Lovely Body Filler

[Rusty's Uncle]

I had hoped to put off body repairs until next year but when another chunk of old filler fell off my rear wing it exposed a rust hole about the size of a 50p piece. When I poked in my finger it went straight through the inner wing as well. So I bit the bullet & chiped off all the loose filler around the offside wheel arch then used a stiff wire brush in an electric drill to remove more filler and get down to bare metal. Also cleaned the entire inner wheel arch and found a couple more small holes. I repaired the inner holes using some P40 that had been in my garage for years. The P40 is a mix of resin & glass fibres to which you add hardener. I spread some of this onto some pieces of flexible plastic sheet then pressed it into position like a patch. When set I then just peeled away the plastic sheet to leave a very smooth repair. I went to the local motor factors to get some filler, not stuff I like using as I have memories of hours of rubbing down. But has this stuff got better in recent years ?
I filled over the main area which was quite a tricky shape but keeping the filler as smooth as I could. It was hard enough to rub down in about 15 mins. So set to work with the old wet or dry and was surprised how easy it was to smooth down to shape. Still some little spots to fill but I feel a lot happier using the new filler 

[GTMaster]

I'm just doing filling myself. I agree, it is a pain- in -the rear end job. I use one that needs hardener too (some sort of red paste), my experiences being using too little doesn't make the filler harden (fun job scraping it off) using too much means it'll harden on the spatula  I always add lots of hardener to make sure the filler hardens properly. It's good stuff when it dries (hard as a rock) but getting rid of bumps does take a lot of sanding. Filling in holes is tricky, i always do it in two or three steps depending on the size of the hole. One other problem i encounter is when applying the filler onto the surface is that i get lots of streaks and small holes (like the size of  small bubbles), so sanding down that is fun as well.
Is it ok to sand with wet  sandpaper? I've only sanded the surface wet once it was sprayed with primer....
Have you thought about replacing that wheel arch?

[AlleyNiki]

That's a nice job you've done there.    It must be quite an art to get it right!

I've got to repair a nasty hole in that runner / sill thing under the left hand door, just above this square opening thing that LOOKS like a jacking point but ISN'T. Some philistine/previous owner tried to jack the car up in it and it ended up biting into the sill.  Really makes the car look horrible. Maybe it would be best to just replace this runner if I can..

[bis13]

rusty did you not use your skills and make up some filler from old crab paste and plain flour hardened with a blow torch and sanded down with a stale piece of hovis wholemeal ? you could have filled the car with tea and got a decent brew through all those perforations....is this a pre RR spruce up i see before me?

[GTMaster]

That's a nice job you've done there.    It must be quite an art to get it right!

I've got to repair a nasty hole in that runner / sill thing under the left hand door, just above this square opening thing that LOOKS like a jacking point but ISN'T. Some philistine/previous owner tried to jack the car up in it and it ended up biting into the sill.  Really makes the car look horrible. Maybe it would be best to just replace this runner if I can..

Yes, before i changed the sill on mine it had a dent in the same place. It's only worth replacing the sill if it's rotted through (i reckon  filler would be enough.) The good thing is that the whole side of the car can be lifted up by using the proper jacking point at the rear 

[AlleyNiki]

rusty did you not use your skills and make up some filler from old crab paste and plain flour hardened with a blow torch and sanded down with a stale piece of hovis wholemeal ? you could have filled the car with tea and got a decent brew through all those perforations....is this a pre RR spruce up i see before me?

Can I have the wholemeal when he's done?  I'm poor. And hungry.

[Rusty's Uncle]

Crab paste and plain flour is OK but as I like to pamper my little motor I went for the Truffle & Sun Dried Tomato Compote dressed with Safron Oil and hardened in the hot exhaust gases from a Bugatti Beyron 

On a more serious note , has body filler got better as it seemed to set fast & rub down very well with 150 grit wet or dry (not wet sandpaper) As for application I discovered long ago that the "spatula" needed to be clean & flexible to get a reasonable surface and line. I have a small stack of things like the fake credit cards they send you in the post or odd bits of plastic sheet and I use the edge only once.
I had no idea what I would find under the old filler so considering the beating the car has had & that it is about 39 years old a few perforations were not bad, loads of dents but basically solid & original. So fitting a replacement wheel arch was not really needed.

[michaelodonnell500]

I've only ever used the easy stuff. Top stop or U-pol easy fill are my favourites. I was recommended both of these by trade. I've always found P38 a bit too porus as it generally needs a bit of fine surface filler over the top. previous fillers used to be alot closer to fibreglass resin with powder additive. Which is significantly more difficult to sand down. My local motor parts shop sells the filler cards individaully. Always good to have a load spare as they are pretty much useless once they've lost their smothness. Alternatively you can wipe off excess unset filler with celulose thinner.

[AlleyNiki]

Could someone let me know what the stages are briefly? For instance, do you:

* Clean out rust first

* Add Body Filler / Sand over

* Then just paint over with gloss?

Or are there undercoats / primer stages with the paint?

I'm gonna need to do this soon.

Thanks

Alastair

[GTMaster]

Here's how i did it but i don't think it's the correct way of doing it (though the filler hasn't fallen off yet  )
Rust/old paint removal, primer paint (that red rust preventer type), filler... though probably have to sand the surface a bit before filling (forgot that i guess  ). Then comes sanding the filler down, filling some more if necessary (mine was very 'necessary'), primer (the grey spray type), sanding with wet fine (800 i think) sandpaper, then spraying with top coat (colour).
I had problems a while back when i first started out on the bodywork. I had used that rust remover stuff (very good stuff) but forgot to brush/clean it off the surface before filling. As soon as it was primed (after filling) it pushed the filler right off (turned soft and could peel it off  ).
So they're my experiences,  someone else who has better knowledge should 'fill' you in with the details

[AlleyNiki]

So they're my experiences,  someone else who has better knowledge should 'fill' you in with the details

Very apt, Sir! Very apt!

Thanks