The trunk lid that Bondo built.

[Robert Smith]

Hey ya guys, it’s been a few months since my last visit here… I’ve been doing well, just been kinda crazy as of late.

Well, a good friend of mine came to visit from New York, he’s a proud owner of a ’39 Plymouth Road King… great little car he has!

On Thursday, we went to a hardware store and bought a few things… we got back to the house and we took off the trunk latch, plate frame and emblem to my '46 P-15. Started up the electric grinder and started to take all the paint and old bondo off. There was a lot of cracking in the old paint… we looked around the area where the latch/lock was… around the holes you could see just how much bondo was on the trunk in that area! It was amazing! About a quarter inch of bondo was on there! We also saw the original primer, then the original chevron blue… then, bondo, primer and then paint. No wonder that paint job cracked all up! We took it all the way down to bare metal… we then saw that there was some rust where the cracks in the paint were thus, leaving crack marks in the metal just as it looked on the paint… kinda like how if one would shave a Zebra, you’d still see the same stripes on their skin… hahahahahaha. So, we sanded that good and then dusted it off and prepped it for new body filler.

We applied the bondo in the proper places, most of the top part of the lid didn’t even need bondo! The previous owners who repainted this car in the 70’s went crazy with bondo… crazy.

This morning, we applied a little more bondo and then we let it dry, then sanded it down then painted it up with some primer… that dried fast since it was getting hot! We then put all the hardware back on the lid so I could drive to work… the trunk came out really nice and will look even better once the whole car is painted. I will post before and after photos shortly so, stay tuned!

Take care guys, I’m so excited to get my car painted and finished up!

=R

[Dennis Hemingway]

Way to go, nice to hear from you again. I can't wait to see the photos sounds like your doing good.

Dennis:cool:

[greg g]

I just pulled a chunk of filler out of a hole in my Stude fender that was about 1 1/2 " thick. It must have weighed about 4 lbs. there was so much and so many coats that there was some layers that hadn't cured and you could still smell the hardener. Rather than Hammer and Dollie the fender back into a fasimile of it shape, who ever did it just kept puttin on layers of filler. I have reshaped the metal and there are some spots that will likely need over a 1/4 inch to get level, but no where near the amount that was there. I know that the fellow I got the truck from had it for nearly two years, and he got it from some one that had it foar at least a year. The hardener probably needs air to fully set, and it was covered up with other layers, but in all my years of fooling with cars and body work I had never seen anything quite like this. The piece I took out intact covered about half the bottom of the trash can I dumped it into.

[Robert Smith]

OMG... that's CrAzY!!! And I thought I had a lot of bondo on my trunk lid hahahaha... just goes to show, you never know what evil lurks under the paint!

With my trunk lid, after we got all the filler off, the metal was kinda lumpy in most spots around where the latch and plate bracket sit... but, it was mostly all hammered out... some spots were too high, we hammered those down. I recall before we started the work, the trunk lid had a hard time staying up... the springs seemed to be tired... well, now we fixed it right, and used the proper amount of bondo, the trunk lid seems to stay up better when open... hahahahahaha... there was a lot of filler on it I guess!

Well, next step is to go down to Redlands and have my hood swapped out with the spare I have... now, that spare I have has a bit of bondo on it too... it is straighter then the one on my car right now however... so, we'll take that down to bare and see what we're dealin' with... then, put it on the car and drive it down to the 1day Paint & Body on Holt in Pomona and let them have at it! They originally quoted me $1,774.00 for the car as it was... now, I'm sure it's going to be less since my buddies and I have done some of our own work.

Photos will come some time tomorrow or later tonight.

=R

[55 Fargo]

Used to know a couple of guys had a Bodyshop in Yucaipa, J&R Autobody, that was years ago, but I remember they did nice work, they were friends of a relative of mine down in that area. Using bondo to a 1/4 inch is repspectable, or even up to 3/8, but a n inch and a half, whew, now thats just being to much in a hurry to care

[Normspeed]

Hi Rob, just got your voicemail. Glad to hear Jenny is continuing to be pampered. Sounds like your friend is the sparkplug for this part of the job. Did either of you guys do bodywork before this? I'm envious, where I live serious paint/bodywork is out of the question. That will need to wait til retirement.

If you want a second opinion on shooting some paint, check with Darin on this forum (its heaven in a 47). I saw his P15 a couple weeks ago and it looked like a good solid job. I believe he dealt with the local Maaco shop. I'll attach a pic.

[randroid]

Gents,

While sanding the roof of my '48 P-15 I found a place with about 1\8" of Bondo and didn't realise how well my life was going. A square foot of the original filler fell out before I got the car but there is still some around the edges, which makes me think the part that fell out was not prepped well because what's left is sticking well.

I've used Bondo on bare metal but would like an experienced opinion on how to blend new filler into old, or if I should simply remove it all and start over. I can sand it to give the new application plenty of tooth and if I find no rust would I be safe and apply some?

Somebody mentioned a piss-coat of Bondo in a past thread but I don't recall if they primered the bare metal first, nor if the piss-coat was thinned in any way when layed on.

Sorry if this note is rambling but I've had my ass kicked the last several days at work and have set a new level of sober sleepy in order to write this.

-Randy

[55 Fargo]

I am no expert, but if you can try and grind/sand out the old filler, especially if it's bond is an issue. If not roughen up, with say 80 grit, then lay on some fresh filler. Smooth it out and feather as per usual.Or if you like you can spray on some primer, if you are in no hurry, go with Rustoleum primer, reduced with auto enamel reducer, about 15 to 30 %, but this needs to cure about 3 weeks, before you can work over it. Or you can use lacquer based primer/surfacer, or urethane based primer ie PPG K36 or epoxy primer DP 40, these primers will need to be roughed up first before the filler is laid on it for best adhesion.I have left some old filler on my car, with no problems

[Robert Smith]

In my case, we had to get down to bare and rid it of all old filler. The cracking in the paint was very bad, and after we sanded it all down, we saw that the markings of the cracks transfered onto the metal! If we left any old filler, it would have just made things worse in this case I am sure.

The guys who repainted this car in the 70's didn't do it right so, we had to suffer for their work. Oh well, this way it will look so much better and will last a lot longer.

=R

[steveplym]

I would always remove the old filler. You never know what is under that filler or how the surface was prepared before it was put on. I myself would sand the car with a DA with about 80 grit and the new filler will adhere with those scratches well.

Personally I've had bad experiences with lacquer primer in the past. It sands real easy, but does not have much filling characteristics. Use an epoxy primer before final finish.

I have had really good luck with fill primers that come with a hardener. They work really well before top coat, but are pricey. A good epoxy primer such as Evercoat is priced fair and is a good primer.