Wanted: Tips on body work

teamliviD · Post by **teamliviD** » Thu May 31, 2007 10:40 pm

Over the last 3 years the neon has been in storage, and out side. Over that time she has sufferd many, and I mean alot, small dents and scratchs. I'm looking for some tips on how to do light body work. I'll be painting the car flat black soon after the body work is done just so she is one color and untill I can afford a real paint job. Thanks for the help!!

KrackstaR · Post by **KrackstaR** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 12:31 am

I can help you joe.

<---i do bodies...lol no homo.

teamliviD · Post by **teamliviD** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:33 am

Cool thanks!!

Hit me up something so we can chat! wink wink

J-Villa · Post by **J-Villa** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:51 pm

no flat black

TNK · Post by **TNK** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 2:48 pm

flamingpinhead · Post by **flamingpinhead** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 3:18 pm

instead of falt black, just leave it primered. (im assuming it wont be very long until its painted)

and post up any advice on bodywork you might find, i tried my hand at filling and such and it was a nightmare

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:37 pm

Don't, just live with it. Save yourself the headache until it actually needs some attention. I've learned the hard way that small dents are not worth the effort.

If you like trouble and really want to blow some money on the body, just remember this:

When you walk down the body supplies isle, walk right on past the bondo. Don't even look at it, it's not there, just a figment of your imagination. Keep walking. Bondo is the evil.

Make sure you hit up the liquor store and grab some drinks, you'll need something to do while sanding.

flamingpinhead · Post by **flamingpinhead** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:43 pm

^yeah, the bondo is impossible to shape while its gooie. just gotta lump it onthere and sand away. i had a HUGE dent in the rockerpanel of my blue car. i have no idea how it got there but it almost punctured the metal, denting it way up in. i sanded and sanded. then bondoed, sanded. bondo some more, sanded sanded sanded some more. finally i threw a coat of primer over it. im still not at all happy with it. but its on the rocker panel, so im gonna put soem of the factory paint coded paint over it and be done.

teamliviD · Post by **teamliviD** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 7:42 pm

Bondo is easy, you just have to know how to use it. I would just leave it alone but I cant stand the way she looks right now. I have white bumpers, plastic side skirts, cf parts and a badly dented and scratched black body. She looks like shit. I wont drive it this way. The reason I'm going flat black is because gray primer looks like poo, and the flat black makes it easier to find all the dents and what not so I can fix it right. I would love to take her to a body shop and get it done right, but I dont have $3500 for that right now. I want to be driving this car in August.

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:22 pm

flamingpinhead wrote:^yeah, the bondo is impossible to shape while its gooie. just gotta lump it onthere and sand away. i had a HUGE dent in the rockerpanel of my blue car. i have no idea how it got there but it almost punctured the metal, denting it way up in. i sanded and sanded. then bondoed, sanded. bondo some more, sanded sanded sanded some more. finally i threw a coat of primer over it. im still not at all happy with it. but its on the rocker panel, so im gonna put soem of the factory paint coded paint over it and be done.

You're the exact reason I posted what I did. Buying a gallon or two of Bondo and ust gooping gobbs of it over things again and again and sanding it down until it looks good is not the proper way to fix a dent or a body propblem. Work with the metal or the plastic with the proper repair, then use the bondo to fill MINOR imperfections and transitions. Really, you don't even want to use bondo, just a glazing putty if possible.

I know a lot of southerners do it and can get away with it down there. Up here, bondo jobs don't make it through the winter, hell, half them barely make it through the summer.

KrackstaR · Post by **KrackstaR** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:45 pm

only rookies just smack bondo over dents... and a skilled person can apply bondo and have it sanded in 10 - 15 mins with a power sander....