Technical 56 chevy 2 dr HT, right rear bumper and body damage

Hello everyone, yesterday was not the best. I pulled the 56 Chevy out of the pole barn and the right rear hit the wife car (she moved it in line on the driveway) I backed out the car stumpled a little I gave it some gas and it hit the front bumper of her car. Pushed the rear bumper (3 piece) into the structure under the tail light. Pop 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch thick, bondo top to bottom area with shiny paint popped out. and a lot left in the corner.
Now do I take it all down to metal bang the metal out best I can, and rebondo the area in question? I was thinking about buying a paint thickness device to see where all the bondo is located, fix and repair.
I bought the car in Daytonna Speedway on Turkey Day, and have done a lot, since I got it. Now how do you get a photographs on here, as I need advice going forward..Thanks

 

My recomendation if doing it right , is to take all down to bare metal and metal work the dents out. With doing so , you may expose years of shade tree body work . at least you know what is under that shiny paint
Vic

 

If you have 1/4 to 3/8 thick putty, it's time to replace some panels and fix things right. JMO,
SPark

 

If you were OK with what the car was before that crash, why on earth would a person now open a can of worms if the whole car is like that area? You will end up regretting stripping the entire car down, and most likely have to spend far more time and money than it's worth...and in the end...IF you ever finish it...it is still going to be a ''patched up old car" ..that is just the way it is.

I bought my first 56 BA 2dr Ht here in the rust belt when it was only 9 years old...it was already a rust bucket then! Yours might be a patched up one too, so why not just fix that spot? "Good intentions" often lead to abandoned projects

 

Tell your insurance company that your wife rear ended you!

 

i like the idea of panel replacement too. Just filling it in with mud, wont straighten that damage, it will start absorbing moisture, & look like hell shortly.

 

56 can be a hard year to find repo panels for.

 

I'm with F&J... Unless you're planning on repainting the entire car, you may be opening a can of worms. And even if a repaint is planned, I don't know that I'd go looking for trouble; trouble has a disconcerting ability of finding you when you do.

When it comes to bodywork, sometime ignorance really is bliss....

 

If there is shiny metal under that then it must be a former dent repair and not a rustout, hopefully.
Personally, I would first try to work out the metal. Thats a hard place on a 56 to get right. If its too difficult to hammer/dolly out then there are replacement panels for that area, I forgot who makes then though.
You might open a can of worms as mentioned, but do you really want to drive around in a car that you repaired with bondo and if someone asks who did it, you have to admit that its a bondomobile of your making?

 

Here's a few photos of the damage, my son is sending me a paint thickness machine so I can tell where and if there is any bondo in other areas. It looks like 3 layers of mud, is that possible I have owned the car from 10/2000 and I think the car was scuffed and painted. There is a few blisters on the hood but not popped through. How could bondo last 20+ years?

 

From those two pics it doesn't look that Bad. What does the side of the quarter panel look like? Is it buckled? From what we see there, it looks like it could be pushed out and repaired. Looks like decent metal to work with. No need to do the whole car unless you want to change the color. IMHO. On a side note though, I started to fix some paint "bubbles" on my 56 in the rocker area about 15 years ago, one thing led to another, and now it's been a transformed into a full frame off rebuild, AND it's STILL not done! Don't over think it. Fix it and enjoy driving it, PLEASE!

 

grind it back to a "corner" or bend, repair the steel and repaint. no reason to strip the whole car down

 

^^^^^^^^^^^
6sally6

 

Properly applied body filler could last 100 years on a car that is well maintained. It does look like there's some surface rusty spots on the area that you damaged though. I'd probably just repair that one area and leave the rest alone, perhaps eliminate the lettering on the trunklid if you can match the paint well.

 

Pshaw! That ain't bad. Make sure you get your bumper braces bent back correctly and just repair that area. Beautiful car...except for one spot..

 

Apparently you're one of those guys that has been brainwashed into thinking that bondo is a bad thing, properly applied and reasonably cared for, it will last as long as the rest of the car! I found bondo in my 58 that had not been licensed for about 40 years and never knew it was there until stripping the paint off!

 

I will take more photos in the morning, as the bondo goes around the corner and the paint is cracked, just not sure if it will fall out as I am sure it will. Thanks for all the opinions, I will keep you posted.

 

That was probably just a normal bodyshop redo back when it was done. A layer of mud just wasn't the big deal for the majority of guys then as it is now. That said you don't even want to know how much bodo is in my 48 in <<<< version. My body work skills weren't the best in those days but I could take a long board to bondo like no body's business. It will bet a lot better this time around with over 35 years of learning since then.
I wouldn't get carried away with stripping the paint unless you are ready for "the redo" as it may require a lot more than a mild redo. I'd clean the metal up back past the damaged area, see what it takes to fix the damage and maybe the earlier damage to boot and go from there. It may be like that 54 Chevy truck fender I gave to some kid on here. I got to looking at it and there was close to 1/2 inch of bondo in an area behind the headlight area and in one other spot, I knocked the bondo out and an hour later had it in primer with no bondo.

 

That area under the taillight isn't that bad. However, it looks as though the hit compressed the quarter panel enough to yank the side trunk opening out of wack clear down to the tail pan seam. That'll be some work to correct. Strip the entire are to metal, then pull the area out.
You can do the panel magnet routine to see how the rest of the car looks filler wise, however as stated you may find you have the car torn down for years.
It's a really nice 56. I'd fix it, match the white paint and get back to driving/enjoying the car.

 

As with everything there is a pecking order got to get my truck to stay running first. But that shouldn't take long.
So thanks Mr.48/Hot Rods for the comments. I have a stud puller that I will try and gently pull the dent out like on Velocity where they repair it in 30 minutes. Ha I know it will take a while to get it just right. No I have nothing against bondo I seen my friend apply bondo to a Teserossa on the deck lid. Granted it wasn't real thick. Ok all for now.

 

No reason to strip the whole car down. A good painter and body man can easily straighten that metal and blend the paint, especially in a nondescript location like that.

Honestly, the damage hurts the look of the car less than the wheel and tire combo.

 

If you've been happy with it since 2000, I'd fix the damage however you deem "proper " and enjoy your car. If the repairs were so "wrong" it would be evident on the rest of the car and you'd have to decide what course of action you'd take at that point.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

What's wrong with Cragars?

 

In my personal opinion, it makes all of these Tri-Fives into wannabe Chevelles. Not mention makes them boring to look at. And I LOVE tri-fives, especially 57s. The Cragars bring the car into a different era for me, which is a later era than I'm into. A 56 Chevy, and especially a 2 door hardtop, is primo custom material. Lower it on WWWs and some Fiesta caps... perfect. Or they can be customized further like Barris and Watson did. The 5 spokes make it a muscle car.

 

Well side view, I sure like the Crager debate. Chevelles would have American racing mags with gray spokes and shiny outside. The big old white wall yes they had them with big hubcaps, maybe a sunvisor like my 140 yr old uncle had. But let me add nothing wrong with that, everyone has there own taste ..Your ok Joe glad you gave your opinion.
So the car I was working on is A 39 Ford 2 door coupe, patch panels have been replaced, no rust, currently frame off
and welding the frame with new metal replacing the old rusted out metal. No motor or trans yet. That one might look good with white walls..I will add a photo of it.. Thanks everyone travel safe.

 

That should be a walk in the park.... I'd strip no more than 2" past the paint crack unless you find 'issues' (and I doubt you will), knock out as much of the dent as you can, and put plastic on it to get back to shape. As noted, properly-applied bondo will last the life of the car. The white paint should make touch-up a breeze.

You'll probably have more issues getting the bumper fixed/realigned....

 

It's going to take more than bondo to get the gap correct between the trunk lid and the quarter panel. Matching 19 year old white paint seems to be pretty easy from the comments.