Well, today, I started trying to smooth out all of the welded areas I have created on the truck. I started with the front end, and even though I have used it before, I decided now, that I despise bondo. It is never easy to work with, getting the mixture just right, so it doesnt harden up too fast is a pain in the a$$, and I can never get it to go on as smooth as I would like. Maybe it has something to do with all of the bondo I had to take off from the P.O. and repair the correct way. I dont know, I just thought I would vent a little. I'm covered in Bondo dust, and a long way from finished!

Ben

 

When I did a frame off resto on my 53 ****** Jeep, I put 5 gallons of Bondo on it. Bad part was, I probably sanded at least 3 of them back off
It's all part of restoring one of these old trucks, get used to it

 

Body work is my least favorite thing to do when it comes to hot rodding. I like doing all the mods and stuff, but I don't have the patience for body work. I think the perfectionist in me hates the time consumption that decent body work requires. That being said, I think that is why my truck took so long to get to its current state...and I still see some imperfections...

 

I know the feeling. However, the smell of bondo is quite appealing.

PS: one dab of hardener per golfball size of bondo.

 

I can feel your pain. I have been doing the bondo work on my 56 for quite awhile now. I have just a bit more to do, then the bodywork is complete.

I felt as you do for the first month or so. There isn't anything in my garage that doesn't have a film of bondo dust on it. It really gets everywhere.

However, I suffer from the perfectionist thing also and while I have never felt I was a particularly patient person, I can tell you that the satisfaction of the finished product, knowing I did it myself, is truly beyond explanation. I just stare at it now and wonder how I did it.

You will learn a few helpful tricks as you go, such as:
1. Make sure you put enough on. Sanding an area down, only to find that there isn't enough on to do the whole section sucks. I was told that every rookie makes the same mistake: puts too much on, then sands too much off.
2. Stop sanding when you see the first hint of sheet metal showing through. If you sand it too much, there will be a ripple there, even though it feels smooth.
3. Do not hurry the job. Filling takes its own time.
4. Use a spreader that is plenty wide to do the area so that the top of the fill is fairly smooth. I used a piece of scrap door skin to spread my cab roof. Worked like a champ...the third time. The first two times were so irregular, I was just spinning my wheels trying to level it out.
5. Get one of the pallets covered in vellum (like a school tablet). You mix up a batch on there, then just tear that sheet off when done. (Great invention).
6. Bondo is cheap. Don't be afraid to wire brush it back out and do it over if the first attempt isn't right. You'll hate looking at that ripple under finish paint for years to come.
7. Clean your spreaders immediately after putting a batch on. I prefer the metal spreaders. I use a sanding sponge to sand them shiny after each batch. Nothing screws up a spreading job like dried bondo flakes on your spreader. I hate the plastic ones.
8. Wear a mask. The same film that gets on your stuff will get in your lungs. Not good.
9. Bondo really dries the skin out. Wearing rubber (latex) gloves keeps that soft supple skin that all the girls love. (LOL)

Happy sanding. Keep at it. It will grow on you.

 

I got one of those inline air sanders from HF. I can't wait to see what I can screw up with that. ..............RUSTY

 

Ahh. the smell of bondo on a warm summer morning. I had the big idea to save $400 and widen my rear fenders 3 inches instead of buying fiberglass ones.
Talk about a mess of bondo dust. But I got it.
Slow and easy is the key. It will come around.

 

Randy has some excellent advice! I'd like to add some more:
Use as large a sanding board as possible. 24-36" boards are not too long for larger panels. Make your own from 1/4" masonite or luan plywood with a short 1x2 block glued or screwed on edge to each end for handles. Size them to fit 1, 1-1/2 and 2 lengths of peel and stick sanding board sandpaper sheets from body shop supply stores. The moderate flexiblity of a 1/4" long board is good unless you are working on a very flat panel (almost every panel on a vehicle has some curvature to it no matter how flat it looks). Use 40 grit paper to knock down the major high spots then 80 grit to refine the area. Since you are making your sanding boards make a set for each grit to save constantly changing paper grit or the temptation to use the wrong grit since it's already on the board.

Sand on the diagonal. hold the board parallel to the long or horizontal direction, then push it on a 45* angle so you are sanding with the long side of the board leading, not the end. Alternate 45s as you refine the area (up and to the right then up and to the left). Sand away from a concave such as the flare around a fender opening, not parallel to it using a curved sanding block that closely matches the original shape.
NEVER sand with paper wrapped around your hand, ALWAYS use a block or board to avoid sanding in ripples. Panels are NEVER supposed to have finger ripples in them.

Work a large enough area well into the surrounding undamaged area! you should be sanding at least 8" beyond an area of filler smaller than your palm, and 12-16" beyond larger areas. A major mistake made by novices is to work only what they think is the edges of the damaged area. Carry the filler several inches beyond the immediate area then feather it away until you have bare smooth metal all around the patched area.

Let the sandpaper do the work and don't quit too soon. Avoid the temptation to press hard on the sanding board to try to make the sanding go quicker. All that does is cause the paper to load up and presses the filled area in as you sand. When you stop applying pressure the panel returns and you end up with a tattletail subtle bulge that doesn't become noticable until paint is applied. If the paper stops cutting without much more pressure than what is required to hold your board flat against the panel then it's time to change the paper. Paper is cheap, DON'T try to use it too long, change it.

Don't think of Bondo as the final surface, trying to get rid of every pinhole and sandpaper scratch in it. Filling should be done in a 3 layer method. First layer is the bondo, refine and feather the surface with 80 grit until there are no high spots and no low spots or imperfections deeper than 1/16" or so. The second layer should be a catalized polyester "spot putty" (I like Eurosoft) applied thinly (1/16-1/8") with as large an applicator as possible over the entire patch and carried out a couple inches beyond. This is the material you see on the car makeover shows being applied over entire panels. Block sand this with first 80 grit to just knock off the highest spots, then 120 paper to flatten and feather it. You should have sanded most of it away. The third layer is a high build 2 part primer sprayed on thickly or applied with a foam roller over the entire area. Follow the manufacturer's directions as to sanding time. Block sand this with 240 wet or dry paper used wet until you just start to see the spot putty color barely showing thru, and bare metal all around the edge. By this time you should have a perfectly smooth and feathered invisible patch ready for a couple coats of primer and guide coat wet block sanded smooth with 400 grit, but not cutting thru the primer, and you are ready for paint.

 

Unlike most of you--I prefer bodywork and paint over the mechanical side of it. I know you hate bondo--but most restorations need some at some point in time. Watch American Hot Rod---a bodyman will get covered with the dust.
Since I have become older-I am not as particular and that helps alot. I used to paint murals on cars and the surface had to be straight---usaually bondo! Today there are so many home garage car-buffs that want the perfect truck/car--till they do it themselves to save 1000s of dollars and realize--hey this is alot of work!!!BONDO--I LOVE IT!!!!!---Bill

 

My standards were always too high for my Bondo skills.

I always gave that task to the folks that weren't "Bondo Challenged" like me.

Then I realized..... All I need to do is lower my standards :-) :-) :-)

Actually, with some good mentoring, you can get pretty good in short order. But it still sucks as far as I'm concerned :-)

 

I don't mind doing mud work, I've slapped so much on and sanded so much off in my day job and swallowed and rolled around in enough dust. Theres certaintly things I struggle with and hate a lot more. Worked at two different places slapping filler on big fabricated yaht radar arches and parts, and most of the surface normally needed filler. Got pretty good with just a 8" orbital and board file. Gets you pretty good and comfortable working with filler. Even now, they fix some damaged semis hoods that are pretty bad and need a lot of fiberglass and filler work. I am alergic to bees though, and they really seem to like hanging around bondo dust.
Randy gave some good tips. Spread your filler a ways past the area that needs fill, and sand in x patterns, Use the largest block confortable to use, and try to sand the whole area until the edges feather out. I'll add, its easier to get things straight using a courser grit unless a small area. Don't worry about scratches and imperfections in the filler untill everything is straight. Once all is straight, then worry about pinholes or going over with a finer grit. or spread a thin or skim coat over the whole area. For thinner fill and skim coats, may want to spend the money on a 2k spot filler, spread and sand easy. Regular filler can also be thinned down some with polyester fiberglass resin adding the liquid hardener, but may be a little sticky till you cut the top. They also make a product called honey for this. I normally use evercoat lightweight filler, which is pretty cheap, but you often get what you pay for in filler, with the higher priced ones easier to work with in sand. Filler is not all that expensive anyways, and if it will save you work and sandpaper, a better one will quickly pay for itself. The neater you can spread your filler, the easier it will be on you. Everyone probably struggles a bit at first not having the feel and experience, but keep practicing and wearing out your arms, and soon enough things will begin to be easier on you, and you'll really cut down on time and sanding. Now, doing it so long, can usually get even larger areas straight and ready for primer in about two coats. DId some filling of handles and locks for a kid last weekend, and garage was tied up. Was in the 90's, and sure didn't take body filler long to kick. Welding on thin cavalier metal and only having a flux core welder isn't really a piece of cake either. I'll admit that wasn't all that much fun.

 

Good advice! been learning the hard way recently that no matter what, you need to get used to sanding!! it seems like it will never end, I picked up a set of durablocks on e-pay for cheap and the 36" works great on the large panels. Just my $.02

 

amen to finding a ''good'' bodyman, after I have hammered my cab to ''perfection'' I got an estimate of 3k to put the CAB in finish primer, I hope that maybe he just didn't want to do the job. I guess I know who is doing my bodywork now. good luck to all!!

 

That sounds like alot!!! I am sure you could do the job and learn the ins and outs at the same time!!I am near ready to primer a 56 cab soon and my wife would never let me spend that much cash to get it in finish primer!!!I have to do my own-LOL!!!Bill

 

I suspect that after seeing all the fine work you have done on it, he realized he would have to be just as much of a perfectionist as you are and that was way beyond his skill level...