Hey guys thought I'd share with you my latest project on my 78 Spider. I've had this hole is my fender since I bought the car and this last weekend I finally tackled it. Found out that body work is just a matter of patience and preparation, anyways enjoy and I hope everyone that had a long weekend enjoyed themselves. Rob

Good job

Excellent! That stuff scares the crap out of me.

Nicely done. Just one small suggestion.........................................perhaps next time you could hang the paper so that we can all see the sales

What were the products you used? Was the first paint a rust preventative / encapsulator? Was that short hair fiberglass or just filler? Thanks

Yea so I sanded it down and then used a rust encapsulator as the first coat. After that I had purchased a all in one box from Canadian Tire. It contained everything you needed to do a small job including what looked like a metal mesh that you pressed into the first coat of Bondo. The kit included the sandpaper the spreader primar and glaze. Then I did some research and found my cars color was cherry red, could not find it so I used Dura-color Victory Red as a replacement. I still need to do some wet sanding but at 10 feet she looks pretty good. Think that next winter I'll attempt to paint the rest of the car Cheers Rob

So does that process last? If you were to do a complete respray as you plan, would you go back and redo this or is this a long term solution.
I confess that I am not at all familiar with newer techniques for dealing with rust; but when I used to have to deal with it many years ago, the only real solution was to cut the rusted area out and weld in new panels, or replace the entire panel. I'm not at all trying to rain on your parade, but rather, having grown up in the 60's I find too often that I'm way out of touch.
Cheers,
Jim

Pretty much this repair will last as long as the rust has been stopped, that said there is also the chance the bondo will flake off in time, but in reality why spend $4000 on a proper restoration on the entire car when the value of the car is only $5000 to $6000 fully restored. I had a buddy that had a 74 Nova and he got into a bit of a fender bender and this piece of bondo actually fell off the car where he got hit, according to the records on the car it had never been in any kind of accident the bondo was actually from factory in 74. Anyways the project it was fun and that is what matters when we work on our cars is to have fun. Cheers Rob

i bought my 01 taurus last year and it had some damage in the rear "bumper on bumper action"
but i didnt notice the dr door had some filler.over the winter some water made it in the backside and rust started growing.
this caused the bondo to raise and crack,letting more water in.soon i had a cracked mountain of bondo
i have hacked it down with 24 grit sandpaper and 400 to smooth then a rust inhibeter then prime
this is the point im at now but soon ill use some glazing putty and smooth it then prime and wet sand then paint
the paint i need is a ford color b4 "chessnut"so yesterday i went to the body shop supply and ordered paint $24.21
for a rattle can "single stage"the test spot looks good but dont shine like the old

joe

good thread chico

Nice job! I think this sort of repair is ok as its not a structural area. I don't have access to a welder, so I've repaired small holes on my rear wheel arches like this. I did first fill them with JB weld then used some good body filler to make the repair flat.

i paid $100 for my little "only"welder im told its perfect for body work
i used it to weld up a ramp for my trailer
by far im no expert.i just thought i should have it