Stop using Bondo to fill dents on daily drivers with thin metal

I swear half the cars I see rolling through shops around here have bondo jobs that crack after one winter. If the panel has any flex at all like on a Honda Civic from 2008 you are begging for trouble. I had a guy bring in a door last month where the previous guy laid it on a quarter inch thick. I tapped it with a hammer and it fell right off in one chunk. Use a stud welder and a slide hammer to pull the metal back close first. Then feather the filler thin maybe 1/8 inch max. Has anyone else had to redo these hack jobs from other shops or is it just my luck?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendy39126d ago

Did your buddy have to fix one of those bondo bombs too? My friend Jen bought a used 2005 Corolla and the rear quarter panel had this huge gray patch that looked like playdough. She hit a pothole and the whole thing cracked right down the middle. We peeled it off with a putty knife and found rust underneath that went straight through. Took her two weekends to cut it out and weld in a proper piece of metal from a junkyard.

rubys8026d ago

Peel that bondo off and Oh MAN the surprises underneath are ALWAYS terrible. But I gotta gently correct you on one thing though - that 2005 Corolla doesn't have a "rear quarter panel" the way you think. It's actually a quarter panel extension, not the full panel. The real quarter panel on those is welded from the factory and runs from the rear door opening all the way back to the taillight. The gray patch you peeled was probably on that lower extension piece that bolts on separate. Your friend did the right thing cutting it out and welding in junkyard metal, but just so you know for next time, those extension panels are actually removable with like 6 bolts if you catch the rust early enough. Saves a whole lot of cutting and welding.

jamiew5319d ago

So @rubys80, did that bondo crumble like a stale cookie when you poked it?