Let me start off by saying that I am going to be doing the "$50 dollar paintjob" on my 91 rt4wd wagon. I know that most of them turn out pretty poorly, but that is easily corrected with patience and time. Im in the process of repair all the small dings and dents that have occured over the last 17 years of daily driving. If anyone could please lead me in the right direction it would be much appreciated. My steps so far are as follows:

1. Degrease/wax panel
2. sand entire panel with 80 grit to show imperfections
3. take all repair spots to bare metal with flap disk on grinder (no air tools)
4. sand all bare spots with 40 grit
5. apply bondo
6. sand
7. once "smooth" apply primer
8. sand with 150 grit to show lows
9. reapply bondo to lows
10. apply different color primer
11. sand with 400

Now after all that I still continue to have low spots that show in the last application of primer. What is the best way to take care of this? Should I just remove all primer/bondo and start over? Is there a "top coat" bondo that isn't spot putty that would be used for something like this? BTW, Im working with durablocks when doing all sanding.

I will try to get pictures later this evening.

Sorry to ramble, its just bugging me that I cant get the panels perfectly smooth.

Thanks in advance
Pat

 

Make sure that your sanding with a long block (how long is the one your using) and for hood aply almost no force using the weight of the block to do most of the sanding. It sounds like your doing everything right but you may be taking to much bondo off. A common mistake made by thoes who dont do this for a living.
When you aply the bondo you should be giving almost the whole pannel a thin coat of filler sand it and when you cometo big high spots take a body hammer and use the pick side and go all around the high spot ro get it down then take a sharpie and draw an x (if you keep sanding and no spot metal has shown through but youve wore the x off pound it down more) and keep sanding till you can see metal to start to peek through, throughout the pannel then stop recoat any spots you had to pond out then sand using as little force on the block as possible.
Are you using rattle can primer if so youre going to have a hell of a time cause it wont fill anywhere near as wat a spray gun primer in which case you could spend hours getting that **** perfect and still have some wave in it with that rattle can ****
Proly wat your deal is your taking to much off.
Goodluck

 

/\ tough to read dude.. haha


i would say almost the exact same thing. your problems can only be a few things.

1. uneven block sanding. you should be usign the longest block you can fit on the work area. make sure you have even pressure across the whole thing.

2. primer. this is a big one. you need to use a 2K catalyzed primer over body work. NO spray can primer. that ****'s bad news unless you have a really tiny job to do. 2K sprays thick and you want a good buildup, 3 wet coats. after it hardens, then block it with 220.. 320.. then finish with 320 or 400 on a painter's DA sander. if you don't have a DA, finish it with 400+ by hand. swirl it in circles so you don't see straight scratches.

a very important note is that primer is your last step... finish your body work first (finish with 180 grit). if you need to see your low spots after a coat of filler, use a guide coat. dust on a contrasting color like black spray paint. let it dry, then sand. you'll see your lows just fine. you don't want to be coating your work with spray can primer between each coat of filler. after you're happy with the shape, spray your 2K primer. you want to spray the 2K primer thick so it builds and hardens and fills in the scratches, etc. but it should not be used as a body filler though, meaning that you want to create your shape with the filler, then fill in scratches and tiny low spots only.

primer is the last step in body work and actually has nothing to do with painting, and it's important to understand that.

 

thanks guys for both of your replies.

Is there any kind of option rather than the 2k primer? I do not have air at home so I can't use a gun or any air related tools.

I was thinking about doing a couple coats with the rusto primer before I put on the paint, obviously wet sanding between each coat. Would that be a viable replacement for the 2k primer?

BTW, this is just my winter beater, im not looking for spectacular results, but there was some rust that needed taken care.

 

there is a filler primer in a can but i would only use it for a small spot...be careful cause it might not work well with the paint you may use...what kind of paint are you trying to use anyways?....i would say try to stay away from the rattle can **** and get yourself a HVLP gun and prime and paint it...

its really not that hard to do with a spray gun...you can get a cheap compressor and HVLP gun from Harbor Freight for really cheap there...the only thing that kills is mixing paint and reducer and getting it just right...what are you working on anyways?

and also stay away from the $50 paint job cause its really ugly with all the orange peal that you get...hope you like sanding

another thing the advice these guys gave you is really good and i would try to do it step by step w/o cutting coners...

 

if i would bondo my door would the bondo crack or chip off later on, since its always moving around, opening, and slamming?

 

You sound like you have a lot of experience in body work.

Here's my q:

When using putty can I reapply it on itself after it has dried? I am filling in a few dents on my EK and the putty does not bring them flush. When I apply it with the spreader in still contours to the original dent.

Am I appling too much pressure with the spreader or is this something that is to be expected when fixing dents over 0.5cm deep?

Thanks

 

You actually should be applying multiple coats of putty on each repair. It is far worse to apply a thick layer than a few thin layers of bondo.

Just keep applying thin coats, sanding each layer before applying another.

 

there are also some good youtube videos that show technique