Bondo

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daredevil

daredevil

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Whos not ashamed to admit they used bondo to repair their car? I know some less desirable cars arent really worth doing 1/4s and all. Anyone have good luck and how long did it last? I know not everyone has welding skills and such. I wouldnt do it on a vehicle to sell but for a personal driver I dont see the big deal.If you cant afford a complete body job it beats drivibg around with holes.
 
I think that depends on the type of repair. Perhaps a short strand fiberglass filler for those areas. Followed by a plastic filler. We talkin rust holes?
 
Me. I filled a couple bigger holes by my tail lights. Yeah desirable car. So what. Lower 1/4's and rockers are skim coated also.
 
Every restored car has plastic body filer in it. When guys say "my car has zero Bondo", what they are really saying is that they used a different brand of filler or they really don't have any idea of how the shop got their car so straight.

But you shouldn't use the stuff to fill holes.
 
I agree with the above however filling rust holes with it is a waste of time. It will crack and fall out.
 
you are better off cutting out the rust and patching it. cant weld or dont have access to a welder, there are alot of good panel bonding adhesives out there.
even if the patch is rough, doesnt fit well ect. you will have a better longer lasting repair with less filler.
 
Bondo was a bad word to use in my day Pete, We call it body filler :D
Body filler will shrink and let go after a couple years or 3, do your self a favor and cut up a chebby hood up and make small patch panels :-k
Clean/grind area and patch it with metal and remember to seal the back of your work.. or it will come back and bight ya soon :shaking2:
I have seen some new stuff on the market that you can glue the patch on :-k and then use body filler :happy1:
 
I would never bondo up a rust hole.
Like Adam says, it will just crack and fall out.
It's not that hard to weld in sheet metal or use the panel bonding adhesive.
That's my 2 cents.
 
vitamindart said:
you are better off cutting out the rust and patching it. cant weld or dont have access to a welder, there are alot of good panel bonding adhesives out there.
even if the patch is rough, doesnt fit well ect. you will have a better longer lasting repair with less filler.
Click to expand...

Like vitamindart said, I am a slow taper :happy1:
 
Man, If I were filling holes or deep area, did not have the capability to completely cut out and weld in new metal, I would sand blast all the rust out and use the dyna glass or bondo-glass and do as said with adhesive in some support metal for a backing. Grinding and wire brush on the rust on sheet metal most of the time will not get the pits and divits so rust will still be there and will just cause your filler to let go, bubble up, and crack.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-liter-abrasive-blast-gun-92857.html

Simple blaster for small jobs. I use the hell out of mine.
 
If you really "Have To" use filler use a quality product. Rage is good. I rarely use filler. I pull or replace then use Evercoat Metalglaze. It actually has an adhesive. "Bondo" has to have a physical adhesion i.e. 36grit scratches/gouges.
 
I,m not doing it. Just thinking out loud and thought this would make an interesting topic.
 
CUUDAK said:
If you really "Have To" use filler use a quality product. Rage is good. I rarely use filler. I pull or replace then use Evercoat Metalglaze. It actually has an adhesive. "Bondo" has to have a physical adhesion i.e. 36grit scratches/gouges.
Click to expand...

I wish I were that good that I didnt need filler LOL
 
I do a lot of body work and bondo is an intragal part of leveling out small dimples and dings but should never be used for rust repair. If you do it'll come back to haunt you, and it won't take long. If someone says their car has no bondo they're not telling the truth (or just don't know what they're talking about). To make a car straight you need some kind of filler. Block sanding is usually done with a polyester filler to get out the tiny dimples and waves. It is needed for even brand new panels. If you just painted new panels without blocking them you would be very surprised how bad they would look. The big thing now is to spray (with a primer gun with a large tip 2.0 or larger) the whole car with a polyester filler (Bondo like but a lot finer). Then block the whole car. You can get them as straight as an arrow. If you look down the side of a car and go wow is that straight it probably was done that way.
 
I am not ashamed of using bondo (I Have a black car). Spent 2.5 years just
doing the body and paint. If some ask me if there is any bondo (45 yr old car)
I will say nope ,Just take your time with the hammer and dolly.
Darryl
 
Darryl, I like the way you think!LOL
When I worked in a body shop as a teenager(30yrs ago), on low rent jobs we would use "Tiger Hair", which was body filler (mud, bondo... whatever you wanna call it) with chopped fiberglass strands in it.
On the other side of that, I have cut up gallon thinner cans and used that for patches, brazed in... and had it last many years because I made sure it was well sealed on the backside too...
 
AdamR said:
I wish I were that good that I didnt need filler LOL
Click to expand...

Not a BIG head but, I am! LoL... I use the hell out of my EagleII for pulling and shrinking. Then finalize with my slapping spoons, hammers and dollies then finish with a fine metal file. Three coats of primer, block, seal and shoot. Hours of work but worth it imo... As far as places I can't reach I use PDR tools.

Many years of trial and error. Now production work is a different story!
 
I'm in the process of doing a so called non deseriable car [1973 charger/318 car] and we are useing duraglass in our bodywork.I did cut out the rust and patch with new metal [GMC TRUCK BEDSIDE, fileing cabinet metal] then duraglass to level/smooth then evercoat filler to finish,eventually i'll be spraying the polyester filler as stated before, then blocking it to smooth finish prior to painting. We are not building a show car just an acceptable cruiser for my son.
 
CUUDAK said:
Not a BIG head but, I am! LoL... I use the hell out of my EagleII for pulling and shrinking. Then finalize with my slapping spoons, hammers and dollies then finish with a fine metal file. Three coats of primer, block, seal and shoot. Hours of work but worth it imo... As far as places I can't reach I use PDR tools.

Many years of trial and error. Now production work is a different story!
Click to expand...

Its becoming a lots art for sure.
 
When watchin OVERHAULIN with Foose, after they blast the metal, they use some kind of green body filler--I'm guessin. I was wondering how they could get the metal prepped so perfectly without it? What is the green stuff BTW?
 
when i did dad's fish they dented in the holes and filled with great stuff and then covered with bondo and it musta been in there for at least 10 years and surprisingly still strong,i have bondo in my duster...it needed the 1/4 replaced...I hammer and dollied it then skim coated sanded down and did more hammer and dollie work and sanded some more and just kept at it with the hammer and dollies till it barely had any mud left.....rust holes git patches made from old body parts and welded in then duraglass for first coat and Viol'a
 
grey bondo with blue hardener
MLC Dodge said:
When watchin OVERHAULIN with Foose, after they blast the metal, they use some kind of green body filler--I'm guessin. I was wondering how they could get the metal prepped so perfectly without it? What is the green stuff BTW?
Click to expand...
 
even the most unmolested,unrestored survivor car can and probably has bondo in it somewhere. know how many cars were pulled off the line for imprefections and had bondo put in and got resprayed? a lot more then anyone would think i'll bet.
 
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