Body Fillers?

[rbattelle]

What do you guys like for body fillers?

My only experience with fillers is Evercoat. I think they make great stuff, but having never tried anything else I thought I'd see whether there's something better.

I need to do some minor dent smoothing on 9 Ga. (~0. 137") plate steel, non-galvanized. My knee-jerk reaction was to use Metal-2-Metal. The imperfections I'm filling are <1/8" depth. This is not an autobody application, so absolute perfection is not required. Topcoat will be a DTM Alkyd, and I probably won't bother using a glazing compound over the filler (since a perfect finish isn't required). The area to be patched is only roughly 6"x8". Here's a photo of the area to be smoothed (not dialup friendly!).

I want something that's strong and won't chip out if it's struck with an errant tool. I considered using lead, but I think a filler might be easier to work with.

Ryan

 

[Nate]

Just fill in the dents with weld and grind/sand it smooth

 

[y-knot]

You can fill some dents or imperfections with weld, but to get a very smooth body like finish you have to use fillers. Not sure what the part is, but I have built many projects where I wanted a very smooth finish and used body fillers and spot putty to fill them. Even grind marks will show through the paint it they are not filled correctly.

Today the paint systems are very complicated, and I usually stay with one brand through out the project, so I know there will not be any issues with chemical reactions and pigment bleed thru. I'm working on a 1933 Ford and have decided to paint it in several different Hughes of candy, I will only use the House of Color products on that frame and body. I will also be pulling my Buckstop bumpers off here in a month or two and will modify them then re-Finnish them. There I will use Gold Rage to fill the imperfections in the metal, i have used it before and it works great with most all finishes.

 

[rbattelle]

I wouldn't even consider filling this in with weld. It would warp the metal into a pretzel, not to mention it would take an enormous quantity of electrodes to fill.

Perhaps the better way to ask my question is:

what brand body filler do you like best? Why?

Ryan

 

[Nate]

Of course a stick welder wouldn't do that job. :-laf



You would need to use a MIG, which is what I had on the brain when I posted that since that's the only welder I have.

 

[rbattelle]

You would need to use a MIG, which is what I had on the brain when I posted that since that's the only welder I have.

That's funny, I only do stick so that's what I immediately thought of when you posted that.



Even with the huge deposition rates on MIG welders, it seems like it would waste a lot of wire filling this area in. Besides, I still figure the heat would warp the heck out of the metal (although I think MIG welders run much cooler than the SMAW process, so I guess it wouldn't be quite as much of a problem).



Ryan

 

[Nate]

What exactly is this part?



You could use Bondo or any other plastic filler.

 

[rbattelle]

What exactly is this part?



You could use Bondo or any other plastic filler.

It's the front of the table support column on a small bandsaw.



I think I'm just going to go with the Metal-2-Metal.



Ryan

 

[rbattelle]

Well, I changed my mind. I decided to go with Rage instead of Metal-2-Metal.

I did some reading on Hotrod and other automotive restoration sites and people really seem to like Rage. Actually, Rage Extreme would be preferred, but they don't sell it in quarts.

Ryan

 

[crawler]

I prefer Rage Extreme and then after that is sanded down I use Slick Sand.



Slick sand is like a liquid "bondo" that you spray from a gun. It can also be painted over as a primer.



~Wes~