Body Work Time!!!!
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Body Work Time!!!!
ok so its starting to get cold outside, and no one is going to be at the car meets on the weekends anymore. Its now time to hide in my garage still spring. This is the best time for me to work on all the body work i have ahead of me.
Now the back story. My 49 was abused a little bit by its owner and drunken wife. They use to get into fights all the time, she would go get the baseball bat and practice her hitting skills on the truck. My cuz bought the turck and started doing alot of body work on it( most of the dents are in the rear fenders). He managed to get most of the dents out of the fenders, now all they need is a nice layer of body filler to clean them up.
My question is can i lay body filler over bare metal without the worry of it later down the road chipping off. I have been doing some reading and it seems that its a good idea to spray the body panels with a layer of epoxy sealer before laying body filler. I first of all am in college i dont have the money to take them out and spray them with a sealer nor do i have a gun to do it my self. Can i just lay the body filler over the metal with out worry of bad things down the road? If there is some other cheep ideas that will work im open to suggestions or what people think about my question.
kyle
Now the back story. My 49 was abused a little bit by its owner and drunken wife. They use to get into fights all the time, she would go get the baseball bat and practice her hitting skills on the truck. My cuz bought the turck and started doing alot of body work on it( most of the dents are in the rear fenders). He managed to get most of the dents out of the fenders, now all they need is a nice layer of body filler to clean them up.
My question is can i lay body filler over bare metal without the worry of it later down the road chipping off. I have been doing some reading and it seems that its a good idea to spray the body panels with a layer of epoxy sealer before laying body filler. I first of all am in college i dont have the money to take them out and spray them with a sealer nor do i have a gun to do it my self. Can i just lay the body filler over the metal with out worry of bad things down the road? If there is some other cheep ideas that will work im open to suggestions or what people think about my question.
kyle
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Joined: Jun 2007
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From: North Carolina
NO---you need to get this as clean as possible. sanding, sandblasting, etc. before priming the metal. Do not put bondo on bare metal. I am just starting this process. so let the smarter guys/gals walk you through this. Have done some in my younger years, so learn more from the experienced folks.
Mike
Mike
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ok so is there spray cans of primers i can get so i can lay over it? I mean the metal is bare there isnt anything on it, so can i just spray over it or what someone walk me though what i can do then?
Post Fiend
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 7,641
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From: Poway, Ca.
HI Kid,
This seems to be one of those subjects that has as many opinions as solutions. And I'm sure I'll get a few rubukes on what I'm about to say, but, it works for me - and for a very long time.
I've restored about 10 vehicles and do all my own body work - the old fashioned way - by hand. A few things I've found out and can pass on.
First, unless you chemically treat rusted areas, they will continue to disintegrate a little under your bondo and may thius come loose. But if you media blast, you can blow away half of your sheet metal.
Bondo is a mixture of epoxy and talc. The epoxy is a very stron adhesive and the talk makes it easy to file and sand. But it is only as perminent at the piece you bond it to.
Rusty areas MUST be sealed with a rust "converter" such as POR-15 to stop it from continuing. I haven't used the POR -15 but hear it is a fantastic product.
Myself, I sand the rust or metal as much as possible to both clean it and rough it up for adhesion. I will aslo use "Naval Jelly" rinsed with water on some of those hard to get rust holes. Then I completely coat an affected area with Rustoleum rusted metal primer. At this stage you can put it on with a brush - you'll have to sand it eventually, but the thicker brush coat will help at this stage.
But this is really imortant. Rustoleum preventive primers and paint do the job because they contain certain fish oils. Epoxy doesn't like oil. So after you put the primer on, you need to let it dry for a while - like two weeks so it is good and solid. I lightly sand it as much as possible after 24 hours to help it cure and breathe. Also this will help it dry out.
Then you can put your bondo over it. For your first coat of bondo, put a very thin coat on and mix it with very little catalyst. That will give it time to "burn" into the primer and bond with it (epoxy is acetone based and will burn into a primer).
Then sand it to shape. You can then put what is required to fill as necessary. In cold weather I would let the bondo cure for at least 24 hours. But, never let it stay exposed for too long. The talc absorbs both moisture and oils - for example if you have a gas water heater in your garage, the gas generates a resudue that the bondo will absorb - and if it does, paint won't stick to it very long.
Shape and sand the bondo as soon as it is hard and dry. Then prime it with a laquer based primer. Laquer is hard, solid and sands nicely. It comes in spray cans as well. The rustoleum automotive primer in the cans is laquer based. You can not leave the Rustoleum primer exposed to your auto paint - you need to apply a good automotive laquer base primer over it. Let the paint shop do that
Before you paint, sand all the old primer, apply a new laquer primer coat over the entire vehicle then paint it within 72 hours.
I have a 55 F-100 that I did this to in 1979 and I haven't lost one patch or had one rust problem.
Good luck,
Julie
PS This is very important! If you have done any welding or brazing for your body work. You absolutly MUST ensure all the flux is off those welds before you bondo or prime. Even the smallest bit of it will cause blisters. There is an acid etch that Dupont makes that yo can wash your bare metal off with as a pinte prep that will wash off the flush and help etch your metal for better adhesion!
This seems to be one of those subjects that has as many opinions as solutions. And I'm sure I'll get a few rubukes on what I'm about to say, but, it works for me - and for a very long time.
I've restored about 10 vehicles and do all my own body work - the old fashioned way - by hand. A few things I've found out and can pass on.
First, unless you chemically treat rusted areas, they will continue to disintegrate a little under your bondo and may thius come loose. But if you media blast, you can blow away half of your sheet metal.
Bondo is a mixture of epoxy and talc. The epoxy is a very stron adhesive and the talk makes it easy to file and sand. But it is only as perminent at the piece you bond it to.
Rusty areas MUST be sealed with a rust "converter" such as POR-15 to stop it from continuing. I haven't used the POR -15 but hear it is a fantastic product.
Myself, I sand the rust or metal as much as possible to both clean it and rough it up for adhesion. I will aslo use "Naval Jelly" rinsed with water on some of those hard to get rust holes. Then I completely coat an affected area with Rustoleum rusted metal primer. At this stage you can put it on with a brush - you'll have to sand it eventually, but the thicker brush coat will help at this stage.
But this is really imortant. Rustoleum preventive primers and paint do the job because they contain certain fish oils. Epoxy doesn't like oil. So after you put the primer on, you need to let it dry for a while - like two weeks so it is good and solid. I lightly sand it as much as possible after 24 hours to help it cure and breathe. Also this will help it dry out.
Then you can put your bondo over it. For your first coat of bondo, put a very thin coat on and mix it with very little catalyst. That will give it time to "burn" into the primer and bond with it (epoxy is acetone based and will burn into a primer).
Then sand it to shape. You can then put what is required to fill as necessary. In cold weather I would let the bondo cure for at least 24 hours. But, never let it stay exposed for too long. The talc absorbs both moisture and oils - for example if you have a gas water heater in your garage, the gas generates a resudue that the bondo will absorb - and if it does, paint won't stick to it very long.
Shape and sand the bondo as soon as it is hard and dry. Then prime it with a laquer based primer. Laquer is hard, solid and sands nicely. It comes in spray cans as well. The rustoleum automotive primer in the cans is laquer based. You can not leave the Rustoleum primer exposed to your auto paint - you need to apply a good automotive laquer base primer over it. Let the paint shop do that
Before you paint, sand all the old primer, apply a new laquer primer coat over the entire vehicle then paint it within 72 hours.
I have a 55 F-100 that I did this to in 1979 and I haven't lost one patch or had one rust problem.
Good luck,
Julie
PS This is very important! If you have done any welding or brazing for your body work. You absolutly MUST ensure all the flux is off those welds before you bondo or prime. Even the smallest bit of it will cause blisters. There is an acid etch that Dupont makes that yo can wash your bare metal off with as a pinte prep that will wash off the flush and help etch your metal for better adhesion!
