So true. The story goes that when Harry Westergard worked for Dick Bertolucci, he'd wanna metal-finish everything. And Dick would get mad at him, because it took too long to do. Besides...bondo gives boogers exceptional structural integrity.
Hey folks , ya'all can say what ya want about plastic fillers . Since I retired from the Body an Fender business, I do a few models . Here's a couple of examples of just what ole "Bondo" can do : Quality Oil #5 in Winston Salem North Carolina The former Zep diner on Flower st in Los Angles scrubba
Plastic body filler goes back to the late 30's - early 40's at least. From the January 1940 issue of Popular Science:
Good to hear it's traditional. My level of metal work skill is to the point where I have to use some filler to get things straight, so I use it as a tool not a crutch. The material allows me to turn work out in a reasonable time. I still hear from people who have never done body work "ewww you don't want to use bondo!" I could spend a lot more time minimizing the amount needed, and maybe with even more time I could get things decent without any filler. I think it is more difficult to find the client who is willing to pay up to say "my car has no filler." The statement really does seem almost elitist, and so I am left wondering, in the days of lead and shops like Valley Custom how many of those guys achieved metal worked perfection? There no doubt is a skill set that sadly is no longer conventional, gas welding, leading ect. and applaud those who continue that tradition. But again in the time when those skills were the norm how many guys were actually pulling off this filler free level of work that seems to be so in vouge?
I thought it interesting that the timeline shows lead being prohibited in 1948. Strangely enough I cut up a 1978 Chevy that had factory leaded roof piller seams. A friend reminded me the other day that "putty comes in all sizes." Words to live by.
lead can be misused also. my dad had a 67 chevy van that had been rear ended. the drivers side rear corner below and around the taillight was "straightened" and leaded to repair by a reputable shop. later on dad was drilling through the area for a trailer light plug in and found the lead to be about a 1/2" thick. he had it for many years after that and the lead never cracked or bubbled so I guess it was ok.
All filler can be misused, either it be plastic filler, fiber glass, lead or even high fill primer. Yes an all metal body with no filler is amazing, but if some of you have the skill and the time to do it on your own, more power to you. If you have the money, then sweet - spend it, but look to pay allot. The thing is, some that say your cars are all metal, I would like to see how many coats of high fill primer are on it There is nothing wrong with a LIGHT skim coat of filler. before one bashes, then that person should learn the trade, read the specs go to a school, and not rely on a message board to only get your idea of whats ok and not ok. I appreciate this old ad as I do many.
True story: My son Rich and I were at Goodguise a few years back, talking to 'sundancer' at his booth (the stainless shrinking disc) he was about to do a demo. Some people were crowded around, and a Latino dude and his wife were right up front. Sundancer pounded 2 hrddball-size dents in a Model A front fender, and proceeded to 'iron' them out. When he did the initial pounding, the disc was laid on the stretched perimeter, then he dollied it out, then more disc, then the final. He just scraped the surface with a long flat mill file, to show the flatness of the repair. The Latino dude says, "When do you apply the bondo?" His wife snaps, "You don't USE no Bondo with this!" The dude snaps right back with, "I been to the school, you haven't! Where's the Bondo?" We left after the third go-around. Some guys learn, and never consider the alternative. Funny, but not really. I wanted to help explain, but the dude was having NONE of it!
Bondo's a wondrous preservative. It's allowed (usually unsuspecting) substandard, rusty sheetmetal and lackluster bodywork to be topcoated, detailed, and lovingly parked in garages for years. Future project fodder, if you will. Countless badassed rides have started off with an all-too-common journey of discovery.
I agree 100% with hoof22. He's right in every respect. Most of the comments against using a "filler" are more than likely the same crowd that use Rustoluem in a rattle can to spray their rat(ty) rods in the driveway and think they have an original show car.
I have built many cars in my life time and with out Bondo they would all look like crap. I'm retired now and as you can see, I havented used my mixing machine for quite a while. It is for sale if anyone is interested.
There was also "white Diamond"......as a teen I put some on my 56 chevy[in the drive with a drill actuated sander].... its still right where I put it and it has sat outside all 45 years since!!
Bondo is phenomenal. Bondo has held the used car business together for decades and created whole generations of sculptors....
Before Bondo a lot of crude work was done with lead. Metal finish was too expensive and time consuming. If there was a lot of damage you had to replace the whole panel, even a whole roof if it was dented or hail damaged. Needless to say bodywork was expensive. A lot of cars were junked that would have been saved if they had bondo. So there are 2 sides to the question. That valuable antique with the bondo'd fender would most likely have been scrapped when it was just another cheap second hand car, if not for that cheap repair. On the other hand, it was easier to bolt on a junkyard fender, hood or trunk lid in those days than it is on a new car today.
I can almost hear the discussion. "Damn, what can we do, can't just put a cone up out there?" "Hey, let's Bondo it, Har Har Har!" Silence... "Fred, go over to Tony Stewart's pit, they should have some. Get their cheese grater too"
I find it hilarious that some guys freak out about a little bondo, but are just fine with a 1/4 inch of "feather fill" on there car.......
It always amuses me when guys search around for 60-80 year old fenders, doors & hoods and they balk at any hint of bondo on the parts..... when in all actuality.... they are gonna sandblast the crap outta the parts & smear bondo all over them anyways.
Hey old thread again but anyone remember that damned old black diamond? That stuff was so heavy that it would just fall off under its own weight.
Years ago I knew an old timer who claimed to be one of the first, if not the first people to sell plastic body filler in Canada. He told me he made it out of polyester resin (fibreglass resin) mixed with Portland cement in a cement mixer. I believe it, the first plastic filler was as heavy as cement. Then I think they used Fuller's earth, now they have some light weight stuff.
Bondo AKA salve or medicine is good when used appropriately, however we live in an imperfect world. An excellent, though lazy, bodyman buddy of mine was working at a dealership bodyshop and drew a clean but older Dodge to do a hour or so on a quarter panel then prep and paint. After a few minutes of dicking around with a body hammer suddenly there was a crash and he was pelted with dry Bondo. Seems an earlier "repair" to the quarter consisted of some guy pushing out a big dent then jamming a 2x4 in between the quarter and the inner wheel well, then applying a lot of Bondo. When the 2x4 popped out of place, the quarter panel oil-canned and some of the Bondo flew. Boy, was the foreman pissed...
I called a bud from my shop one morning, he was a one man body shop about a mile from me... I called his shop number, put on a disguised voice when he answered, then I asked: "Do you sell Bondo?" He paused for a few seconds, then answered, "Yeah, I could sell you some Bondo..." I asked, "Could you tell me how much a gallon would be?" I waited just a second, then added: "Installed?" Wonder how he knew it was me...
After I'd get off work from my real job back in the early 60's I worked at a filling station that sold only gas, oil, and antifreeze. Across the highway was one of the most popular body shops in town. I worked evenings so the Brown Truck and others occasionally left off products at the gas station. Being almost a car guy I'd read all the labels on the cans and boxes for the body shop. Bondo was one brand of filler they used. One time I carried some cans across the road and watched those pro body men repairing a new Caddy and other late model cars, using Bondo. I was struggling in my spare time on my first old car project, a 1931 Model A. I was using real lead sticks and a propane torch just like the guys where I worked showed me. I was a shipping clerk but I got around. As much as I tried I couldn't get all the pits, sand scratches, etc. out of that Model A. I discovered a skim coat of Bondo worked wonders and have used it ever since. Some of my old projects still look good altho they were never magazine quality. If it were't for Bondo and bondo type brands many of the rods and customs we drool over today would have never been finished. Some with gallons of Bondo on them. After I retired a neighbor friend with a body shop here built customs in his spare time. Those chopped tops and other modifications often got several gallons of bondo type filler just on the roof. Again those were show winners. What happened after a few seasonal changes and pot holes I don't know. I bought a 49 Ford he'd repaired. I'll swear it was 200# heavier after he worked on it. But it looked nice. Even within these pages I notice most cars have a skim coat of body filler. It's like an ugly woman and her makeup. A pig can look nice with enough layers piled on.
Must have been that haircut, you have always had a goofy haircut. Bondo was what the scooter trash called it when I was younger but any body and fender guy I have even known has called it mud. I have seen entire quarters built from it and chicken wire and even see frame repairs made with it. the stuff is just majic.
I first used Bondo in 69', disliked it very much, good thing I didn't need much..Tried lead too but I was worse at that..Some where in early 80's a guy down the street was using stuff called White Lightning, although the name was a little hokey [and they have hokier names now] it worked good and the hardener came in red and blue so you could color sand, so to speak...A guy I knew came over to fix an old pound in and fill repair as he worked for a body shop and an old guy taught him the metal working art...Pound it out, heat and shrink, hammer and dolly and bunch of slap hammering and a few skims of the disc sander all right before my eyes..I may have ended up with a 16th in a few spots using the White Lightning...I then used the White Lightning to make a Rolled Pan plug for my shoebox, then a mold from the plug, then I laid up fiberglass in the mold to make the bolt in Rolled Pan...I have used the filler allot for all kinds things [with and without other stuff mixed in] and I always have some on hand, works good on wood too...Last time I went to buy some there was a least twenty "names" at I think about $30.00 gallon..I think in 80' it was maybe around $12.00....
Oh boy, bondo stories! You can do many things with bondo. I was prepping my old Ford camper van for vacation years ago and desperately wanted a steering knob but none to be had in time. I got a racquet ball, drilled a hole in it, filled it with bondo, then drilled a hole all the way through and countersunk an allenhead bolt through into a clamp on the wheel, the bondo acting as the bearing. It's still on there 20+ years later.
In 1960 my dad extended the rear quarters on a '53 Studebaker coupe using nothing but chicken wire and bindo. I never believed him until I looked at a '53 olds for sale in 1984 that had been sitting in a barn or garage for years. Sure enough, there was a rear fender repair you could see from inside the trunk: bondo over chicken wire! Dad considered the guys who backed bondo with cardboard hacks and amateurs.
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