Good thread. I'm feeling a lot better about my project now, I think I can live with the fact that I'll need some filler. Thanks.
All cars need some sort of filler, bondo,glaze,or primer you cant gat a car painted without using something. There is absolutely no reason not to use body fillers, its just the fact that people abuse or dont properly prepare the surface first that gives them a bad name and most of the time they still hold up reasonably well.
wrong: No bondo/filler here... search for National Geographic - Megafactories: Ferrari EDIT: might be OT but still, there are ways to have it almost perfect... as long as 99% is done by robots that is. I do agree that all handmade jobs are gonna need "help".
I can do metal finishing. Sometimes. I did a set of fenders on a '48 ford pick-up that way, but the next project needed filler. That's the way it goes. I like filler, it's my friend. Lead's a *****, but I can do that,too. Many cars came with filler from the factory. It's OK to fill.
yeeaaa its one thing with freshly pressed panels and another thing with 60-80 years old junk that should been s****ed 3 times already. I can metalfinish so i dont need filler but i wont do it most of the times it takes to long time the differense from a smal amount of filler or a highbuild primer to no filler is about 5 times more time depending on the type of job simple jobs that you has axses from both sides you can often do so you just use a hi fill it also depends on the value of the car you just dont do bodywork for 10000$ on a 4 door plymouth
"Hi Brian, it's been 2 weeks since my last fix. I promise to try and be more patient welding panels, and not go buck wild with the grinder" Of course my "Perfect Day" would be zero Bondo BUT i know that'll probably never happen...for me at least. But i do see some absolutely AMAZING work here ...`sigh`....one day at a time my friend...one day at a time.
Hey, " If you never reach, you'll never grasp! " Metalfinishing and proper leadwork are skills that take some time to develop and fine tune. Much like learning to play the guitar, it's not something you'll learn in an afternoon, whyle watching a video! Too, if you stand behind words like " All " & " Never " you won't master them either. Once upon a time, the trade of Metalman, Body & Fender Repairman, was a very respectable trade. I'm was once told that a metalman could walk into any bank in town and secure a cash loan on just the mention of his craft and a phone call to his employer! With the introduction of plastic fillers in the 50's and widely available, cheap replacement panels, virtually overnight any boyscout who could mix putty became a "bodyman"! At that date in time the trade became the "*****" of the insurance industry. Quanty and not quality replaced mastery & skill. Traditional Hot Rods and Kustoms were, for the most part, never built for/by guys with deep pocket budgets. Even some of the ''old masters ", excepting Harry Westergard, and Jimmey Summers, engaged in butchery, again it was quan***y not quality! Some early kustoms seen for the first time in bare metal, today, would scare the fir off a dog. Today ,I'm very happy to see a return to interest in craftsmanship in the metaltrades of body & fender work and especally metalshaping. It's not dead, it's only been on holiday for fourty-plus years. This isn't happening at the hands of those usin' words like "All" & ''Never"! " Better Is The Enemy of Good Enough "!
So is this OK?? There is really not that much Bondo, it's mostly fibergl***, roof flashing and old socks...
haha great find what size are the socks one time i did a 60 impala that every time they had repainted it it was skimcoated all over abouth 1/4-1/2 inch thick total when i had grinded it down to bare metall i had to sweep up two five gallon drums of bondo dust the painter only used about1/8 gallon bondo on the whole car and i did not do any bodywork on the car exept made new rear wheel arcs it was realy nice and straight under all the bondo
the new ferraris are pretty well made compared to the older ones. as nice as they are, there is still a little going on there in the filler dept. besides were not talkn stamped parts, though at the seams they need some filln as well i have personally owned 10 or so ferraris, and worked on many more, and i can attest the earlier cars had some of the rudest metal work you have seen , but that can be expected of limited production cars. also it seems many take my comment to mean all customs are bondo buckets, not at all what i mean. and i too, am happy to see those who strive for perfection, but i have to stand my statement, that they all gota have some filler somewhere if you want a show winnig paint job. how much, and what used is the difference. seems that only those who do paint work really understand what it takes, even alot of guys i know who do some real great metal work seem to think a coat of primer , paint, and off to the gnrs. aint trying to burn anyone or throw bad juju at the metal guys, just reportn many decades of observation. that comment about the body industry being the ***** of the insurance industry, almost made me wet my pants it was so funny, but sadly true, lol
You would be surprised to know how many top flight show cars are covered with a skim coat of plastic filler.Plastic is the modern answer to LEAD!, afterall!
I have said it before and I will say it again: Bondo is a curse. Almost every other body filler out there is better in almost every way.
The gentlelman who repaired this used very little filler and commented in his article "metal finishing and common sense use of filler can work together and still be profitable". (this was written in the early/mid 70's) He did admit that this fender should and would be replaced in a normal collision shop. He went on to say he was just making a point repairing it and the hood. He did metal finish the hood.
I would venture to say there are plenty of guys that can do no lead or bondo chops and sections..I know one that is still alive and 2 that are gone..We did it many times. The bottom line is TIME...It is not cost effective now or in the old days.
every good paint job has the right materials under it. The right way will still include bondo.. (or for the ****; polyester filler) But! Don't Cave and Pave
Dan says it all. I remember seeing a 34 Ford 3 Window Coupe in bare metal ready for primer. It looked like a Factory body in "White" I figured there was no less than 1000 hours in the metal work but it was beautiful. We always have to have something to shoot for. The Old Tinbasher
filler (lead or bondo) is fine when it is used in the correct cir***stance, and applied properly. Myself, I'm going to use lead on the '51, and I'm going to use as little as possible. I plan to take a lot of time and do a lot of learning in that endeavor It gets a bad rep because some idiots think buying a can of the **** makes them a bodyman. I'd much rather the guy who did the "bodywork" on my '51 would have gone to a jug bar and let the car keep showing it's rust. As it is, I'm not even sure if it's a real car or if someone put an engine in a design studio clay model.
The Jalopy Journal
