Bondo and bodywork

I just finished the first couple layers of glass for my roll pan.  I have made a few F.G. speaker boxes in my past, but I have never done body work with it.  After glass, what is the next step with body filler?  I assume bondo is the way to go, but I also know there is a science to sanding and more sanding.... (IE: grit of sandpaper, layers, etc)   What are the steps for bondo application after fiberglassing?  Any must have tools, or brands?  Thanks!

Do a search. Any body filler will work, however the majority of people are going to say "RAGE GOLD XTREME" but it is a matter of preference. The rage gold is easier to sand. If you are wanting something nice go to a Sherwin-Williams Auto Paint store. Tell them what you are doing and they will sale you everything you need.

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Duke Duke

Every one says bondo is *THE* filler but rage gold produce a very good product, its just preference, sand paper to rough sand back the filler would be like 36-40 grit then like a 80 or 100 grit, refill the inperecetions and go a grade lighter in sandpaper and repeat unill a smooth finish is obtained, many people prefer differnt sanding methods

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I have heard great things about rage gold. However, they don't sell it where I'm at (san antonio) so you may be out of luck with that one. I have found that bondo professional works great...better than regular bondo that is. When you get to sanding, you are going to want to knock down alot of bumps and ridges with low grit (40 works best for this stage) then hit it with 60, 150, 220, apply spot glazing putty, then sand that with 320. After that I normall jump to 800 then apply high build primer. Other people do it differently working their way up higher but I just don't have time most of the time. It takes time to get to the point where you are happy but patience will turn out better.

Understand that the Rage Gold is made by Evercoat and can be bought from any Car Quest autoparts store.  If the do not have it in stock, you can have them order it from one of their specialty paint stores.  You will also need to buy Evercoats metal glaze to get it as smooth as metal.  The Metal glaze is almost as liquidy as a malt liquor.   I just got through finishing a customers box on Monday and used the products before the primer fill and Base coat clear coat paint.  Good luck and take your time.  If you get frustrated just walk away because you will most likely creat more work for yourself if you don't.  Use sand paper like listed above.  Hope it helps!

Chris

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Xessive Audio Concepts

XessiveCivic wrote:

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Good luck and take your time.  If you get frustrated just walk away because you will most likely creat more work for yourself if you don't. 

Chris

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Ah, such words of wisdom. . I have done that numerous times in the past and regreted it later. I'll have to try carquest. I went everywhere...Advance, Autozone, Pepboys, NAPA; noone has even heard of it. So I ended up buying Bondo professional gold, worked for me, but I gotta try that rage gold

Hmm, interesting. I really would'nt say there is no best product. Almost any body filler product is going to be good. The crucial thing is the proper mixture with hardener.

I usually use feather-rite. Not sure which company makes it...  I was taught a rule of thumb for every golf ball size of filler, 1 inch of consistent hardener. Give it a nice mixing up, and make sure everything looks uniform. The color(depening on which hardener you are using) should'nt look too cold or too hot.

Apply the filler over a given area, and make sure to really press the first pass in. (Give you good adhesion) Make sure your spreader matches all the contours of the material to be filled. Give it a nice 20-25 minutes before you sand or apply more. If you put more than a golf ball on at a time the drying to will be longer. If your not sure just feel it is tacky.

Once you finish what you wanted to fill, get to sanding! (Although, I got to say this. If you put on more than an 1/8th of an inch of filler, you are going to be at high risk of the filler falling off and/or making cracks through the paint) Usually, I will take a 40 grit, no more no less, for my first. Work out the high spots, any bumps, etc. Just the large and noticable imperfections. Do not try digging out any of the little pinholes if there are any. Once you are satisfied, go to an 80 grit. Keep on working it with this as often as you can until you just barely have what you are looking for. If you were going to go for the smooth as a babys ass, use 180 grit. I really dont go with anymore higher grit than this. Once you primer, base and clear it, any scratches or imperfections get filled.

Well, I just wanted to write my own guide in and enlighten some of you. In reality though, this is the same method I use on cars in the body shop. It works fine. You dont want to spend all your time using 1000 grit when the paint would have looked good when you stopped using 80...

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hex0rz wrote:

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(Although, I got to say this. If you put on more than an 1/8th of an inch of filler, you are going to be at high risk of the filler falling off and/or making cracks through the paint)

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If you are going to be building anything that needs 1/8th inch body filler, you aren't using the right stuff. You need to fill low spots with kitty hair (bondo hair) it is fiberglassed re-inforced body filler...especially with body work. I recently extended a body kit 4 inches down and only had to use two thin coats of bondo to finish it. I find that it saves time to give it a quick hit with 180 and higher grit, but, it all depends on the high build you are spraying.

If you ask me any brand will do. It is all in the amount of hardener you use. Also if you really want to save alot of sanding go over it at about the halfway dry period with a 40 grit sandpaper to smooth out what you want before it hardens and get the bumps out..

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40 grit has saved my life sometimes =[

wow u guys r crazy if you think that an 1/8th inch of bondo will chip... if its applied wrong it will crack and chip off.. but when done correctly it works fine.. you should be applying that much every time before you sand.. if not.. you must be spending alot of time adding filler.. then sanding and adding more filler again..

any product is good... i use evercoat materials like duraglass and the metal glaze.. i use good old fashion bondo from walmart as a medium filler.. the others r bought from the local redshaw paint supply... for a high build primer dont get cheap and buy some shhh from walmart.. go to the local paint supply and buy the a dupont high build or a quik prime as they r both high build primers and work very well...  i don't recommend getting cheap because if your going to paint your project this is the beginning step of the paint process and everything else you do builds off of it... me and my friends won't touch anything but dupont products.. they may cost alil bit more than some things but they r very good products.. however many people like house of kolor or PPG products.. to each their own.. just don't buy the cheapest thing to save money.. make sure its the right stuff!!!!!

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S.O.B custsoms.. South Omaha, Nebraska

Alright, I said this before and I'll say it again. Do not lay 1/8th inch thick body filler on body work. Your sub boxes fine, but you start slapping that shhh on there as a means to fill gaps and spaces it'll start cracking.

mi_what wrote:

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Alright, I said this before and I'll say it again. Do not lay 1/8th inch thick body filler on body work. Your sub boxes fine, but you start slapping that shhh on there as a means to fill gaps and spaces it'll start cracking.

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my question to u is this: when you lay down body filler how thick of a layer do u leave??? it may be an 1/8th of an inch thick at first but u forget that your probably going to be sanding most of that off... i never said to fill gaps with it.. but you'd be surprised by how well it will fill some gaps that big...

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S.O.B custsoms.. South Omaha, Nebraska

My first layer will be 1/16th at most, When using fiberglass for body work I always use kitty hair jsut for that extra strength. Then, it takes time but I sand the shhh out of that until it itself is smooth enough to primer over then use body filler almost like spot glazing putty. The first time I ever did body work was on a 1968 GMC stepside when I was 15 and made the mistake of using lots of bondo by to fill some of the gaps and it all fell apart, since then I've used the kitty hair. I just don't agree with using bondo heavily for body work, thats all, not trying to put your ideas down or anything.