Projects A Body Work Lesson For EVERYONE!!

I worked for a "shop" for two whole weeks in the 70s... until the boss showed me how to quickly "repair" a panel.
He used the time-honored method of taking the soft-set filings (using an aerated file) of body fill and adding them to a new batch of fill to thicken it up. He patted the whole thing out like a pancake and slapped it on over the whole.
One good bump and plop. Out it fell.
Two was WAY too long to stay but jobs were hard to come by.

 

he wouldn't have needed the nail the car would have repaired itself.

 

No, that's Chuck Norris.

 

I was doing some bodywork on a '86 Mustang last winter and filled the emblem hole in the grill with a scissor cut miller lite can, adhesive, and a little filler. It turned it really well, suprisingly, and looked much better than a old cracked and spray painted over emblem that was on it.

I owned a '73 Camaro and some of the fiberglass in the lower 1/4s cracked and fell out. There was an EIGHT TRACK TAPE used as filler/template to rebuild the wheel opening.

I also looked at pictures a guy at school had of his muscle car his grandpa, a retired body man, were rebuilding. To fill the lower 1/4s they used aluminum sheet and pop rivets covered with bondo. You couldn't tell from the outside but they took pictures from the inside and there you could see the old rusty metal, white aluminum, and the rivets.

Another older bodyman I talked to was working on a '76 Ranchero, and he used sheetmetal and pop rivits to fill his rockers and 1/4s. He said that whenever you tack welded metal in, it would rust out through the filler later, and on the inside. I didn't argue with him, but it seems to me that pop rivits would shift, move, and crack the filler.

Also looked at a nice looking 64 1/2 Mustang that the owner had filled holes in the floor with sheetmetal, rivits, and alooottttt of bondo. What was strange though, was his work was perfectly symetrical, and had it been painted over you wouldn't have noticed it. I just don't trust little aluminum pins to hold in structural pieces.

Some people need a Harbor Freight Flux Core welder.

 

I have to add one, one of the first times I watched some one use the new "bondo" repair process the guy made a dam out of card board on the lower quarter so the stuff would not drop off on the floor. He then proceeded to mix a gallon and poured it into the pocket he made and let it set up. Ground it to shape and had an instant quarter panel. I thought this is the way of the future.
Later I found it is better to use some type of backer like lets say...the sponge applicator from a can of past wax that is what I found stuffed in the rocker of a high end Drag car I repaired rust on a few years ago. So as far as bondo repair anything goes. I did witness a guy mix 4 gallons on the roof of a chopped 49 merc.. I mean he poured it out on the roof and added hardner mixed it then spread it around, later that merc won a lot of awards and was sold for a ton of money....Buyer beware

 

Looked at a RUSSIAN Chekia (copied from a 53 Packard) for a friend. He had it shipped over from Russia for some reason.... i had obvious problems below the belt line. Under 1/2"!!!! of a GREEN bondo like substance, we found tar paper...under the tar paper....holes I could put my foot through...

So much for Russian coachbuilding....

 

I used to work at a very well known corvette shop, a 4 runner came in for some rust repair, the boss came over to show me how he wanted it fixed. He mixed up a mixture of duraglass, bondo, and metal to metal on a piece of cardboard, duct taped the cardboard over the rusted area and waited for it to dry, then pulled it off and did a final skim coat. "Good as new" as he put it! I also watched him jamb oily red shop rags covered in fiberglass resin down the rockers and also to re make the dog legs.

 

we used to fix rust holes in floor pans in Ohio with chicken wire and bondo, but most of those cars were too far rusted to be worth fixing right anyway. Oh and spray foam. the idea was to keep the exaust fumes out until the car ended up in the scrap heap. the first composite car parts!!

 

I had a 56 ford pickup that someone fix the cab corner with concrete. That was a real treat when I hit it with the grinder. The grinding wheel exploded.

Had a mustang that someone glued roofing paper to the inside of the quarter panel and bondo over it.

 

that needs to be in a ford commercial, built ford tough LOL

 

nothing on here can beat the bondo in a spray can. fill hole and put car in sunlight for cure. nothing wrong with filler, but just not anything made by bondo and in gallon sizes. I think on my 86 i used part of one of those small cans of the nappa brand. and most if it was sanded off. My old school auto collision teacher said it best, it's not Bondo, it's filler, bondo is a brand name and a bad word. I did see a sombrereo transportation device at walmart, part of the chunk of bondo in the rear door had fallen out, and it must have been 8 inches deep.

 

here it is,the ultimate in lazy repair

 

In Canada we use Ardox nails for better grip. If we got our tax rebate that week we buy some Robertson screws.

 

Ah, I saw that at the grocery store...aerosol cheese!

 

i wonder is spray cheese would work? leave it in the sun long enough and it will harden

 

Welding wire bent to shape + sticky foil tape poked with holes + Duraglas + filler + primer + tan paint = New Explorer rockers. For 6 months at least...

 

Awesome! I've got a lot of nails left over from my last home improvement project.

 

You really should use a good ring shank nail at least. Better holding power.

 

Sweet, amazing what you can find when digging into an old car, if they could only speak up when abused.
Heres what I found on a mustang I worked on a couple years ago. Why bother removing the old rusty panel or putting more then a few tacks on a patch.
Imagine my delight when I just touch the rocker with a grinder, and a huge chunk of bondo hits the floor. I think its still around somewhere for a momental.

I think one of the used car dealers prefers spray foam for them nasty holes.
Heres an impressive one someone once posted on another site. Nice patch work, and best of all, installed over the original wheel well molding lurking underneath.

 

Damn gup, I thought that was my trick. The slough god will be pissed!

 

Thats for when the new owner gives it the old magnet test to see if it is metal or bondo.The new owner says damn this baby's cherry

 

One word: Expandafoam.

 

I was all set to find a thread with some cowl repair work on it, but with youall's info I should be good to go.

Thank's guy's

 

Did they say what size nail that was? Can I get one downtown or do I have to order it?

 

I prefer galvanized chicken wire for rust repair that way you don't have to worry about your wire rusting.

 

We did a fastback Mustang for a guy back in the 90's that did his own quarter repair work and wanted us just to spray the car. He was so proud of his fiberglass resin soaked sponges that he shoved down in the trunk wells to fill the holes. Geez, think of all the times I could have saved over the years doing that, not to mention the money spent on the useless welder and patch panels!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Genuine G.M. Parts? Maybe G.M. should follow that advice to hold itself together!

 

What I find so interesting about this thread, is the number of people who had the same idea, and used the same materials in pursuit of body and fenderwork par excellence. And, someone stole my Scotch Brite use; moms' K-5 Blazer had a rust hole in the trailing edge of the driver side fender. She was trading the Blazer in, and wanted it "fixed". So, tin snips to cut away the rust, a hammer to add a recess to opening, Scotch Brite loaded with filler, and placed over the recess; then allowed to cure, and add more filler, then finish off. A little body color paint in a spray can, and the salesman commented on how well maintained her Blazer was. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I sold paint to rebuilders and used car people for 25 years so have seen most everything mentioned. But most of us are forgeting that most (myself included at one time) drink or drank real hard and at the time of the repair it looked like a real good idea and couldn't remember everything we did the day before anyway.
Don

 

Thats what they mean when they say " I've got then bodywork nailed " Hmmmmm!!