I got all the metal work done on the front of my 51 Chevy. Today I was going to go buy my filler. From doing the custom work there are some seams that I need to fill. Nothing is real deep, maybe 1/8th at the most where I had to build up metal around the new headlight bezels. Most if the seams only need to come up about 1/16th. I was told that the best thing to use for seams like this is All Metal. Another guy said that plastic filler is better. Well, whats the consensus here? Obviously I want it to last, and not crack. Thanks!
how about some pictures of what you're working on? If the metal is solid and won't move around then plastic should be fine and last a long time. If not, then fix it so it's solid and won't move around, then plastic filler will work fine.
Here is a pic. Rounded the hood corners, put in 56 Olds headlights, changed the grille surround, peaked the fenders, moulded in the front pan. Its all dead solid, and the metal is clean, no rust at all.
One thing I would suggest is to build up the edges around the front of the hood, and maybe the grille opening, with metal, so that the gaps fit nicely...otherwise you might be tempted to build them up with filler, and it will chip or crack. The rest of it should be ok with plastic, as long as it's not going on too thick and you mix it right and apply it evenly in thin coats.
Filler is filler even hi build primer. Use what you like. Each product has it's good and bad. I like Rage. Easy to use, easy to sand.
I have used All Metal with great results.With that being said, knowing what I know now, if I were simply filling in 1/8" (or less) I would break out the Rage-if I were concerned about strength AND filling, I would use a product such as Kitty Hair, and then finish with Rage-
nothing wrong with plastic fillers. I dont like 'All Metal' because its hard to remove if needed. As for fillers you can use Evercoat's 'Glass Light' which is a fine strand fiberglass filler for the major filling. It sets super hard and sands easy. Put it to you this way, if you drop some on the concrete, you cant get it up once it sets. Use Rage Gold on top of that for your fine tune filling and blocking. Polyester filler for final - like filling pin holes and such.
Per what squirrel said, cranking happens where there is movement. Body filler is polyester with fillers such as clay and talc. fillers. All-Metal is polyester filler that also contains metal particles. The metal is intended to reinforce and stabilize the filler. I am aware of no reason why All-Matel would be a bad idea on your application. On the other hand, "regular" filler should work fine and is much easier to work.
Cool, thanks for the tip. Its actually closer than it looks because the hood latch isnt centered perfectly in the pics. My grille bar is what holds it perfectly. But there are a couple areas where I should build it up.
I have had good results using all-metal. Used it in my rear window channel after I did some rust repair. (It helped to fill in any super small pinholes also.) I wanted it to be a permanent fix.
I really dont' understand the attraction to All Metal filler. It is more expensive, harder to use, harder to sand, for not much advantage. At first glance it mgith seem to ward off filler coming apart, keeping rust out of a repair, but think about it more.....if your welding, or pinholing, or seams aren't sealed on the backside, water seeps in and rusts the metal UNDER the filler. doesn't matter if it's aluminum in the resin, or talc. Sure, talc will abosorb it a bit faster, but the steel will rust under the filler noe the less, and bubble the filler off. Besides that, All Metal is much more rigid, so if it doesn't flex with the steel under it, it will crack, or at least "witness up". I believe plastic fillers flex and expand and contract with the steel better than the stiffer fillers do. I think it has it's place in regular body shops, where they get sloppy in their repairs, and use it as a crutch, but not in doing 'good work'.
Perfect, then plastic it is. No sense in spending more money on a product that wont be any better, or even worse.
There is NO METAL in "all metal" filler... Sorry to disapoint the fools that use this -cold crack prone blistering-worthless product....
In the 36 years I have done body repair I can easily say the most frequent failure of a product in refinishing would be these type fillers.... It will always be blistered up or cold cracked like crazy all over where the "all metal product" was placed in the previous repair.... You can tell before you grind into the area which filler is there!!
IF you have a small area that you cannot get as good as you want it repaired you could do this. Use a short strand fiberglass filler[Bondo Glass] Gorilla hair] or Tiger hair whatever] and skim the repair with that. sand off and then skim on your Rage Gold or filler of choice to fill the sand marks and chances are that repair will outlast you and your car......
I am not sure about All Metal but Metal-2-Metal has aluminum powder in it so there is some "metal" in it. I won't argue the merits of the product itself.
I'll admit that I haven't used All-Metal in a long time, but I can say that it definitely did have metal it the last time I use some.
If they describe it as ALL metal then what else is in it? =Plastic resins... If it did have Aluminum in it they would surely recommend a Chromate primer over it instead of any old primer. Silver powder sure looks like aluminm does it not? try heating that powder with a butane lighter and report back....
I have used Allmetal for many years on areas that you would normally use lead and have had great no prob results. But like everything else don't use it as a crutch to cover bad metal work. It is much less prone to cracking on seams and patch panel weld areas, when used responsibly. Follow up with Rage for your fine finish work. Alot of my experience has been with motorcycle frames and tin where vibration would be a factor. For moulding and sculpting Gene Winfield and many others use Kitty Hair where it may require a thicker application for it's reinforced properties. Every filler has been developed for a particular purpose and I've been very pleased with Evercoat products over the years when used for thier proper purpose and application.BUCKD
First of all All Metal it is a product name not a description. Do you think White Lightning had lightning in it as well. I am not sure of the contents of ALL Metal but here is a link to the MSDS for Metal-2-Metal third material on materials list Aluminum powder 15-20% http://www.evercoat.com/imgs/msds/100889 Metal-2-Metal 10-09-08.pdf
Check the MSDS link posted by K13(below). In addition to talc, clam shell dust, and floor sweepings it contains ALUMINUM. Aluminum is metal. I the contents of the can actually were "all metal" it would be really hard to spread and a sand. Not sure if it's made anymore, I haven't seen any in years, Alumi-Lead had a lot more aluminum and bigger chunks of it. That made it even harder to work than All-Metal. Just wondering, why are you cooking body filler with a butane lighter? Any chance that that has something to do with your being confused about this?
IF I may, the product metal to metal that Eastwood sells is pretty good. The only real problem is the hardener is clear so it is almost impossible to tell if everything is mixed correctly. If it is not mixed correctly, it NEVER hardens and is a bitch to remove http://www.eastwood.com/metal-to-metal-filler-quart-with-hardner.html
that's all you need right there. I have no idea what any of that other crap is good for other than hack work.
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