You already have some conflicting views, but I gotta say this anyway. IMHO duraglass is as bad as all metal for cracking. Over the last 30 years I've had the chance to grind out plenty of old cracked work. 80% to 90% of the time I find duraglass or all metal. I can't remember the last time I ground out regular body filler that failed without an obvious reason. There is simply no reason to use the anything else. If you have to "seal" welds, then you need to work on your welding skills. Good PREMIUM body filler only. Also, even my PPG rep. says don't use epoxy primer under filler. Get your metal work as close as you can, get it CLEAN and ground with 36 or 40 grit and fill it.
tinbender. i kinda wondered about that. what is a good brand of premium filler? at my local ppg store they have some that says 'worlds best premium filler". what do i use?
You'll get 20 different answers to that question too! I use USC "base coat clear coat" Stupid name, good product. Blue ice is good, so is rage. You have to find one you like. It's a ballance between how it sands, and how it spreads. Just spend the extra 3 or 4 bucks a gal. and get a "premium" filler.
Im with Tinbender- screw putting filler over primer. do it the old "trad" way...........24 grit scratches on bare ass steel!
50mercfan My dad tries to get his hammer and dolly work as close a possible before using any filler. The thickness that you are talking about will crack under any kind of bondo. I feel you should get your hammer and dolly work as close as possible before doing anything else. Hope this helps and lots of good responeses on this post.
OK We all have different ways of doing things. I can weld OK but I am not good enough to get a waterproof seam. I don't know any production body man who can weld that good on todays light sheetmetal. The dura glass is more waterproof than the plastic filler. I am surprised a ppg rep says not to epoxy prime before plastic. When I worked in a production shop we body guys never wanted to take the time .....straight commission ya know. The painters were told to do it at the ppg school. Us body men said nope and so we didn't. It was a time and $ loss for us body guys. Well I like to work the old rusty beat up ford bodies so I did a test. Ground 2 doors to bare metal.....epoxy primed one and left the other bare with deep grinder marks. I then gave both a coat of filler(sanded the epoxy with red scotch cloth first)and let the filler flow around the door edge..........you know bondo overspray. Took the hog to both of them and cut it down. Now you mud guys know how you get the extra mud over the edges off....take your fingers and just break it off right? Well the bare metal door breaks off clean and easy and the door with sanded epoxy under it breaks off harder and leaves a small amount of filler that you must sand off the door edge. That test convinced me the adhesion was better with the epoxy primer over the bare metal. I have ground a lot of mud out of panels over the years and if it was an older repair there is always rust under the bondo. I like to think the epoxy will keep that rust from happening for a longer time. I am not defended a certain way here..just telling it as I see it.... my .02 worth Steve
wow, thanks steve,ron,choprods,everybody. this really helps. i know everyone has a different view but thats great. gives me all different experiances at once this has been great. i was going to ask about priming before filler next. i've had someone tell i'm nuts not to. i think i will do some more metal work on those two low spots and go with straight plastic. should i also epoxy prime OVER the filler once it's worked out or go with filler primer. or is that the same thing?
Another question? Be ready for several different answers! What paint system are you going to use? You should stick with one product line. When you mention epoxy, are you talking about DP, from PPG. If so It has been replaced by DPLF (at least around here) Not the same stuff, and not as good IMHO, and according to my sources. I've switched to self etch, followed by K36. I've been happy with the results.
steve ,i don't know which brand yet i haven't got that far in my thinking process. we have a ppg store and a dupont store. my last car was painted with ppg and i liked it real well. it looked real good and i though i was pretty durable. yea the dp stuff is what i've heard the most about. but i know one guy thats real good at this stuff and he hates ppg somthing about it being hard to spray or somthing. i'm planning on leaving the car in primer for a year or so then if there are problems i can fix it before paint. i just want to drive this damn thing for now.
Everyone settles into the products they are the most comfortable with. I try not to think about price when choosing products. It really ticks me off how much paint cost has gone up over the last few years. My paint peddler tells me I can save some dough by using less exspensive products.........just don't use them on your own cars he says. Heres the process I have used for over 10 years with good success. Do all welding, heating, forming, grinding and bumping then take to sandman to get cleaned up. First product is ppg etch. 2 part material that sprays like water. Next 2 coats of ppg dplf(lf means lead free) Yep I liked the old leaded better but what can we do these days. DP has super adhesion and it too is a 2 part material. Now the parts can set around the shop for years if need be and are protected. When the time comes for the smoothing I sand the dp real good with red scotch cloth or 180 sandpaper and apply filler as needed. When the parts are smoothed up I use sherwin williams filler primer(don't like the ppg filler primers) to get a surface thats paint ready. I am sure there are about 100 good ways and products to do this work.......this is just what works good for me. Steve
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