Repairing Dents in rear fenders. Better than bondo filling

[Curtis]

I remember replacing some of the leading with bondo on my 1500. Lead was a common filler. I watch my dad do it in his shop. Quite the art to apply it.

[redroadster]

I do not have very good body skills ,I admit ,but when I was doing mine I found when I tried mig weld a nail on the center of the ding that many times the ding/dent would snap out from the expansion of the heat ,must have had 10 do that , i just started welding the center after that, 1st
fiberglass putty the way to go if it will/ might get wet

[pebbles]

Some pros prefer to spray entire body with an epoxy sealer, then apply the body filler. Claim a better bond than on bare metal. FWIW Pat Mahoney

In the past, I had never used solvent prior to an application of filler. A lot of air and a clean dry rag.
The Datsun changed all that. The filler just rolled up like cookie dough on a rolling pin. I had to get some prep solvent and wipe the panels wet, and then quickly wipe dry with a clean dry rag.
Been using the same Ultralite filler for years.
I may give the DTM primer a try next go around.

[pebbles]

I have nearly finished the body work on mine and have been through a gallon and a half. A little of it is actually still on the car, LOL.

This ol girl got 2

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[AltxF4]

I will try the everglass since I was looking at those exact spots today thinking to my self I have no freaking clue how to lead fill a car body...Can I even buy lead in California anymore? (jk)


Nice bus! My dad sold his 58 23 window project last year....for a very decent penny! bought for $2k, put $5k in to replacing body panels and floors. Sold for 4x the amount put into it.

[dynaguy]

Hint for using Everglass: Do 'NOT' let it full cure prior to shaping. I becomes rock hard and difficult to sand. Test with your fingernail, when you can barely indent with your nail, get after the shaping with a cheese grater type file then 80 grit to a little undersized. Skim coat with filler after fully cured. A lesson I learned the hard way. FWIW Pat

[AltxF4]

Well, I started stripping all of the old bondo out that was caked all over the rear valance, trunk intersection, license plate recess, and rear of fenders. I am glad I did. The spray coating that was applied inside the trunk hid a lot of the dents and they will all be easily workable! I removed up to a half inch of filler in a few areas. I guess whoever applied this filler did not believe in removing any part of the dent before applying filler.

I knew there were going to be some dents to work, but I was not expecting this! So far only major rust issues are in the rocker end caps where the front fenders overlap, both sides of the floor pan in the foot well area, and right under that brake and clutch MCs there are some cracks.

I am going to do a full strip down to bare metal so I can be fully aware of the entire situation and be on top of any rust.

When I remove the body from the frame I sure hope there is minimal amounts of rust there too!

On the rear deck where the trunk surround overhangs the rear valance it looks like somebody hit parts of it with a grinder or got too aggressive with a heavy grit sander and destroyed parts of the profile. Would filler like everglass be good here or just I build up some weld and re-shape? Seems like it might be a lil thin to weld reliably.

I have not been much of a body guy in the past and cared more about the go, shift, bounce, and stop parts!

[pebbles]

On the rear deck where the trunk surround overhangs the rear valance it looks like somebody hit parts of it with a grinder or got too aggressive with a heavy grit sander and destroyed parts of the profile. Would filler like everglass be good here or just I build up some weld and re-shape? Seems like it might be a lil thin to weld reliably.

Depends on if it is a gaping hole or not. My 68 had a similar issue. I packed some duraglass in the seam from the inside, then finished the outside with a bitOfiller. I think that it is leaded from the factory.
http://www.311s.org/phpBB3/download/fil ... &mode=view

[AltxF4]

Here is a picture showing the lip before I took out the bondo. Once bondo was removed I could see it was misshapen by a grinder, but no holes. I am just worried with such a detail piece having to shaped by bondo with minimal real estate.
http://tinypic.com/r/1442mvc/9

[C.Costine]

Here is a picture showing the lip before I took out the bondo. Once bondo was removed I could see it was misshapen by a grinder, but no holes. I am just worried with such a detail piece having to shaped by bondo with minimal real estate.
http://tinypic.com/r/1442mvc/9

During removal of paint and filler from my car I found no less than 11 separate spots where someone had ground right through the metal apparently while removing paint. While it may not be ground through it may be tin foil thin.

[AltxF4]

AGH! It is maddening! So me being me... I decided to remove all old body filler work that my brother and dad started when it was still my brothers car. Wire brush the bondo down to paint (what a mess!) and accidentally went too far... What! Bondo under the paint. I went out and got some paint stripper and gooped it all on the whole rear end body work.

Stripped all the old bondo off and OMG! there was a total of over 1/2" of bondo in areas, and the panels were almost entirely covered with bondo...even the fender falires (I was wondering why they were looking a bit flat).
Did I find some dents, rust, etc? sure, but nothing that would require the amount of bondo I removed!

But none of the surprises me as to the thought process of the PO since I did find that he decided to cut the park lamp wires at the housing to remove it.

[Gregs672000]

Sometimes ya just never know what you will find! Keep being you, and you'll end up with a better result, and that will make all the work worth it!

[AltxF4]

I think my big question now is... are there any areas on these cars that rust from the inside out? When I have it down to bare metal I will be able to see all the areas I need to cut and weld some patch that had rusted from the outside in, but being a roadster with an open top I just want to know if there are other areas I should be aware of.

I have a few rust through spots on the rockers, rear fender sides, and rear rear trunk floor well by fender.

I am thinking I will use 18g galvanized sheets for my patches...I know to take the proper precautions when welding galvanized.

[notoptoy]

Inside the rockers, particularly the end caps, seem to be the biggest area of hidden rust. Beyond that I would look at the inside door pillars, and below the air vent in the front of the windshield. Most everything else is pretty accessible.

[C.Costine]

I think my big question now is... are there any areas on these cars that rust from the inside out? When I have it down to bare metal I will be able to see all the areas I need to cut and weld some patch that had rusted from the outside in, but being a roadster with an open top I just want to know if there are other areas I should be aware of.

I have a few rust through spots on the rockers, rear fender sides, and rear rear trunk floor well by fender.

I am thinking I will use 18g galvanized sheets for my patches...I know to take the proper precautions when welding galvanized.

I have been using 20 Gauge, it appears to match original. It works better welding same gauge panels together.