Hey guys, How much does proper dent repair and rust repair cost? I've hit up a good number of people I know and they want to go the bondo way. I will not use bondo on sheet metal, period. I don't care if it's cheaper, if the metal hasn't been treated and if moisture is trapped in, it'll cause more problems than before. I don't care if the repairs cause the paint to crack, ill fill it in with grease later. Eventually I'm getting a paint job, baked in not just sprayed I'll post pictures of the dents later.
I used to braze rust damage shut. Brazing used to leave behind a wavy surface. But, at least, it was hermetically sealed. The other advantage to brazing is that the flame would find sheet metal which was too thin of whose thinness wasn't detectable from without. In fact, before I brazed damaged metal shut, I would use the cutting torch head to chase too thin sheetmetal towards that of normal thickness. Metal which was corroded thin would crackle, pop and throw sparks. The thin metal would then melt and flow towards that of original thickness. Soldering sheetmetal with solid lead was also good. But, has become a dying craft. Some oldtimers still left around should know how to do it. Filling in holes with Bondo is like going on a shopping spree with a credit card and no income to be seen. Sooner or later, you'll be confronted with payment compounded with extortionate interest charges. Filling in irregularities left over from dent-outbumping with Bondo isn't as bad, since the sheetmetal bumped back out is still corrosion-free and covered with finish. If done properly, the Bondo shouldn't suffer pregnancy, on bumped back out dents
There are a lot of old timers in my area who did more than just turn wrenches, I'll ask them too. Most of the people who had suggested bondo didn't do it properly, hell I don't even know how to work it. But I'd much rather have it fixed right than have a great filler make it look right. I get using bondo on plastic bumpers, fiberglass bodies, aluminum bodies, and on modern cars. But to use it on a car which is prone to rust just by existing sounds like bad time in the long run, especially if you'll be hawking it off to a collector
Collectors and backyard Bondo bums mix like fire and water. Collectors will be armed with magnets and a key eye, being prepared to weed out vehicles "repaired" by slipshod hacks. Best to be selective and choose bodywork done by pros
To me it depends on what you want done, My 85 suffered lower door rust, passenger front door - hole thru Yes correct repair is to cut out old replace with new, get it and will most likely do in future. but to get done would mean reapplying woodgrain on doors - no way that would match so whole car would have to be redone. so I opted to 1 stop it from getting worse and make it look better, not perfect - so I opted for KBS 3 step rust system, liquid metal filler, and Bondo to smooth - still have to respray interior of doors, as KBS rust paint is not UV stable ( kind of turns sliver pink) again not perfect but better Passenger front door - before After Door Bottom before after 1st pass with wire brush after all 4 doors were bad - clearly rust had eaten away some metal, while the car looked good from outside - opened the doors and the rust on the bottom just jumped out at you All supplies, paint etc. cost me about 200 bucks
It's best to periodically make sure drain holes (A) are free of debris. Once they plug, anything which makes its way through the window opening, combined with moisture, will get the rot going. What happened at X? Did your door take a .22 round?
Drain holes are open a free, took door panels off and made sure. sprayed the inside with KBS system Cavity Coater is a one-step, super-penetrating corrosion inhibiting coating (CIC) for long term protection on all metal surfaces. paint is RustSeal is a superior one part, ready-to-use, high-solids content, rust preventive coating, that is actually hardened by exposure to moisture. It is impervious to road salts and most every chemical. the X is a blob of weld - original to car, you know American mid 80's quality, no only shoot with 12 gauge shot guns
I think X is actually a dimple that you can drill out to make removing the power window motor 10x easier. There is a motor mounting screw directly behind that dimple. At least that is how it is on my '91.
He could borrow his grandson's or granddaughter's, to be politically correct, squirrel gun and simply blow the dimple out. It's time-saving and alot more fun. Here's an almost oldtimer performing bodywork using lead:
If used properly bodyfiller will not come back on you period! I’ve done bodywork my whole life. Now if you leave even the smallest pinhole in metal moisture will get to the back and then it will bubble out. But if all bad metal is removed and prepped and welded good with no porosity in the welds you won’t have an issue. If applied too thick will cause issues too! If a quality filler is used properly and everything else is done right it will last. I stripped and painted this 20 years ago! Still looks great to this day. This car has some filler in every panel, but was done properly.
That's why I used to braze my joints shut. Not only from the standpoint that the repair is guaranteed hermetic. Torsional strength is also assured. What I see done in modern times doesen't convince me that such repairs aren't vulnerable to moisture seeping in, judging by repairs done with MIG welders. I'm not saying it isn't possible to get a fully hermetic seal, using MIGs. But, one has to be good at it and have a good eye. Still, there are things one can't see with even a good eye. Like you write, the use of filler is inevitable. Thus, an inherent part of the job. What many used to do was to sand off holes and then just fill them up with Bondo which is dead wrong
yes it is easy to sand off and fill, and while i didn't want to go the expense of cutting and rewelding new, I did grind, wire brush and then sand old metal, treat the bad areas with rust preventive, prime with rust preventive paint then added filler. Royal pin in the neck, ultra time consuming, just to do a "patch" job
It's even more time consuming, when you add up the time involved in doing it over again, after Winter I wonder how many spouses keep secret Voodoo effigies of their tinkering with cars husbands