I was stripping my car down to metal for its new paint and found a tiny bit of filler in the rear left wheel lips. I figured huh must have been bumped in the factory. then when I moved up to the roof area like 1/3 of the roof had a thin layer of light green filler right over the factory primer, then another layer of factory grey primer then black paint. It was too late to go back since the chemical stripper I was using made the stuff into putty by the time I noticed it. I hope I can get it all straight again, buthas anyone else ever seen this in their car? I wonder where else I am going to find this crap. I might be better off da'ing the rest of the car. Any opinions?
Factory filler in my car...and a bunch of it!
- Thread starter tim_the_toolman
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stangbear427
Active Member
Yes. Just DA it. If there's more, you'll be glad you did. Never seen cars leave the lot with that much bondo- that's kinda illegal. They do have benders and repairs on zero mile cars, but what your saying is a lawsuit that never happened. Now, anyone who knows where to go can get factory primer, and the filler that pops up on some of them. That much I have seen, just like you described. Regardless, just sand it off. If you just don't want to do that much sanding and that's why you tried chemicals, you can take off some serious paint in a hurry with a box of razorblades.
bmorrisj
Member
stangbear427
Active Member
Don't get too frustrated Hissin- there's over 60,000 members that pass through here, odds are a few of them got lucky on whatever we happen to be talking about. I know what you mean though, the guy who painted my car is always picking stuff up for nothing. A few years ago somebody gave him an '89 305 TA with t-tops and the sport tuned suspension and a turbocharged little LX for $2000, both cremepuff. Some old lady gave him a 5.0 Lincoln MarkIIV that he'd been keeping perfect for her since she bought it new, He picked up a basically brand new Yamaha 750 Virago for about $600, an 80-something 4WD 5.0 5spd F-150 that needed a paint job, but everything else looked like it just left the dealer lot. It was frozen in some farmers field, the guy said if he could break it out he could have it. I don't know where he finds these deals, I don't even like talking to him anymore cause there's always a new project he got for peanuts in the driveway. That's to name a few, it's been like this for ten years. That was all in one year. Meanwhile here I am still scraping along trying to buy parts for my one project.
I've seen some pretty cheap compressors in the classifieds. We have a paper in New England called the bargain news, which is bigger than your average Sunday paper and there's always tons of deals in there- may want to check out something like that for a new compressor. Don't chem the whole car, please. That's awfull- without having to deal with bondo.
I've seen some pretty cheap compressors in the classifieds. We have a paper in New England called the bargain news, which is bigger than your average Sunday paper and there's always tons of deals in there- may want to check out something like that for a new compressor. Don't chem the whole car, please. That's awfull- without having to deal with bondo.
Don't sweat it,man! There's not a car on the road that doesn't have some body filler on it somewhere. It's just a necessary evil that comes along with automobile manufacturing,and it's not illegal. Every brand new car you see on the dealer's lot has some,too. The thing that you have to consider is that the word "BONDO" has been used since the stone-ages of automotive body work. The correct term is "plastic body filler". The fillers used today,and by the manufacturers,for that matter,are FAR superior to the "Bondo" brand fillers. That stuff is truly garbage that I wouldn't use to smooth out a go-cart. But on the other hand,brands such as Dynatron and Evercote are great body fillers.
One misconception that I hear all the time is "You're not putting any "BONDO" on MY CAR!!! I want it fixed RIGHT!!
" Then you tell them,"OK,I'll use plastic body filler instead. 
" Then they say,"OK! 
" It's the same thing,it's just the name and the reputation that are taken out of context. The real reason everyone thinks that fillers are junk are because a select few so-called "body workers" will apply the stuff in mammoth proportions to avoid having to actually STRAIGHTEN out the underlying metal. Body fillers should not be used to fill in dents or dings more than 1/4" deep if the area is small,1/8" if the area is large.
One misconception that I hear all the time is "You're not putting any "BONDO" on MY CAR!!! I want it fixed RIGHT!!
" Then you tell them,"OK,I'll use plastic body filler instead. " Then they say,"OK! " It's the same thing,it's just the name and the reputation that are taken out of context. The real reason everyone thinks that fillers are junk are because a select few so-called "body workers" will apply the stuff in mammoth proportions to avoid having to actually STRAIGHTEN out the underlying metal. Body fillers should not be used to fill in dents or dings more than 1/4" deep if the area is small,1/8" if the area is large.
stangbear427
Active Member
No, actually, when someone who knows what they are talking about says they want it fixed right without bondo, they mean don't beat it out and putty it: replace it. For those little tiny dinks that don't justify a new door skin, fender, etc, there is a lost art called leading which uses lead instead of body filler, plastic or otherwise. That is a quality repair. My father was a body shop manager in several dealerships for decades, trust me- I know exactly what they can and can't get away with. And what the toolman is describing would be illegal on a new car. Sure, every time there's a snowstorm a plow bumps one and it needs too be touched up, but anything requiring that amount of body filler sends the car, zero miles or no, strait to auction with a salvage title even though it was never totalled. That's life in the world of new car sales. Once upon a time they got away with this stuff, but not anymore. You have a big misconception that every car has body filler on it- I have watched dozens of cars stripped down to bear metal in our garage since I was a child, that didn't have a spec of it anywhere before or after the repair. Any little dinks or dents were leaded, major dents meant skins were getting replaced. Sometimes that involves cutting sections of the car out and welding new stuff in- like if our fox body gets slammed in the rear quarter panel, where replacing everything from the doors back isn't an option. That's how it's done right. I'll admit right away that there is Evercote all over my car. It's better than the stuff from 20 years ago, but it's still crap- and if I could have afforded to have one of the masters I know do my car, it wouldn't be there- and I wouldn't be having problems with it.
_jb_
New Member
Not all "Bondo" is crap, and I'm sure Stangbear427 knows this. As long as you buy the good type, where you have to mix the hardner with the bondo itself will work wonders on little dents. I used it on my 'Stang and you can't even tell it is there after the proper work is applied. My dad has worked on cars for a long time now and I trust him when he says...certian things lol!
But anyways, when I took my Mustang apart for painting, under the dirver's last rear GT effect, there is a huge dent from the factory. The GT kit covers this up perfectly and nothing is out of place or anything. I can only think that at the factory someone hit it and then the manager just decied to turn my car into a GT. But, that is all but a hypothesis. It's kinda cool how you can uncover these "hidden attributes" when you work on cars.
But anyways, when I took my Mustang apart for painting, under the dirver's last rear GT effect, there is a huge dent from the factory. The GT kit covers this up perfectly and nothing is out of place or anything. I can only think that at the factory someone hit it and then the manager just decied to turn my car into a GT. But, that is all but a hypothesis. It's kinda cool how you can uncover these "hidden attributes" when you work on cars.
Well guys I stripped the rest of the car with the exception of the fenders and didn't find any more filler. And I know the fenders are fine cuz I have them off and inspected them from behind. So I am going to get a new compressor any way cuz even though my current one is great it's just not big enough for air tools running constantly, especially my sandblaster.
BTW I think the reason there was such a large thin area of filler on the roof had something to do with the fact that the car has a sunroof and the edges al the way around the sunroof are slightly raised. Not to mention the car was black. Damn the metal is thin up there too!
BTW I think the reason there was such a large thin area of filler on the roof had something to do with the fact that the car has a sunroof and the edges al the way around the sunroof are slightly raised. Not to mention the car was black. Damn the metal is thin up there too!
