Hot Rods How much bondo is too much

I redid a car where they filled a hole in the roof with a brass scrubby pad, then applied bondo over that. brass and bondo don't mix well. always use a stainless scrubby pad.

I did a different car were the trim holes were all brazed, and they all failed. it was a 20 year old build, but welded holes would not have failed.

 

if you suck, you will never get better.

 

Not true.

I have known a whole lot of people that used to suck, and got better.

The number that did vastly outnumbers the ones that did not.

 

... I never sucked, so I wouldn't know.

 

I too love this post. To me, the wavy panels make it look more like a real race car.

My car also made the cover of Hot Rod Magazine. I didn’t spend one minute sanding the body. I did spend about 20 minutes with a couple spray cans shooting the primer on it. I can’t imagine anyone having more fun for less money than I have with this thing.

 

One minor correction to the comment @squirrel made about his car.

It has been on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine TWICE!

 

SO! One of my cars was on the cover of a magazine too, there was an over view of the grounds and it was in the back corner of the pic, but it was there...

 

Just a little more than needed.

 

I’ve noticed the last few years that the less I stress about perfection the more fun old cars are again.

Weird.

 

Bazing and filler or paint not getting along is a leftover artifact of the days when people did not know that absolutely every molecule of flux needed to be removed before proceeding.

I have personally brazed about, no exaggerating, 5-miles of seams on car bodies.

Not one single one of them has had one single issue with adhesion of anything on top of them.

 

We had a shady body man in the next town. He supposedly bought Bondo in 55 gallon barrels. If thats even possible? I think it was a joke, but I never stopped at his shop-his name was Bondo-Bob.

 

We had a bondo bob in our town but he was from Boston, so it was bondo babb. He would say.......buy me a beeer ya cock suckaaa.

 

When I worked in an auto parts store, the largest quantity we could order was a five gallon container. We sold them to a place that was in the business of mudding up big trucks.

 

Yep, it can be bought in large cans and used with a press to dispense it. All the shops I have worked in for the past 20 years have been so equipped. Dang press thing is rather expensive.

 

My dad and I brazed the patch panels on my 31 pickup in late 70’s early 80’s. That is what we had and before mig welders were cheap. I sand blasted the brazed areas before filling, I painted the truck in 1986 and that’s the paint on it currently with no resprays. There are no failures on it anywhere. Also did a Commando in the same time period and used it as a daily in Michigan that one held up well too. There was just enough filler to smooth it out. Projects cars after that were fully welded using gas or mig.

 

the fact that body work with brazing CAN be done and not fail does not mean it is not being done and failing.
every brazed body modification on this 64 Impala I worked on failed. it was done I guess in the 70's with square headlights and shaved chrome, then to add insult to injury they left it outside under a pine tree and rusted everywhere needles accumulated. I replaced the entire inner structure surrounding the trunk lid. lots of hours into that one.

I love pine needles. did a Chevy Suburban full of pine needles in the rockers, pretty much replaced the entire bottom 6" of the vehicle. fun times.