Need A Body experts. !!

nodemon said

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Well, you mentioned that maybe it's just filler there and I discounted that due to it being a new patch panel...however, I took a pick out and pushed it in at the spot the bumper was hitting...it went in about 1/2" when I fully expected to hit metal. So I dug and found a lot, to me anyway, a lot of filler in that area... I don't get it... Why would a new panel need that much filler there.. and why wouldn't the guy tell me.. Or, is that "normal"..? I guess I'm going to confront him about it, but me not know the workings of body work, I won't necessarily know if what he says is trustworthy..

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I am not a professional body guy by any means, but I did work at a body shop for 3 years after high school, and I repair my own hobby cars. There is no reason on this earth to have filler in that spot. Filler can be used to sharpen a body line, but only in small thin amounts. The area of concern is behind the bumper and would never need filler, because you don't see it. Makes me wonder what the rest of the body work looks like. It is possible the patch panel was poorly made, but a good body man can rework a panel while fitting it before it is ever welded in. Dig all of that filler out of there, sand it down, prime it and paint it. And fit your bumper this time. On a side note, I never understood why people get so anal about body lines, that they feel they need to smear the whole car in bondo. Not cool. It should only be used to smooth out body lines and fill in the lows. These cars were never that straight from the factory anyway. The dude who painted the car should make it right, but in this day and age, you may have to find a different guy.