Hot Rods How much bondo is too much

Body work is a learned skill. Like most learned skills, you really need to get out there and screw it up before you learn what you can/should do, and what not to do.

There are people here that can point out things that can help, as many have, but ultimately, unless that person is the one spreading the filler and sanding it smooth, its still going to be up to you to learn the skill, and be covered in body dust doing it.

I've done a lot of body work wrong, but each new attempt improves my skill. Some day I might be OK at it. Perfection is never going to happen at my place, I don't have the patience to finish the job correctly. So "good enough" is my battle cry. The paint job tells me how much longer I should have spent. Maybe next time (but probably not long enough then either)! I am getting better.

The way I see it, rolling through town at 30 mph, its going to look great. When its parked, anyone that chooses to pick it apart and feels obligated to share his uninvited opinion is a jerk and his opinion doesn't matter anyway. Where was he when I was tired of sanding?

 

This post is the best post I've read in a long time. It was a definite pick-me-up as I was scrolling through this thread and thinking about my own project.

 

I know, and have fired numerous people that aimed high, and never got better.

 

The truth is that many cars that are so to speak completely metal finished are so work harden that the metal can't naturally expand and contract and that can lead to more problems down the road than a 1/4 inch of filler. I know one guy who will spend countless hours hammering and dollying, picking and filing, shrinking and stretching and after it looks like a minted piece, he lays on gallons of high build polyester surfacer and blocks the hell out of it 4 or5 times. lol and then cry's that customers don't want to pay. Larry

 

Jim. People don't notice the flaws in your car because there to busy looking at the shit eating grin on your face while you're driving the hell out of it!! lol Larry

 

Fuck I love these threads. Max thickness? Fridge magnet has to stick. The rest is just a good excuse to do poor metal work. "I'll just fill it, be faster..." except for the weeks of surfacing and dust clean up and shrink time and, well you get it. Funny thing is, even if you spent an extra 2hrs getting better metal it's only a fraction of the time spent trying to fill out a poor fit.

But what is too much? Look at those ridiculous pics posted. Wanna be that? And full disclosure here so I don't seem a hypocrite I have done some layering in the past. Way in the past like in my teens and young 20s when I didn't give a shit. Hell I even mixed a whole gallon right on the roof of a collapsed prototype styling buck. The rest of the crew freaked out, 1 went and got the boss to fire me. Well, by the time he showed up I saved them from having to build a whole new styling buck. Life was tough for me on the floor thru the duration of that job but fuck em. Got a raise. Can you do a good job without? I dunno, you tell me:


I hate bondo...

 

What filler are you using that shrinks?

 

As a rule, 1/4 inch mud is to much.!with this said, i have sandblasted cars that had old repairs that were over 1/4 inch on them and it held up for many years. Prep, welds and quality of product play a role as well.

 

If it is put on right, and finished out properly, nobody will know it is there.

With modern fillers, most of us will be dead before anyone finds out, and then the remaining few won't have access to gasoline.

So maybe we should go back to seeing who can pee farther, instead of trying to figure out who's the king of all metal workers.

This is supposed to be a fun hobby, not a build purity contest.

 

All of em. I don't care what anyone says, or quotes from product hype sheets, THEY ALL SHRINK. "No Jocko you're full of shit XY-Best Filler Ever Made never shrinks!" Bullshit. Filler is a finishing aid, nothing more. Primer shrinks, paint shrinks, and of course mud shrinks. If you don't see it you ain't lookin hard enough.

And as far as fun or build purity all I can say is to each their own. I did my hack pop rivet patch and mud work as a kid. Now at 6 decades plus I don't have the time or desire for shoddy shit I might have to redo a cpl years from now. That picture I posted, painted that no-mud car in June 2000. We can go see it today and it looks just as good. To be honest I did give it a quicky foam pad rub in 2007, and they use it too. Not a wallflower. Both of them are 70 now and also don't have time for a redo. But that's me, that's what I call "fun" so...

 

I love the smell of Bondo.

 

Smells like $$$$$$$$
I made a lot off that product

 

You know what, I kinda do too.

 

It's pretty simple, do the metal work to the best of your ability. Hammer and dolly your patches the best you can.
use your yard stick or ruler edge to check your work. If your unsure have your buddy over for his opinion.
Now your ready to start your body work. simply make sure everything is clean and sanded. Some people epoxy before filler some go straight over the metal. That's another argument for another day. Put fiberglass filler for the welds and the worst low spots. After that buy you some good body filler and start in. get some guide coat and start blocking.
After its smooth enough for you apply the primer. Give yourself a pat on the back for your good work and all you have learned. Knowing the next time will be easier and better.

good luck!

 

Well if you ask me, I agree. Whole heartedly. 100%.

 

Using a lot of Bondo is traditional.

 

I try for none.

 

There was a guy who ran a body shop in Rockmart GA years ago who was known as "Bondo" Brown. He did a lot of work for local used car lots. I never knew the man's proper name, never heard him called anything but Bondo.

 

I do my best to use the least amount of bondo possible and still use lead occasionally but it wasn't always like that. In the mid '60s I had a friend who worked at a small local plastics factory that made the stuff. Just about every weekend myself or a buddy had a recently acquired beater secretly wheeled in for a quickie mud slinging and sculpting session followed up with a coat of primer. It was an easy way to make a few bucks on a quick flip. Here in the rust belt we could turn a $50 car into a $200 car in a few hours. I never kept one of these "bondo buggies" long enough to see how they held up but I bet it wasn't long. The metal work was non-existant as was the paint prep. Here in the rust belt we could turn a $50 car into a $200 car in a few hours.
Today, its just a hobby, working on my own cars so I pride myself on getting the metal work as good as I can get it, spending the necessary time.

 

^^ What he said. 100x

Back in the '60s after I'd killed off a couple of muscle cars with bad driving, as soon as I got my license reinstated I bought a 4 cylinder econobox. Seemed pretty clean. But a crack developed in the middle of the driver's door. After some excavation my Dad and I discovered that there was a deep dent in the center of the door and somebody just paved it. In that location, I'm thinking that the 1/4" rule of thumb might have kept it from cracking. Shutting the driver's door a million times is probably a tough test of filler strength and integrity.

 

I think the main thing is you are doing it & not talking about doing it.
A very famous man @gene-koning once said .... Body work is a learned skill. Like most learned skills, you really need to get out there and screw it up before you learn what you can/should do, and what not to do.

That really is how I learn. Recently I started tacking the patch in, then 1/2 way through I ended up having to cut the patch in two. Just a mistake I made .... More importantly a lesson learned.
I should have done several things different .... it is a learning experience & the more mistakes I make the more I learn

 

Bondo called bog in my country can’t be too bad I know of a car that I Bondo up the lower door it had rust damage door was sandblasted and red lead primed both sides of door skin then bondo applied as a repair and painted inside of the door with red lead primer car has been on the road all that time passenger door still looks great on that old coupe no cracks or shrinkage years later bought to 32 three window coupes in fibre glass from a very good company how was the fibreglass body shell and door shells held to the steel framework bog was used as glue both cars are good road going cars now no problem at all so I’ve got good faith in bondo it gets a bad rap when it’s used as a cheap repair over rust etc or were water can get in behind it and rust causes Bondo tho come away from the rusty panel preparation is nessasarry ie cleanliness befor applying

 

There was a body man in my home town who was known as "Bondo" Brown--never knew Bondo's proper name. He did a lot of work for the local used car dealers. Need I say more? One of the best Bondo sculptors who ever lived.

 

In the early ‘80’s I went to a used car lot that had a ‘69 Camaro for sale, damn it was like 6-700 bucks. Whatever it was at 20 or so years old it was affordable for me.
Must have been a “light spray of paint” on it, just to make it look good, but the Az sun had done its job on it, you could easily tell where the filler sucked in the paint. I doubt it even had primer before the scuff and spray job.
It had a take to it, but had a few mis-matched steel wheels and tires on it.
I recall it like yesterday when the guy told me “and I have a great set of tires and wheels that will bolt right on to it for a little more money”. But after seeing the”bodywork “, I just said “I’ll think about it”.
No, never owned a ‘69 Camaro. lol

 

Too much? When the '41 Ford you are working on ends up a twin to a '57 Chevy. A few gallons too many. Lol

 

I use no body filler at all ever...
It is a vintage car...it needs to look like a vintage car...
cut cut cut....tac tac tac...grind grind grind...repeat
MikeC

 

Whats bondo? Should be using lead

 

Did you see how much rust is under that bondo? I can only assume that the surface was clean when it was applied. It is for this reason I have always heard that Bondo should be used over the top of epoxy primer. It traps and absorbs moisture as it cures from the outside in, and will rust the steel beneath.

 

I do my filler work over primer sprayed as a sealer.