Bondo, oh Bondo, wherefore art thou Bondo?

MADMarc

MADMarc

My chones itch...
Well, dug a little deeper today into the rust I found in the trunk gutter and then started wire wheelin away! Gonna get some por 15 all over the rails so I figure why not go to town. I got it pretty exposed and, surprisingly, the top of it looks significantly worse than the bottom (besides the hole :P). For some reason the PO bondo'd the hell out of the car and it was even in the trunk gutter...the more I wheeled away, the more I wondered why he did it. There is some cracking at the left rear quarter that I am dreading digging into...but at least it's fun in the meantime!

Holes began as these w/some light scraping...

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And now that I've got it pretty much all ground down, this is what I'm left with to work on:

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BOOM! Just a shot of it all ready for some coating.

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oh...and this is me bored and taking another picture of the motor getting closer to coming out. Stopped a bit after taking this and only have the coolant lines and bellhousing bolts left. These headers suck, BTW. Rubbing on the power steering box and it's got me a little worried :/

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Engine will be getting replaced w/another 318 next weekend. Just need a little something to hold me over. Gotta have another driver so I can rip the Stealth apart and make some moneys!
 
I wish my cars were that bad...

You could almost just fill the holes with weld... Almost.
 
You wouldn't know rust if a ton of it fell on your head. :D

When you take the wheel-opening moulding screws off and the moulding won't come off, then start to worry. When you rip the moulding off and take half of the quarter panel with it because it'd been bondoed by Michaelangelo, get back to me. Yes, they put the wheel-opening moulding back on the Black Bitch (my '72 Charger) with the plastic still wet, and it bonded. When I had finished grinding out the plastic from the rust and the dents, I had a 5-gallon pail of plastic-filler dust. The whole quarter was caved in. Whomever did that work was not a bodyman, he was a freakin' sculptor, and a good one. I looked pretty solid when I bought it, and even the seller (one of my closest friends) about shat himself when he saw what came off the car.
 
lmao, Jass, that's hilarious...also has me a little more fearful of what's in store. Did the factory really put that much crap on from the factory? I know they did some here and there, but I had no idea they would do that much. It had to go! ...and I worked it! lol
 
And hey, i'm not crying yet. I'm more concerned about the body work that's under that quarter panel that doesn't have to do w/the rust. I know it was chopped because I can see if from underneath...hell, so far this car is almost as rust free as my challenger was. The challenger did, however, have the benefit of not having anything in it TO rust lol
 
its the seam line between the quarter and the drip rail...if you follow it youll find it runs all the way to the bumper..stupid spot for a seam you say..sure..but theyhad to put a seam somewhere..why not the trunk.....but yeah thats a factory seam and likely factory seam sealer..even looks the peachy color and i bet its a smidge rubbery still...not entirely rock hard plasticy
 
Hah, that's the stuff then. Was it just to smooth out the lines? I really don't see why they needed to use any more than I left on there because I only left a little in the small spot where the seam actually is in case there would be a leak there. Once I stopped revealing rust spots I figured I should leave a little just in case.
 
The seam sealer was mostly to seal out any water. The factory didn't care what it looked like - once the lid was closed no one saw it and with a coat of paint on it, those who did see it didn't think anything of it.
Those seams were aways sloppy. The assembly line guy had maybe a minute or so to brush several seams, so no time for neatness.
One of the hardest things to do in a restoration is to get the seams looking original. "Factory Ugly" is the term I use. :)

What are you coating the bare steel with? Not POR 15 I hope.
 
You wouldn't believe how much plastic and seam sealer they slathered on some cars. Most of the "factory" plastic filler used for "on-the-line" body repairs that I've seen was actually blue, but the stuff used on my Charger was white for the quarter-window plugs ('72 SE--similar design as the same year formal-roof Ford Torino :D ). I wanted to remove the window plugs and go back to the standard '71-style window because I hate the '72 SE look. You simply would not believe how much plastic filler was in the C-pillars of that car. I gave up trying to grind it all out, half-assed more filler back in there, rattle-canned the damned thing flat black and said "Good enough... It's got a big motor." :D

Factory bondo isn't all that uncommon to find. If a car got damaged on the line, they just filled the dent and resprayed the area. Even panel imperfections before paint were fixed this way.
 
Actually, to go a little further, most panel imperfections were metal finished on the spot if they were minor enough. Most were handled in the sheet metal stamping shops, usually before the factory assembly line got the parts.
Any dents and such were sent to the factory body shop sections after they made it to the QC area.
Assembly lines being what they are, if it takes too much time to fix something (more than a minute or so), it's ignored and left for the quality control blokes to deal with. Stopping the line costs big bucks.
The factory seams such as quarter/roof panels were done on the line. That stuff they used there never seemed to fully harden. Most times lead was used if the car wasn't ordered with a vinyl, plastic filler was used if it was. Whatever kind of fillers and seam sealers they used was good stuff. Mostly applied direct over bare steel, it usually lasted for a long time before rust was an issue. Modern aftermarket stuff still isn't that good.
I've worked on some "original paint" cars loaded with filler, courtesy of the factory. One Astro van I did in the early 90s at the dealership had the entire left side quarter covered in a thin layer of filler, from the lower body line right up the bottoms of the windows. The van was fresh off the hauler and hadn't even made it to PDI yet. :)
Doc, I've seen some of those Charger window hacks jobs, makes you wonder if the line guys got paid by the pound? I hear the Superbird/Daytona rear window plugs were pretty horrific too.
 
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ive seen a good bit of that factory filler too.and wish i could get my hands on some..that stuff LASTS!!!!!
 
Well, I won't dispute you restoman, but I've found a lot of plastic filler over creases and dents under original paint over the years, including my Super Bee, which the factory had started to incorrectly paint dark green before they realized it was supposed to be A4. :doh: They made it to about half-way up the A-pillars before going back and shooting it the right color. :D
 
Well I don't like it!... And yes, por 15 is all over the metal now. Is that a no no? I got their state kit and, fortunately, have enough marine clean and their metal prep to last several more jobs even though the por 15 is all gone now.
 
Well, here are a few more shots of it all coated and purty looking. Holes aren't filled yet...and don't bash me just yet, but I picked up some of POR's epoxy putty. If it doesn't work, no big deal...if it does work, hell-to-the-emmer effin yes - that means I save some cutting and welding :)

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Can't make out much, but I took the pictures anyways! :D

This POR15 stuff is pretty awesome. The one small can (smallest they offer...i dunno what the ounce-age is) got me almost three full coats on the outside of the gutter, two inside, and I still had enough to cover the rust crap on the underside of the rear quarters and underneath the rear windshield. I'm looking forward to getting more! ...and yes, I wore gloves...but a bit of negligence and now my arms have black lines all over them, I have a dent in my forehead from the trunk lid and my hands still got paint spots...guess I just don't pay attention enough :P
 
many...many...many years ago..back before digital cameras...i did a dime size hole patch on a celica..with...jbweld..NOT the quick set stuff.....after all this time its still holding leak free......

aint played with the por stuff "yet" but i have extensivly used everything eastwood offers....and LOVE the stuff
 
Well my fingers are crossed! Got a bunch of epoxy, so I'm gonna have at it tomorrow if this stuff is completely dried up by then. *looks at black lines all over arms and shakes head* ...I will try to be more careful.
 
if you wash yourself up with larqure thinner you can get some of it off...the rest you will WEAR off
 
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