[TR] Hot Body, filler

Randall tr3driver at ca.rr.com
Mon Jul 7 11:04:28 MDT 2008


> After that the bondo cracks into a million pieces 
> and ruins the paint job.  ...but maybe I just never picked 
> the "right" body shop for my work.

That's my opinion.  It's a lot of work to beat the sheetmetal back to where
you can keep the filler as thin as it should be; so most shops just get it
kind of close then plaster on the Bondo.  Some pros feel that multiple
layers are OK as long as each layer doesn't exceed 1/4"; while others I've
talked to say that anything more than one layer (of less than 1/4") is
asking for trouble.

When I had a (cheap) shop do my TR3A, there was a 2" diameter spot that just
flaked off (taking the paint with it of course).  A friend of mine who
worked in a body shop took one look and said "too thick".

Lots of other things (including temperature) that should be "just so" and
frequently aren't.  The high-end body shops actually air-condition the area,
just to control temperature and humidity; plus let the car sit overnight so
the metal matches the air temp.

Here's some more info :
http://www.roadsters.com/filler/

Good luck with the solder approach.  Looks like a whole lot of frustrating
work to me; especially the point where you're just finishing up a panel and
get it just a little bit too hot ... and the whole mess slumps off onto the
floor.

Randall


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