Thread: Do you ahve to BONDO the whole thing?

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Rebuilding an old 4 door belair. The body has some rust(just surface rust) and has a few small dings. I am an auto body TECH so it isnt a problem to fix the body. But i have a question. Should I grind all the paint off, down to the metal and put a think coat of Plastic(bondo) on the ENTIRE car, or should i just grind down the dented spots and bondo small areas? I figured it might be worth doin the whole car to take care of ALL and any low spots. What do you all think?

i have had to plaster a complete panel befor 2 get several low spots to dissapear, but if u dont get the metal straight enuff to begin with u wont get the waves gone. sometimes we lower our standards or spend more money. Ives Bradley rdhotfrd

Originally posted by Tacoma750
Rebuilding an old 4 door belair. The body has some rust(just surface rust) and has a few small dings. I am an auto body TECH so it isnt a problem to fix the body. But i have a question. Should I grind all the paint off, down to the metal and put a think coat of Plastic(bondo) on the ENTIRE car, or should i just grind down the dented spots and bondo small areas? I figured it might be worth doin the whole car to take care of ALL and any low spots. What do you all think?

Dont take this in the wrong way , but you are a body Tech and dont know how to go from start to finsh on a complete vehicle?

I would strip all the paint off (most likely lacquer if original or Acrylic Enamel if its been painted before)
With an 8" Mud Hog with 80 grit, this will help on keeping sand scratches to a minimum. Fix your damage , then prime with a good K2 primer , block sand with 180-220 grit, reprime and block down with 400-500 wet or dry.
The seal and spray with a good base coat/clear coat.

Have fun...........

SprayTech

Bondo should not be used as a base for your paint. The stuff was designed to take small ripples/rust marks out. For your base, use a double light coat of primer. Any bondo-ing should be done in thin amounts IE: less than 1/2 inch total. I personally feel bad about 1/4 of bondo. If you just smear the stuff on, youll find it falls off the first cold snap.

Ive never worked on classics before. So i dont know the way you all do it. Ive seen some guys(shops) bondo the whole car and sand it all down, gets ALL low spots. Ive also seen some guys(shops) just bondo the spots they can see by eye. So i wasnt sure, thats why i asked. As for bondo. 1/2 thick is WAY TO THICK. I only use a 1/4 if i REALLY need to. Thx for the help guys.

"Dont take this in the wrong way , but you are a body Tech and dont know how to go from start to finsh on a complete vehicle?

I would strip all the paint off (most likely lacquer if original or Acrylic Enamel if its been painted before)
with an 8" Mud Hog with 80 grit, this will help on keeping sand scratches to a minimum. Fix your damage , then prime with a good K2 primer , block sand with 180-220 grit, reprime and block down with 400-500 wet or dry.
The seal and spray with a good base coat/clear coat.''


i agree with evey thing exept i'd go down to bare metal and us a urathan based primer it fills in surface scatchs real good and builds up a good thick primer so you dont have to reprime when your wet sanding

just my 2 cents