all i can say is i like the fine stuff and anythings better than p38 or plastic padding you can get bodyline filler but ive never tried it worth asking at the local body/paint shop what they use/recommend
Ray
i was watching american hotrod last night, and it was the one with the 1940's ford (that or the '44'... i couldn't really tell)
and when they came to do the filling, they had this bright green filler, that went on so easily, and fairly runny. they smeared it into a corner with
their fingers, and could run their finger along the panel about 1ft per second
anyone know what this stuff is? i've been using U-pol, and find it really thick, and a bit too hard to work with sometimes. and it keeps sticking
to my gloves.
any other recommendations?
quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
i was watching american hotrod last night, and it was the one with the 1940's ford (that or the '44'... i couldn't really tell) and when they came to do the filling, they had this bright green filler, that went on so easily, and fairly runny. they smeared it into a corner with their fingers, and could run their finger along the panel about 1ft per second
anyone know what this stuff is? i've been using U-pol, and find it really thick, and a bit too hard to work with sometimes. and it keeps sticking to my gloves.
any other recommendations?
are you using upol c or the fine easy sanding stuff, upol extra the last last time i bought some.
all i can say is i like the fine stuff and anythings better than p38 or plastic padding you can get bodyline filler but ive never tried it worth
asking at the local body/paint shop what they use/recommend
Ray
lol u-concrete 
its goes on so thick you end up sanding most of it off! if you try to do thin layers, it sticks to the 'spreader' (?) and pulls right back
off again!
topstop in the red tin.....best you can get imho....
where would i get topstop? can i get it from the likes of halfords? or more specialist?
i'll try my local paint suppliers. the guy in there's pretty cool
here's what i got
Description
and here's what it does
Description
it drags (red)
and pulls off (blue)
ok, so i didn't want it where the blue line is anyway, and thats why the paint is still so smooth so that won't have helped, but its a pain
in the bottom
just mix some fiberglass resin in with it,halfrauds sell it in small quantities,flows far smoother,goes alot further and gives you more time,goes off with the normal hardener
ah, so you can just thin it? nothing to lose. if it ruins it i'll just buy some more (better) stuff!
i'll gove that a shot thanks
in america its called BONGO
it doesnt like the cold weather is your work area cold?
Ray
quote:
Originally posted by RAYLEE29
it doesnt like the cold weather is your work area cold?
Ray
you loose the elasticity if you mix resin with it....
^ ah, thats true... it would be a bit brittle i suppose...
I've always used isopon, p38 and p40, one has fibre based in and the other is easy-sand, I've found that ambient temp can have quite an effect on the ease of use as they are thermogenic. Easily available and when you mix it well you can achieve very good results.
this is the stuff....
ah, yeah, i'll be able to get that easy enough. i'll give it a shot
don't think i've got a huge amount of body work to do, but will be an better finish if i've got a decent filler to work with. all my
body work is very 2nd hand (race 2nd hand, some panels broken completely in 2!)
what ever filler you use, put it on with a metal spreader, it'll go on a lot smoother.( 25 years doing body work)!!
quote:
Originally posted by tomgregory2000
in america its called BONGO
sorry dont agree....
i find a decent soft plasic filler spreader better and you can shape it if your are going between curves....i think the art of filling is more to do
with your ability to feel the pannell surface before and after to keep your block rubbing flat...if you are worried its best to add too much and rub
back......
i find that if you put a bit of tissue under your hand and rub across the pannell you will feel any deveations in the surface...its something that
takes time and practice....
last time i did some filling, it was freezing and the filler was really stiff. so i got the paint stripper gun out and gave it a waft with that just to see. Only a second or two on the spatuler but what a difference that made. It was miles better. I use a perspex scraper for flat things, but agree a softer one would be best for curves. HTH
i've only got plastic spreaders at the moment, so they're what i'll use
round 2 in a minute, so i'll try heating the filler with a heat gun before i use it. see how i get on.
cheers everyone! some ideas to keep me going there hopefully i won't have too much filling to do on this car lol
I find by far the best spreader is an old credit/bank card.....
BTW you people do know all of these fillers are just a polyester resin with talc to thicken in up don't you? So it will have all the same
behaviour....
You need more practise, that's all and rub it down with some 80 grit first layer so the second layer keys better and goes on thinner just to fill
the scratches. Don't let your applicator whatever you use get too flat to the surface and keep the edge of it clean. Don't heat the filler
before you use it, you could warm the surface it's going on then warm the filler after it's on there. My favourite spreader is a piece of
thin shim steel, it flexes the filler back off when it hardens so it keeps a good edge.
[Edited on 15/2/10 by Peteff]
warmer garage didn't work very well, and warming the panel seems to make it go hard faster. also use a old loyalty card as a spreader since it
was extra flexable. didn't really come up much better, but a little bit more sanding should see the right shape. i think about 70% of the filler
i put on ends up sanded back off again lol
true enough its all in the practise though. its much better than my first attempts at it all those years ago lol
we need pics!!!!
it wasn't pretty to start with, and not very well repaired, but just want to 'pretty it up' lol a new door is £120+vat 
Description
i ground it all down with the grinder, and skimmed it with fibreglass filler. sanded down and then filler
Description
Description
not finished yet, but i was getting annoyed with looking at the same panel lol.
here's how it started when i got it free
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so last year (or the year before?) i fibreglassed the back with the crap from halfords
as long as it looks half decent i'm happy. although a few sharp jolts in the road, it'll probably all fall out 
hi, dont get the davids stuff upol is definately better nice to see your work area is as tidy as mine lol
p40 is ok for bridging but p38 is like porrige compared to the fine upol
stuff
another thing use it as quickly as poss dont hang about as soon as it starts going off bin it
also ice cream tub lids are good to mix on
leave a film of filler on it when it goes off bend the lid and itll all come off
when mixing do it with a folding action as apposed to strirring youll get less air bubbles
Ray
ha ha work area?! thats the back of the car
i was using a ice cream tub lid. i found it laying out there and decided to use it.
its turining out alright. just a pain having to do it so many times because the filler keeps dragging on the spreader leaving big scores in it lol. it
was just because that stuff they had on telly looked so much easier to work with, i thought there must be a better way
[Edited on 15/2/10 by blakep82]