The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Thoughts on bondo

Ive got a few spots mainly sizable dents on the fenders and bed. and was wondering what everyones thoughts on just bondoing them. ive heard bondo is just like mud and not good. but have seen them use it on shows like overhauling(is that something else?). and ive heard of "metal adhearing" bondo and that is fine.im not trying to make a show truck just something to drive around and not necessarily look great just decent.

filler has it's uses, mainly for final smoothing, not for hiding "sizable dents" .... you need to metal work those spots first and learn about the proper application of plastic fillers .... maybe there's a body shop around that would let you watch a bit of how and when it's used

Bill

There's nothing wrong with bondo, but,
You dont want to make a panel out of it either,
One of the best things that I like about working on these old trucks , is the metal in them. You can actually work with it.The
thicker metal is easier to work with.

Straighten it the best you can before you mud it up.

Would just a propane torch work to heat the medal up enough to pound it out or would i have to buy an acetylene torch set up?

No way, forget the heat, You will only make it worse..First of all take a vixen file which will show You exactly the low spot You want to bring out...2. Take a bumping hammer and dolly block to get the dent flush, then pick up the vixen again to validate the metal, that is, You might have to bring the dent out a little more...The idea is to get the metal back to close to original, then when satisfied, put a thin coat of (not mud,or Bondo)urethane plastic which today is almost as good as lead, put a skim coat on You're repair area, usually 2 light coats should do it. Next using a block, sand the area down...As long as the area is about 1/4" to 3/8 inch thick...a few things to do before using the plastic is make sure there is no paint in the repaired area...People that put plastic over paint, then smear
bondo 2 inches thick, I call sculpture artist, and they are the one's that gave bondo a bad name...I am a lead man Myself, but if used correctly the plastic will hold as good as lead. Good luck...

1949chevrolettruck, applying bondo to any vehicle is not metal straightening, it is plastering. Long before the advent of bondo, true craftsmen were repairing damaged sheet metal by actually putting it back to its original contours using simple tools like body hammers and dolly blocks, various files and oxy-acetylene welding equipment.

It's not rocket science but it does require patience and practice. When I got my '36 Chevy pickup in 1965 it was rough. For example, the bottoms of the doors were rusted away and the bed looked like a sack full of rocks.

I learned old school metal straightening and patch welding. If you give me your email address I'll send you a picture of the finished product as it looks today, 35 years after the restoration was finished without using any bondo.

If I can do it, anyone can. I'm a geologist not an automotive professional of any kind.

My 2 cents on fillers and body repair....

Some of the newer materials for body repair from Evercoat and 3M are terrific for us amateurs. Rule of thumb should be to work the metal back as far as your metal working talents allow, then use these materials as thin as possible. I just finished the body work on a 51 Panel. HUGE expanses of flat and sightly curved metal on the top and sides especially. On this job I worked the metal as best as I could, welded in my new patch panels, then proceeded with using Evercoat products. I use the waterproof, fiberglass stranded product for the first thicker filler coat.
In the following blocking processes I used their lighter, highly sand-able product. Great results.

I used these products 12 years ago on a 49 Willys-Overland Jeepster. That was in terrible shape. After 11 years with three stage pearlcoat over these products there have been zero issues with blistering, bubbling, flaking, etc.

It's pretty much a common sense, buying good materials, and following the directions. Learning how to properly block sand to minimize high and low spots will be your greatest challenge....

Have fun ..... you are in good company here!
mike

i'll have to look into the newer stuff out there. and try to pound out what i can. the two dents that i was really concerned about was the first two in the following link, the one on my driver side rear fender. and the front passenger fender if you can make out the dent in the picture.
http://s1045.photobucket.com/albums/b456/mage0095/

you should be able to pop those back, start gentle, good place to learn some metal bumping

Bill

next question i have about bondo is it seems that some people are having problems painting afterwards, with the bondo area showing up. It seems that most are saying to block sand it, is that all i have to do or should i use a thicker primer as well?

Yep,
You can hone your metal working skills on these pieces and get it close.... then,
finish it off with the newer materials to skim coat it.
There's a little paperback book called
"The Key to Metal Bumping" by Frank Sargent. First in print in 1953, but it will guide you to better results.
Goes into "reading" the damaged area in order to determine how to start removing the damage; not just start banging on it.... I'll bet you can find it online somewhere..

mike