Hey guys I am starting to do repairs on my truck and there is a fairly large dent in the left hand corner of the back of the truck right on the corner of the bed. I have no way to tap it out. This is my first shot at body work in general. I plan on fully repairing all of the dings on the vehicle by sanding down to bare metal then applying bondy and sanding it back and then primering the whole truck. Can the same process be done to the corner of the bed even though it is a large dent maybe a golf ball size as long as I take it to the bare metal?

I am in the Marines and the truck is at my home not where i work/live. I only have alittle bit of time to work on it between home and wor so I plan don doing this in parts. I am planning on doing the roller method of painting it which i know if very controversial and I dont want this to turn into a pros and cons of that method. But do you guys think there would be an issue with me primering and then letting the primer sit on the vehicle a while before I am able to paint? would that hurt the primer in anyway as long as I use a degreaser and clean the surface well before starting the actual painting?

Thanks so much for yalls help. I have learned SO much from you guys in the last couple of weeks.

 

From what people have told me, and I'm certainly no body man, filling a dent the size of a golf ball with bondo isn't a good idea. There are various methods of getting a lot of the dent out, such as welding a copper stud to it or just running a screw in it and pulling most of it out. You won't get it all out because the metal has stretched and it isn't going to come back flat. But, you should be able to get a lot of it out and then fill the remainder with a good quality filler. And, speaking of that, a true body man recommended I use Evercoat's Z-Grip.

 

Hey, Wiggles,

There's some pretty good info in the Sticky of the Body & Paint forum here :

Paint & Bodywork - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

 

Letting primer age and weather for very long is not conducive to good adhesion of the topcoat. If you do it be sure to clean well and then sand the primer back some to get better adhesion with the topcoat.

 

whisler do you think it would be ok if I let it sit under a tarp for the majority of the time and only for 6 or less months? And then cleaned it and sanded it back?

 

Wigglesdabum, I have a few things to add. First off, You can let it sit in primer so long as you sand and put a fresh coat of primer on before you paint. Be advised that moisture will get through primer eventually (primer is not paint). That being said, after taking it down to bare metal, I would put two coats of epoxy primer on it first (to seal the metal). They say that next to powder coating, epoxy primer is the next best thing. You can then do your bondo or skim coat. Then put some build primer on it and sand, and repeat, depending on how smooth the body is. As far as the dent, I took mine to the body shop and had them do the repairs that I did not want to attempt (rusted cab corner, dent in passenger rear bed corner). I am doing the rest of the body work myself. I have some pictures of my progress here; https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...build-log.html
I also belong to a paint forum here; SPI User Forums
and they are a wealth of knowledge too. Here is the site of the primer that I am using; Home

I hope some of this info helps, and thanks for your service.

 

Wigglesdabum: Grubbworm has it right. As long as you sand the primer back and put on a fresh coat you will be fine. Whatever you do, don't leave "epoxy primer" exposed to the sun, it will chalk badly and even with sanding will cause poor adhesion of whatever you put over it. Use the epoxy primer, then apply some other type of primer over it. Once that is dry keeping it covered with a tarp should be fine.

 

So do most guys do the body work and the priming and painting all on the same day? I appreciate the info guys.

 

Not the epoxy primer that I am using. Here is a link; Product Lines


Whether you do it all in the same day is really up to you, how fast you can get it done, and how long your day is. I am not doing it all in one day. It will take me quite a while, as I am doing it in my spare time and as the money becomes available. Good luck with your project, and post plenty of pictures.

 

Do you guys think the best thing to do would be to bondo and then just spot prime so it doesnt rust. Then later go back and do the whole vehicle in primer and sand it down before I do the work? Do you think there would be any issues with that?

 

Personally, I would epoxy prime before I bondo, even if you did it in spots. Once the metal is sanded and you put 2 coats of epoxy primer on it, it will be sealed against rust. I would then do the bondo over that (less chance of any moisture getting under the bondo and causing rust). Once you have the bondo where you want it, I would primer again and sand till you get it how you want it. I have done my truck in stages, but I have had to sand and prime several times (and again, and again). I am hoping to get it good enough so that the guy (whomever it is) that paints it will have minimal work to do, besides putting the final coat of primer on and painting.

 

Grubbworm: I followed the link and saw nothing about excessive exposure to sunlight on that epoxy primer. I used to be a paint chemist and although my field was architectural paints, I know that true epoxy primers have great adhesion and great solvent and water resistance, but they have terrible UV (sunlight resistance) and they will chalk in the sunlight. The chalking doesn't cause them to lose adhesion but makes it very difficult for paint to adhere to the epoxy. Remember all the cases of peeling metallic paints in the '80's & 90's? They were caused by the use of an epoxy primer combined with a metallic topcoat that didn't have enough pigment in it to stop UV penetration. The sunlight UV caused the underlying epoxy to chalk and that caused the topcoat metallic to lose adhesion and come off.
Now I'm not suggesting that a few days or weeks will cause that kind of chalking in the present case, but 6 months will. That's why I agreed with normal primer over the epoxy or tarping it.

 

So I thought about it alittle more and read everything yall had to say. Do yall think after i do the body work by sanding, fill in the bondo , and prime. Should i put some regular rustoleum spray paint over the primer just to protect the bondo and primer since i am going to sand it off later before I put in my overall prime right before the actual painting? Sorry for the questions I just need some clarification. The vehicle will remain tarped till I get finished on it.

 

Heres the thing epoxy then bondo then epoxy to seal the bondo and metal sence you will be sanding off the primer on the high sides of the dent then fill primer for to fill sand scratches on the surface
Remember dondo is not to be very thick it will shrink and crack
Try to pull them if all possible
When painting all dark colors will show all the imperfections