so its been about two weeks since i applied a layer of bondo over some fiberglass to smooth it out to get it ready for paint. the weekend i put it on was kind of chilly, low 60's, and after a day i drove it and the bondo got kinda wet, didnt think it should matter since every other time i used bondo it would dry in day max. so heres two weeks later and its still not dry enough to sand, i sand it and the sand paper gets gunked up right away. its been getting colder so i have had a small space heater pointed at the car. it seemed to work but it still doesnt sand properly.

another quick question, how much could i get a primer and paint to cover in terms of pits? does the bondo have to be PERFECTLY smooth? its on the bottom of the quarter so its not that obvious of a spot.

 

If the Bondo isn't dry, it's because you didn't use enough hardener or the temperature is too low. Getting it wet didn't help. Try using a heat and strip gun. It gets hot pretty quick so keep it moving.

You can buy filler primer in rattle cans. It will take care of minor imperfections but don't expect it to perform miracles on major flaws.

 

How much methylethylkeytoneperoxide did you put in it? Generally, when I use body filler it's hard enough to shape in half an hour, and hard as a rock in a couple of hours.

 

Sounds like the catalyst was bad or mix ratio was incorrect. I would take off the Bondo down to the last good coat or to metal if it was the first pass. You do not want to get Bondo wet. It is a sponge and will hold water and swell up. It will dry on the surface but will hold water underneath and if it was over bare metal, this will start the rust process and wreck a paint job. Same goes for painting over bad bondo, it is the foundation for the paint and if it is not cured, your paint will fail also.

Ditch the Bondo and get a newer light weight filler like Rage. It costs more but is much better and sands really easy and will cure most of your pin hole problems.

 

+1 on the Rage.

 

Not enough hardener or the hardener separated, it CAN separate into a liquid and a creme, the colored liquid will color the dough, but it wont make it get hard.

Make sure the hardener is mixed up well.

In any case, no matter what, that stuff needs to come out, (every last iota of it) it will probably NEVER dry, and it certainly won't ever dry right.

And yea ditch the bondo, there is lots of other stuff that is tons better.

 

i went and checked out the Rage stuff... is it really worth the price? 4 times more then bondo for the same amount. anyway i got it fixed right. hopefully ill be painting sometime this week. any comments on paint setup? im decideing between the original ivy gold that matches the interior, black, or possibly red. im probably gonna use my dads 4 car garage to paint it has a ceiling window so ill take it out and stick a fan for ventilation, going to make kind of a cube of plastic so i dont have to heat the whole garage (going to be anywhere from 50-60F) would i need a primer if no metal is exposed? any suggs on the brand/type of paint?

 

I think you should go with Ivy Gold if it matches the interior.

 

I guess it really depends on the overall budget of your build. It sure sands easy and doesn't leave any pin holes. It also doesn't shrink like bondo.

As for paint I chose PPG Deltron DBC followed by PPG Concept DCU 2002 clear. Cost of materials was just over $2000, I painted in my garage like you're looking to do. Put a fan in the window with a good filter blowing in, will help keep the dust down.

 

Rage Evercoat is only 40 dollars for a gallon. Yes it is worth it. It is small change when you look at the cost of the paint. It will save you hours of work

I used the following products for my at home paint and was into it for $800
SPI Epoxy Primer
SPI High Build Primer
TCP Global Base Coat
SPI Clear Coat
http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/Pricing%20Info.htm
http://www.tcpglobal.com/restorationshop/rspcolors.aspx

Hope you are going to use respirator, gloves and a paint suit. Paint is nasty stuff. If you are doing basecoat/clearcoat read up on the dangers of Iso's.

Here is my paint booth I built outside. You may find it helpful.
http://chris66dad.tripod.com/id24.html