hey guys well this is my process of shaving side moldings, im actually working on mine right now, so far all i ahve is sanded it down to the metal with a grinder and a DA (dual action) with 80grit. now ive heard people say "fiberglass and bondo will crank!!" but i knwo it is not true, i saw a guy that had his moldings shaved for 4 years with fiberglass and bondo and it still looks nice, another one of my friends did his 2 years ago and it still looks great. so here are the steps
1. sand it down to the metal, not just the where the hole is but the surrounding area as well so u can have more room to work with. after feather out where the metal meets the original paint (feathering technique is wen u can see layers example: metal, primer, then paint) this step is integrated in other steps as well
2. dent in the holes GOOD (this is the step people **** up on thats why their **** cranks) with a flathead and hammer. remember to dent them in really damn good. this is prob the step that makes or literally breaks your work
3. apply either long or short strand fiberglass over the entire side so it can come out really good. a nice thick layer, make sure the fiberglass sinks through the other side (u can check by removing ur door panel)
4. let fiberglass dry/harden then sand

now a question....which grit should u start out with....someone please list the steps on which grit u used until right before u apllied bondo. is it 35....then 80....then 120? or wut?

5. after sanding down the fiberglass smooth now apply bondo. (mix with hardener and that sutff to make it not so think, i forgot the name ) apply it as u did with fiberglass but only thicker so u can work with it more.
6. sand the bondo like so with the fiberglass.
7. after u think it is completely smooth and not waving apply guide coat. this is so u can see the highs and lows of your work. this is another important step.
8. after applying guide coat sand again.....

another question...after applying guide coat (or preimer, whichever u use to see the highs and lows) wut grit do u sand with

9.sand or apply another layer of bondo, this time make it a thinner layer than the first time.

repeat steps 7 and 8 until u completely smooth for preimer and paint.

if i missed anything or its confusing to u i am sorry, im not a autobody guy, im just a teen that is in the middle of shaving his moldings. please list any steps i made or if u can, answer my questions, haha. i made this thread so it can hopefully help guys out there that dont want to weld. thanks for looking!!

 

Your list looks good to me. I have been working in the autobody trade for 6 years and have used this same technique- especially for those that don't have the money to spend to have them welded. Like you said, the trick is to make sure the molding holes are hammered back a little ways...that way the filler covers more than just the hole- and that way you don't end up with a 'pankake' or bump.

-To remove the initail paint, before hammering the holes back, I use 36 or 24 grit sanding disks.
-Once the fiberglass matting and ressin is mostly cured I use 36 grit once again but you need to make sure you dont take too much off; If you like you can use 80 grit but it takes more time.
-You should have atleast 80 grit sand scrathces when applying body fillers such as bondo
-once the bondo dries use 80 to nock the high spots off and finish up with 180.
-Next I apply a thin layer of 'thin set' 'mettal glaze' or 'glazing putty', not the red lacquer stuff but a product that mixes with hardener in the same fasion as bondo and looks almost like bondo but is less vicous and sands much eisier.
-I hit the glaze with 180 or 220 and then prime. I use ppg automoitve paints and primers; however, the do-it-yourselfer can get a good spray can filler primer such as dupli color.
-sand the primer with 220, reprime and sand again with 320-360. The area should be ready for sealer and refinishing.

 

I'm about to do mine also, but I'll be welding. I'm sure the total cost of the metal is about 50 cents. I couldn't live with myself if I just filled that whole thing.

 

i agree with stealth, just not an option in my book.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blueoval557 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i agree with stealth, just not an option in my book. </TD></TR></TABLE>

what most people dont understand IMO is that theyve been hammered into their heads that fiberglass/bondo is bad and it will crack. this is just another option if you dont have a welder at hand. and if you do it right, itll last a very long time as well. but be careful with tack welding because thedre is a small chance of warping the door. both options work and take about the same amount of time. like i said im no autobody expert here, these are just my opinions

 

I just took the fender and door off of one side. I'm thinking of doing the welding on the door and fender on the work bench. Maybe an ice pack on top of the door just outside of the welding zone will help keep the warpage down. lol.

Just brainstorming.

 

good idea, other options is a water bottle, haha

 

hey 89crx90, i wanna ask u something. why do u choose a grit so high to sand the bonod, 180/220. i hit it with 80 then 120 only a little bit, i dont wanna make it too smooth, doesnt the primer fill in the rest so no need for a grit that high? let me know, im sitll sorta new at this and have lots of questions thanks

 

I sand the glaze with 180, you can stop at that, but often i hit it a little with 220 and only prime the area once. If you finish sanding the bondo with 180, prime, and finish sand the primer with lets say 360 there is a chance that you get primer shrinkage in the future. The area might be smooth at first but after a few weeks the primer will actually shrink and the paint goes along with it...showing sand scratches in your new finish. This doesnt allways happen but i take an extra step to make sure it doesnt happen.
In my shop i do a lot of small collison reapiar and often bondo, prime, and paint a car in a single day. to reduce the shrinkage i use finer sandpaper. If you have time you can prime right over 180 or even 80, let it sit for a few days then sand it with finer grit- perhaps 220 and give it one more coat of primer.
There are different ways of doing it... I sanded some filler on my crx last week and left it at 180, used 'big sky' filler primer over that, at first there where no visible sand scratches but i checked it today and the sand scratches are all visible...i knew i would be letting this sit for a week so finishing with 180 was no problem...I will block it with 220 and finish with a standard grey primer which i will sand with 360...


For you guys that are talking about welding the holes shut i would not recomend using ice or water to cool, that actually creates a greater temp. difference and increases the chance of warpage. I have only welded my personal cars...customers dont allways want to pay for the time needed to do this....I just have the air hose handy and blow on each spotweld for about 3 sec. to cool it...I have had good luck with this.

 

dont just fill the whole gap with bondo please. i got a car from a guy that did that. after about a year all the bondo shrunk and it looks terrible now. nothing cracked but you can see where it was shaved easily. and the car was still in primer when i got rid of it. with shiny paint it would have probably cracked the paint and shown the area even more. please dont do it without welding it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98AccordEX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dont just fill the whole gap with bondo please. i got a car from a guy that did that. after about a year all the bondo shrunk and it looks terrible now. nothing cracked but you can see where it was shaved easily. and the car was still in primer when i got rid of it. with shiny paint it would have probably cracked the paint and shown the area even more. please dont do it without welding it</TD></TR></TABLE>

haha this is wut i was saying at my first post, with this process i am using FIBERGLASS!!! not BONDO to fill the wholes in, dent the holes in really well, and fill it in with long strand kitty hair fiberglass and it WONT crack. im just annoyed wen people say sing fiberglass and bondo will crack. because it wont! charlesisturbocharge here on HT used fiberglass and bondo and its been fine for 4 YEARS!

 

It all has to do with the applicator. Bondo seems like a must in either situation. If you apply it only as needed, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stealthmode62 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It all has to do with the applicator. Bondo seems like a must in either situation. If you apply it only as needed, you shouldn't have a problem. </TD></TR></TABLE>

oh so very true, first entering body class i thought man i wanna do this for the rest of my life. but u ahve to have lots of patience and skill to do this. haha

 

also another thing, once ur bondo is applied and blocked, it may seem smooth but wen u spray primer you will notice waves so u will have to block again, this part is very fristrating but make sure youre patient.

 

thats where the guide coat comes in... after u prime, apply guide coat then block. i usually block my primer w/ guide coat and 180 or 220. for a real good job ill repeat that process a few times.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondaZvic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thats where the guide coat comes in... after u prime, apply guide coat then block. i usually block my primer w/ guide coat and 180 or 220. for a real good job ill repeat that process a few times.</TD></TR></TABLE>

o ya good point, i forgot to mention that....for all u kiddies that done know wut guide coat is....you spray it onto ur spot where u are blocking and it shows where your highs and low spots are through different colors. i think where its black, its high and where its grey its low

 

pretty close. the guide coat i use, comes in a small container with a soft sponge thing... and its just a powder... dust it on there. and it finds all the scratches, pinholes, sags, high spots... everything.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondaZvic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pretty close. the guide coat i use, comes in a small container with a soft sponge thing... and its just a powder... dust it on there. and it finds all the scratches, pinholes, sags, high spots... everything.</TD></TR></TABLE>

really? i havent used guide coat yet but at my school, im pretty surte we have a sprayable version....another question i got........right before priming the whole car. wut grit sandpaper do i use on the whole car? 120?? 80? thanks

 

i've finished alot of stuff with 80, but then i prime and block around 3 times. how many times i prime just depends on how the job is turning out... if its really smooth, i might just do it twice.. but if i wanna make sure.. ill prime 3 times.

80 grit scratches will show up if u dont prime.

if u were trying to paint something with out primer, i wouldnt finish it with 80. i would use 240.


make sense?

 

I also use the powder guide coat...Works much better than just misting on black specs here and there...the powder makes the entire area a different shade; therfore, showing much more. -the dark areas are the low spots and the primer areas are the high spots.
I will finish sand with around 240 or so only if i'm using a solid colored basecoat; however, most of the cars i paint are metallic and pearls so i finish with 360 becasue with 240 the metallics might build up in the sand scratches making them somewhat visible.

I painted a grand am last week; changed the color from bright red to a burgandy pearl; the body was nice so i just wet sanded the whole thing with 600 grit and used the factory red as a base for the new paint- no primer or sealer. In some cases this works well too.
I guess theres lots of different ways to go about body work... each person will probably develop their own methods.

 

i heard tack welding ur side holes will risk to warping the doors then ur screwed....

 

No, you warp your doors and you just have more body work to do. This goes the same with shaving anything. You want to see a real nice one, weld your wiper holes shut, that usually helps to oil can the entire hood. Good thing about metal is that you can always fix it if you know what you're doing. Personally I would any body work or paint to a professional, I went to school for it and there is more science to it than you could ever imagine.

By the way, guide coat works great but I've heard that some people just use a dark primer to see that they've sanded off one coat. I've helped on a project where somebody tried this and personally I think it was a lot harder sanding past the primer than to just do it with guide coat.

 

wut is the limit of how big the holes should be for fiberglassing it. i dented my sideholes pretty good but i think they are too big for fiberglass so im thinking of tack welding

 

Use Tiger Hair instead or bondo. I used that on mine and no cracks after 2 years. That thing is like rock once its hard. Its like fiberglass but much stronger then thin layer of bondo and prime/paint/clear

 

I don't realy think there is a limmit with the hole size. I filled a complete side window opening last week with fiberglass matting/resin- thats a big hole- have done it before with no problems.
If you have access to a welder i would probably go a head and use a few tacks to secure a piece behind each hole just to be safe
-grind the welds if needed
-duraglass over that
- then use the lightweight filler like bondo.