I hate to have another run and gun question, but I have this weekend to bondo up a hood (seams along a cowl hood) and I haven't the slightest clue on what type of body filler to use. The hood has some flex to it, so I figured anything with some give/flex to it filler wise would be PERFECT. It doesn't need to have fantastic longevity, it only needs to hold on, not crack, look fairly good, and hold paint for 1 time presentation. I tried to find some info on 3M's UV Drying bondo because all the sale listings online claim it has "extreme flexibility" and all other articles say it dries in 5-20 minutes, and is free of having to mix hardener. Anyway if ANYONE can offer ANY insight, I would be in your eternal debt. Thanks in advance.
Bondo seams? Thats never a good idea... Can you use some Seam sealer and smooth it out? I have no idea what your trying to do... Do you have some pictures???
Yeah...exactly! But he "seams" to have no time for that right now. I'm not sure what he's even trying to do, so its hard to recommend anything!
How about scuffing it with some 36 grit, then using some fibergl*** resin with some flocking thrown in to thicken it up some. Take it down, smooth with spot putty and shoot....
An "artistic" rendering of what I'm having to smooth out. Planning (so far) on welding it some more and then possibly laying bondo on the seam once it's welded and/or braced enough. And it's definately a not long term thing, I just need the hood to be looking better to present and get a grade on it (not from knowledgeable body-people though).
Once its welded solid (notice I said solid) grind down and smooth out the welds. Then just slap some filler in there and smooth that out. All body panels have some flex in them and any type of filler is going to allow for that type of flex. The better the filler, the more it can flex while resisting cracking. If you're not looking for it to hold out for too long, the type won't matter. I use Evercoat Rage Gold, but you could use any cheap filler and still be OK for a one time showing.
why don't you not waste our time on some ***********. Maybe you could find some gypse's that do bodywork out of the trunk of an old Cadillac. Seriously shouldn't you want to find out how to do things correctly not how to be a hack. Brick
I agree, the time your wasting sitting here waiting for quick fixes could be better used to do it right. I hope your instructor sees this, but even if he never knows it's a hack job, you will, do it right and take pride in your work.
I completely agree that this is a deplorable end, but I'd like to make a good grade and graduate high school with an A on my exit project. They moved the date up a week due to judges changing their minds/schedules, so thats what boned me.
Let me guess. Your instructor gave you the project 6 months ago and you are finally getting around to it. **** hit the fan when he moved the deadline up one week.
ChromeMouth- Here's some input from me: 1) make sure you took it to bare metal first. *clean* bare metal. Don't gouge the **** out of the metal with 36 grit or worse, as deep grind / sand marks **** and are a lot of work to fix. 2) like others said (and sounds like you did,) use metal work to "fix" your seam. if you're filling a big area, fill with metal and weld (dont gob weld more than about 1/16" gap as MIG welds crack and heat warps anyway)-- otherwise i'd compose a series of tack welds-- jumping around the panel a lot to avoid warpage. you must avoid the panel warping with the heat from your welding, so take your time. 3) if you weld right, your metal work is serving the purpose of the vast majority of "filler." Build up the weld, and as you do cut it down smooth with a grinder. When you cut down grind, do it with precision and dont take down the original metal around it. Again, take your time with the heat. dont leave any high spots. 4) doing the metal work should be most of your "filling", almost perfect without any bondo. the purpose of the bondo will be to just lightly address any low spots, and smooth overall. 5) Before putting down any bondo, make sure its clean and scuffed with 80 grit, so that it has something good to tack to. Nowadays, you can either put the bondo on bare metal or a good primer. 6) if you have to do anymore than about 1/16" thick of bondo, go back and do more metal work. I use RAGE filler. As a beginner, best to apply over entire area you're doing work on-- build up to about 1/16" (may take a couple swipes) and then cut down through sanding. i use 36 grit on a mug hog to start, and then go down to 80 grit blocked. i should look perfect and taking your time will help make that happen. 7) apply 3-4 coats of primer surfacer to the area. Block sand w/ 240 grit. Use feel a lot and guide coat as needed. If you need more filler in a low area, scuff the primer area with 80 grit and go back to step above with more filler. 8) as finishing, make sure entire area/car) has consistent primer coat. body work done right, sand wet to 240 and 400 grit. Now you're about ready for paint... hope this helps. don't let the FNG flaming keep you from asking questions. i thought yours was a fair question... -scott noteboom
I didn't see it that way... I didn't think it's a case of FNG flaming, I think it's more a flaming of his integrity. He's trying to dupe people into thinking he's doing something "right" for a grade.
ChromeMouth, Is this for your senior project? If so I think that whole thing is a joke and serves no purpose and does nothing towards helping prepare for a job. that aside weld it up as best possable grind it down and put a coat of bondo and file it smothe and primer it up! don't use that bondo you mentioned it is junk,if you have a pep boys or the like they should have bondo brand and it is about the cheapest and is pretty easy to use. guys go easy on the kid he knows it is not the right way he is just trying to do the required **** the schools make them do. if none of you have had a kid go through that garbage it is a joke.
Lots of good advice here on materials and methods. If I was handing out the marks here I might be impressed if half the hood was finished perfectly, especially if I could see how much work had to be done by comparing it with the other side. I don't know if they would accept that though. You'd have twice the time to do the half. It's a technical exercise at the moment even if it does end up on your ride.
Heres the deal. ANY bondo will hold it as long as you are expecting. Its for a one time showing guys...This aint a long term deal. Not everything needs to be 100 percent. This will work in the short term just fine!
*bump* Yea, I deserve the flack because I did have it for a few weeks but got setbacks compounded with lazyness that did leave me screwed when it got setback a week. Migged the seams for some added rigidity which really did save the lateral sway it had. Luckily my uncle had a new can of rage (awesome stuff) in a closet so I used that with some great results, would have preferred a day for it to cure, but it did fantastic with the time it got. Only errors that came out was from bondo brand putty filler, it really didn't enjoy being painted for some reason and left a few inch crackly spot. But all in all it came out far better than I was thinking it would. Paint wise we did 2 coats of primer and sanded between them with 240 and 320 (with a spec more rage in one spot). Then sprayed 3 coats of flat black lacquer with no sanding in between, wanted to do that but it was already 10 when we started the black so we wanted it done before it was too ridiculously late. I'm probably going to get it back, redo a couple spots then give it a day to cure up, and sand it much finer then respray it with the same paint (dupont black lacquer with flattener). I do thank you all for the advice though, I liked learning through (near) failures. Thanks for the suggestions and comments though! (and the harshness, it's fun and this forum seems to be the types of guys who wouldn't dish out what they couldn't take in return.) I'll post some pictures like friday to either get some praises or more likely some more criticisms. EDIT: oh and rodholtz, the whole projects format is a joke for getting anyone career minded, they "sell" the idea to us more as "write a paper on something you think is cool so maybe you'll not BS so much". Funny part is statistically my paper gave me a C alone (before adding product, portfolio, or presentation to the grade).
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