I removed the vinyl stripping down the side of my car and as im sure most of yall know it left and indention in the car so I am filling it in with bondo. I am also filling the pin strip that goes across the car. I also removed the rear side markers and antenna and welded sheet metal to the inside of the car so the bondo would have something to support it and not just an open whole. Anyhow my question is do I need to just fill in the indention perfectly or do I need to take the bondo out 1/2 to 1" past where the vinyl stripping was in order for it to take shape better or will it do that just by using enough to fill in the indention ???

 

you'll want to bondo way more than just where you will be doing the actual filling, just to make sure you get enough on there to work with. Also if you are going for a show car and don't want the groove to show you'll have to sand it with a little bit of a curve to match the body, otherwise you'll have this 3/4" wide flat spot horizontal in the body line. also where you welded it probably warped the metal, so you'll need to cave it in a little and then bondo it smooth.

 

yeah, out more than you need, then sand it down. You should then also use some filler, it's smoother and more fine. Put that on top so it'll be nice and smooth and sand until you can't tell where the bondo ends and the car starts. Start with larger grit (120) and work down to 330 or so when it's all done. Then primer it and you're good to go!

Dr.

 

I would start out with some fiberglass. You'll find it at Kragen or Pep Boys. It's about the same level of difficulty to use as Bondo and alot more resistant to cracking, especially when doing large areas like you have in mind. Then bondo, then filler. If you wany body work to look clean, it takes time.

 

just to let you know, you're really only supposed to use at most 1/4" of bondo, reason being it cracks. I mean, your car is unibody, there for it does flex, even just a tiny bit after time will make it crack. if you are good at welding you should try and weld over the gap on the doors, or use a panel adhesive and a peice of metal, grind it then fill. I shaved my handles(altima), it was welded over, then filled with fiberal (bondo mixed with tiger hairs) which will hold up better then just plain bondo, then on top of that a very very thin coat of filler to make a smooth surface(lots of sanding ). i have seen excellent "bondo" jobs crack, so just do it right the first time

 

when i shaved my antenna whole and my 3rd brake light i fiberglassed the backside and then i put kitty hair on it and then i put evercoats metal glaze a real fine polyester, real thin on top , and you cant see anything you'd of never known anything was everthere just take your time and do it right make it look nice