drunkclever

I am in the process of bondoing up my rocker panels. I keep running into problems when I got to a certain level in the bondo.. freaking bubbles. anyone know a "how to bondo" site?

well anyway, the problem I have is weather to take the grave guard off or bondo over it. Right now it looks like ****(my bondo job). I am feeling so much dought. I don't think I can do it. The bubbles allways come back.

Should I take the gravel guard out if so,. how should I take it out?


edit.. would something putty help out for those small holes and score marks. I wonder.

1badFB

iTrader: (1)

Well, with bondo there are a few things that could cause bubbles.
For one: make sure your not using too much catalist, as this can cause you problems and may be contributing to the bubbles.
Secondly: any bondo work is going to contain some bubbles. It is a porous material and thus has bubbles(which is why you always seal the metal before bondoing), although you should be able to keep the bubbles fairly small.
To finish it off (both the bondo and my post) your going to want to invest in some glazing/ or spot putty. This stuff is much easier to work with than bondo, requires no mixing, comes in a small tube, and is made for that type of finishing. It will fix most surfaces up nice and easy (sanding it is a breeze), so hopefully that helps.

As for the gravel guard..If your talking about the plastic inner fender, then you are going to want to leave it in there! without it both the stockpiling of dirt and formation of rust are bound to occur. One of mine got ripped out and I left it out for a few months and it wasnt a great idea (a replacement is going back in). It definately left a mess.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Wire wheel chucked in a drill or 3M makes a paint stripper wheel, rust brown in color, that you chuck in a drill too. Forget sandpaper, unless you want to start with 36 grit. Anything finer loads up too easily. The 3M wheel is about 8 bucks, found in the paint section with the sandpapers, well worth it and quick.

drunkclever

humm.. maybe I should get the bondo back down to the metal and use the putty, then take off the entire rubberized coating with an angle grinder.

Then i'll just have to find a replacement.

StuntmanXero

Something you could do is use Marglass, basicly pasty fiberglass, or bondo with

fiberglass mixed in it, it would have less bubbles if applied properly, plus it is water

resistant. which in my opinion would be better for a lower area of any vehicle,
unless

you are going to be priming and painting it soon after. You can use bondo if there

arent any holes or anything, because then you wont have to worry much about

water resistance, although bondo gets spongy and can crack easily if it gets wet.

But, as Gen1onr said, if you use too much hardener it will cause more pinholes.

There will usualy be a few pinholes however, to fix them, you just sand down your

bondo to a desired level, and then apply a skim coat, which is a very thin coat of

bondo over that one, and when you do that, apply a fair ammount of pressure to

your spreader to make sure it gets in all the holes and grooves.

IanS

iTrader: (4)

Mix a small (tiny) amount of fiberglass resin into the mix of bondo and cream hardener. This will make it runnier (sp?) and should help some on the bubbles. Also try using the Bondo ultimate, after you fill in the majority with regular bondo. The ultimate stuff is thinner already and feathers out a bit easier. Flat bar sanders are your friend.