joshh44

howdy all.
i was repainting my car in the summer. anyways as i was sanding. i found some bondo. it seems like the last owner just coverd up rust with it...
anyways. i was going to fix it but i got to lazy and just primered over top of it. im about haalf way of primering it and i rather just go back and fix what i need to be done.

so here is some photos that i took of car where there is bondo.


This is the Driver side Door handle. its all around the keywhole. and also its all around the handle as well.


This is the driver side front fender. its on the back of the fender. there was that little plastic strip that was on there.


i believe this is bondo unless this is the primer they used at the factory. but since i was sanding the car. the primer was grey.... this is the passenger side rear. its on the quarter pannel by the hatch window.(coverd in snow) its just above the rear quarter spoiler.




and this is a nice big dent in the door. and it travels up to the bottom of the quarter pannel abit.

im wondering what to do about the door with the big scrap dent.
would like to get a fiberglass door skin for both sides. but i dont have the money for that at the moment.
would it be better if i tryed to pound out the dent and fill it with bondo? and how do you pop out the quarter fender where the scrape dent ends?? or should i just fill it up with body the way it is??

and how think can you put on bondo safely? i dont want it to crack. ill try my best to pop out the dends as much as possible. but i was thinking for the rust the last owner tryed to cover up with bondo? i was thinking of just grinding it off. im hoping its just surface rust. and not all the way threw.

TheMutt

well you are basically asking how to do body work. I'd say it's time to take it to a shop if you want it to look perfect. otherwise just look through all the other posts, or go to the book store or online and look for a good paint and body book.

as for the rust, you'll have to try and take all the rust off with grinding and/or wire brush.

Silver83

What you could do, IF you have the nessesary equipment is grind down the area around the dent so its all clean, bare metal. Then stud weld it, and pull the dent out as much as you can (work from the center out). Then you can spread body filler over it, sand it. When you think its perfect, guide coat it and sand it lightly to find your high/low spots.

Once it's all perfect, you'll be ready to paint. You won't even know it used to be there.

joshh44

oh ok thanks. i havnt had to fix a dent that big. and the way it shaped and whatnot.
ill try my best to make it look good.
im woundering how much do you think it would cost to get my car painted by a paint shop? but i did all the prep work and everything like that. they did the primer and paint.

TA In Progress

iTrader: (3)

The bondo around the door lock hole could be from a break-in repair. When people would break into these cars, they'd jam a screwdriver around the lock and pry it out. There is a tool (basically 2 steel dies connected by a bolt)that you can use to flatten this back out and then sometimes you have to use a bit of filler to get it perfectly smooth again.

joshh44

oh ok thanks.
ill give it a look sometime.
before i primered of it. it looked like they tryed to somewhat fix it. but i couldnt tell for sure.
ill probably pop the keylock off and take the handel off and just try to grind and brush the rust off. and just cover it up with some bondo. im hoping that once i put the keylock back in that it wont crack up the bondo around the keywhole. i guess i could put the keylock back in before i bondo it up. ill figure something out when i get that far.
i bought brand new door replacement handles from Ecklers camaro website.
mine are done. they are missing the small springs on them. so they just wobble and what not when you drive. its annoying hearing a rattling doorhandle.

anyways i believe thats just on the driver side. i havnt sanded down the passenger side of the car. so im hoping that side of the car is ok. besides the big scape dent.

is there any good tips on doing bondo? i havnt done bondo before but i used other filler stuff but not car bondo. what is the best bondo to get? fiberglass mixture type or just any regurlar bondo?

im told im a neat freak. i like things to look perfict. i guess i kinda am hehe. anyways ill probably spend a day on the door just sanding it trying to get everything perfictly flush with everything.
oh one last question. what is the max thickness of bondo you should use? like if there was a whole and you tryed to fill it up. is an 8th of an inch to thick?
just woundering if i come across any holes or deep creaters that would be that deep.

Silver83

You got go with the infamous Maaco paint job, $400, but it's not usually a very good paint job (as with everything, there ARE exceptions, but I haven't ever seen a good maaco paint job)



If you lived closer I'd paint it for you, but I don't think that's an option

joshh44

haha thanks for the offer :P
i just rememberd my dad just got good sprayguns for his birthday last year. so im thinking of just paintin it myself. i found out i can get some gloss black paint from the auto store for just under $200 to paint the whole car. but im thinking of doing maybe the bottom half black and maybe the top adifferent color.
i was reading a thread on here somewhere and they were showing paintjobs of different cars and i found this one that i really like.


im going to make an all out drag car and maybe it a father and son project. i just gotta talk to my dad into it haha.
im thinking of getting the fiberglass front clip with the 2 fenders and the bumper facia. found one for $600. i need a new frontend of my car anyways. i got rust on each fender under the ground effects. and inside the fender as well behind the wheel wells. and the frontend is all cracked and abit torn in places. and all bented and warped. i think its been in the sun to long for the front end to get abit warped and what not. its really flimsy it sucks. its not straight anymore haha. ok anyways.

ill probably leave the fenders alone for rightnow and just try and work on the doors. about the rust situation. if its really bad. how hard is to cut out the rusted section and welded in a piece of sheet metal i there?
maybe i can make something fancy and have like hidden door handles. im thinking to far ahead of my skills right now haha.
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totally forgot to add the photo of the paintjob of the car i like.
if its your car. i love the paint!