Bondo gone wrong. Why do they do it?

[brad131a4]

Well after about 5 years of wondering what was going on with the back end of my car I finally broke down and took the plunge. I grabbed my 7" grinder with a 36 grit flap wheel and just started grinding away above my passenger rear wheel. Well after about 30 seconds I had to grab my respirator as the bondo was just flying off the car at a nice clip. After I finally hit metal I had a nice little valley about 3/4 of a inch deep bondo ravine. I kept on going and it feathered out to the back edge of the door to the back side of the wheel well up to the top edge and over to the boot hook. I found out it was even worse on the drivers side. They had patched the rear quarter panel by pop riveting it on and then knocking it in about a inch and then filling it up with bondo. Don't get me wrong I knew at the time that I got it that there was a little body work that had been done to it I just wasn't expecting it to be this bad. If I knew how to post pics I'd take a few for visual effect but probably wouldn't be to great as the worst has already been ground off. Glad I decided to keep the rear quarter panels from the 74 I cut up as they will come in handy to correctly fix the rear of my car now. Some people just need to just put the can of bondo down and just walk away and save the rest of us the headache of fixing their mess. I think I took off enough to coat the whole spider an 1/8 of an inch or more. What a waste of product and a fairly nice paint job that was on the car. Sorry just felt like ranting a bit.

[wachuko]

Ouch... why some folks do it... I don't know... a fast and easy way to make it look good again... but finding and using new/used metal is not that difficult.

At least you will do it the right way.

[mdrburchette]

Laziness? Because they don't know any better? Being married to a bodyman, I can spot a repair from 3 miles away, in the dark and through pouring rain. We call wavy bodywork "happy" panels. Sorry you ran into that mess.

[katsi]

Unfortunatly, It sounds like some of my past repairs. I have been known to fill in large portions of cut out rusted areas by shaping pannels out of that foam in a can and then use a few layers of fiberglass to smooth it out (back to the old surfboard days). On my old scout, those pannels lasted for over 10 years. Could still be good for all I know. Hay, you go with what you know. I have some FOAM parts on my Fiat right now. Not to mention, I started with the fiberglass last night. Oh, and I need to get another can of FOAM as I have a couple of more parts to make. Good luck with that though. I hope you get it fixed right. Body work is SO expensive.

Hay, anybody got any tips on feathering in?

[jfrawley]

Or maybe it's all someone wanted, or could afford, to put into the car at that point. There is something to be said for getting a car to a point where it looks pretty good, is very reliable, and can be driven and enjoyed for what it is. I know because I have one of those, and me and my "happy" panels enjoy the hell out of one another.

[MJSSpider2K]

I have seen all the quick bondo fixes out there..at least I thought I had until I put the grinder to the inner rockers on my spider and discovered that they PO basically used bondo and window screen to "mold" the appearance of rockers. At least body work is not structural! Needless to say I have not driven the car much since then.

Pictures of your discovery are always appreciated.

[katsi]

I

PO basically used bondo and window screen to "mold" the appearance of rockers

Dude, that's really quite cool when you think about it. bondo alone would most likely have cracked and fallen off. But, by using the window screen, the PO gave it a fiberglassed effect. Kinda like putting re-bar mesh in cement. How long did it take you to notice?

[2ndwind]

Back yard bondo guys often don't realize that bondo is hydrophilic (loves water). Fiberglass and its resins are hydrophobic (water repelling). Thus using fiberglass on dry old rusty areas will last a long, long time. Using bondo to fill and feather works on top of roughed up fiberglass as long as it is primed and sealed with the topcoat.

[spidernut]

I feel your pain. I had a similar experience when I owned a 68 Ford Ranchero. I knew it had been repaired (very poorly I might add). I took a drill to the worst spot and sunk it in clear up to the drill chuck. After taking a chisel to it, It was 3-4 inches thick. I knocked out the dent and had about a 1/8-1/4 inch layer over a much smaller area. Thankfully, I took sculpture in college...it trained me to work very well with Bondo! Anyone need a scuplture of Michaelangelo's David in Bondo?

Good thing you kept those spare parts. Now you can fix it correctly.

[MJSSpider2K]

I

PO basically used bondo and window screen to "mold" the appearance of rockers

Dude, that's really quite cool when you think about it. bondo alone would most likely have cracked and fallen off. But, by using the window screen, the PO gave it a fiberglassed effect. Kinda like putting re-bar mesh in cement. How long did it take you to notice?

Until I removed the outter rocker covers and put my foot through the bondo. The screen was simply there to give the shape.