I got a free 83, dinged up red car with no smog certificate. So I banged out the dents and applied various Bondo products and I'm preparing to shoot it red. I practiced on the lid, which was dreadfully corroded.

What I've learned so far:

-unlike lead (which I used to do) Bondo should be put on sparingly and not outside the dent area. If you need more add more later, but it's hard to feather overapplied bondo.

-change sandpaper sheets often, else the Bondo will overheat and pill up.

-palm sanders work well, need about 3 for different grades. Get down to wet sanding as soon as possible to minimize bondo pilling.

-you can get 4.5 x 5.5 sandpaper in a continuous roll from a good tool place.

-Home Depot has a pretty good filling primer.

I'm going to shoot this beast with 15 cans of $1.88 Rustoleum American Heritage Cherry Red from Home depot: should look good if the lid is any indication. I'll mask it off in quarters in my driveway and spend a day or two on each quarter shooting and wetsanding.

Maybe I'll clearcoat, but maybe I'll just shine it up with ordinary carnauba wax, like Turtle Wax.

Then I'll figure out how to get it smogged.

B

 

when wetsanding the final paint layer, What am i looking to accomplish, I wanna get rid of any runs, or streaks right?

 

When rubbing out the final finish, the main thing you're looking to accomplish is not sanding all the way through the clearcoat. Extra coats on creases will help, but try to avoid areas where you're likely to sand through.

 

After wetsanding I wash with the hose to get some sheen and locate sightline defects.

B

 

The nice thing about using lacquer (like that cheap paint I'm using - pure lacquer) is that you never have to quit. You can keep working the finish. Hell, if you give up on the job and take it to Earl Sheib you can claim the whole thing is just primer! For that reason I think Lacqer is the easiest for a beginner. And if you want a tougher paintjob you can enamel over the lacquer.

B

 

Shiiiiit.... I wanna paint my car silver... Metallic flaked silver... WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE HARD!

Oh well... I have a professional body guy helping me.

 

If it was easy anyone could do it. Get a white 'china marker' pencil from a stationery store or home depot (it'll mark on slick surfaces), then put on your bondo or lacqer or primer and when it's dry hose it all over and walk around looking at sightlines and marking high and low spots and dings for the next pass.

B