under their epoxy

 

I was taught at a Vocational Tech School, mid seventies to apply bondo over bare metal. We learned to weld rust repair patches with brazing rod. They also had coffee cans with asbestos putty that was placed on both sides of the weld joint. We’d add water to the asbestos to get the right consistency to stick it to the panel before we brazed the joint. I still use this method today, without the asbestos putty. Brass don’t rust ! My grand kid was giving me shit about brazing and bondo—he works at a body shop now—he says it ain’t worth a shit !!! I proceeded to tell him I had brazed and bondo the four cab corners on the 1960 Ford behind him long before his dumb ass was born !! No problems 29 years later. The truck as been outside in the elements 29 years ! The doors are a different story—drain holes filled up with crap and moisture attacked the bondo from behind!! Drainage is crucial—-!!!


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I suggest you apply the body filler before you apply the final paint. The filler looks pretty silly on top of the finished paint. Gene

 

Thanks man. Now you tell me.

 

Here all this time I thought you apply body filler when you are too lazy or not educated enough to remove the dents. go figure, had to be more to the story. yep, the shop that wants the fast money versus doing it right. sorry couldn't resist. back on track

 

They funny thing about body work-
You’re gonna spend a quite while, spend a lot of money, and put your hands all over the damn thing all in hopes of an outcome that looks like nobody touched it.

It takes more time touching it to look like nobody touched it. More time welding in patches so it looks like no patches were ever there. It’s very thankless if you ask me.

My wife will ask me how my day was,,, I’ll tell her it was the most exciting day ever because I saved the world from blowing up. She laughs and says thank you honey! Nobody is going to know that You do it everyday

 

Spent over a month of some long days preparing 2 cars for a bare metal photo shoot.
Hammer/dolly file. Torch- hammer/dolly, file. Filed a bunch of lead. Weld/grind/file check gap.
Wore out a shrink disc. Sand in one direction so it looks good on camera. Experiment with different grits.
Inside and out sanding so it looks good, wear gloves. Anyone handling without gloves is cursed.....
Sweep up all the carbon on the floor.
All this was on top of excellent fab work that had already been metal finished to a high degree and consumed years of labor but once the photo shoot was set up we took that to another level.
Cars looked great. I got paid. Even got a mention in the magazine. Win win.
This is why I drive mine as found and haven’t painted one for myself yet (old rides anyway) I can’t do that to my personal stuff. It’s tedious, time consuming work that no one realizes.
Then ya hear folks complain about the color or wheel choice.....
That’s the funny part of it for me. Now I hear folks complain about me not painting mine or why didn’t I do something better.
3 truths I have learned.
One:
I have learned that people are gonna bitch no matter what you do. Doesn't matter if you spend thousands of hours of your life making the unseen perfect, or if you just drag it out from under the crusher and make it drivable again. Folks are gonna hate it.
Two:
No matter what you do, how well you do it, how nice you make it, how well you protect it, you can’t stop it from deteriorating. You can only affect the speed at which a car deteriorates.
Three:
If you enjoy what you do, truths 1 and 2 are irrelevant

 

Here here sir. Well said.

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I like to apply body filler on Tuesdays or Thursdays.

 

The only one that has answers to these types of questions are the manufacturers of the products that your are using. There are no generic answers. Look at the TDS for the product you are using or contact the manufacturer for recommendations.

 

The body work on my 40 Ford was done 30 years
before I acquired the car. It came from Washington State. The car sat in storage for many years and had rust issues from the bottom side of the floors. The
upper body work had both brazed repairs and filler
work that held up very well. in some spots the filler
was thicker than often recommended in these filler
tutorials. Both were in remarkably good condition
and showed no signs of shrinkage nor revealed any
detriments regarding the brazed repairs. The paint
I am assuming was lacquer. Whomever did this work
really knew what their craft. I have brazed panels as
well. Cleaned the repairs well and applied filler. It
held up well. With me it was just good luck as I
using the only thing available at the time.

 

I agree with everyone. I'm a top level hack when it comes to "Bondo" discussions, but here is what I have learned since I started doing my first bodywork over a half century ago. It's not rocket surgery...

1) If more is better for some things; less is better when it comes to Bondo.
2) A clean metal surface with no sunlight shining through and a moderate (80 grit) finish gives the Bondo a good bite.
3) Three thin layers (with sanding between) seems to give a good finished surface.
4) I still use red oxide primer.
5) Epoxy is a glue, not a paint.....

Stayin' alive,

Moselli

 

When I was a kid my Dad and I made a speedster out of a bunch of model T parts. We drill motor and wire wheeled the rust off the frame and parts, painted right over the bare metal with black rustoleum.. With brushes, lol. It dulled down from sitting outside but you couldn't hammer that shit off. Epoxy works well on floors too. LOL

 

To paraphrase @31Vicky with a hemi , when did body filler get so smart?

 

Thanks that is what I needed.

 

Welcome.
I have used them on briokville bodies.
Some cleaners have different rules for sandblasted. Sandblasted metal takes longer for chemicals to flash off. This is the main reason I throughly sand jambs out on a blasted car.

 

This original steel on my 34 gas tank cover. Panel looks like it is waving goodbye. I don't think icould shrink it that much. Just want to say bye to the glass one, & recess the license plate

 

Cool.
I used to think recessed plates was a street rod mod until I checked this out.
https://www.customcarchronicle.com/custom-history/inset-license-plates/#.XsQWRyVOnYU
Turns out I had been lied to.

 

Thanks again, man that was a lot of stuff there. Royalshifter here helped me immensely with the box info. I just hope I can pull this one off. Nothin ventured nothin gained right?
I do cars to suit me & my taste & could care less on what others think. I appreciate all the kudos & help ,however I just do this for my own pleasure. I'm pushin 87 & started this when I turned 80. Needed something to keep me busy & got carried away. I don't care for this setup on the plate so decided to change it.

 

That paint is by no means fresh...