Help with body filler

[mmasse]

I am installing turbo flares on my 911. The welding went pretty well but now I have a problem with the body filler.

I spreaded it yesterday and left if to dry overnight but it has not fully hardened. It seems that I put too little hardener. I started sanded and I realized that it was still not ready for it.

Any suggestions on how to solve it? Will heat help?

Thanks a lot

[BAD930]

Hi mmase

try a soft wire wheel or scotch brite pad on a drill, should remove it pretty easy..

I have a friend whos a panel beater and what he does when he shapes filler is applies it and then about 10 minutes later shapes it with a rough grit while its still a bit tacky and then lets it dry before he rubs it and gets it to the point he's happy with the shape

[billybek]

If it is not set up now, you don't want it to be still curing under paint or primer.
As mentioned before, remove it and try it again.
You may have a bad batch of filler or hardener.
Temperature and humidity will also cause cure time to vary.

[DasBoot]

It's pretty cold in Madrid this time of year (40d/26d F).

[dlague]

take all that filler off and get a fresh can of filler and hardner and start over.

You should also use as little filler as possible which you probably already know about. After welding in the flares you should gring the welds carefully and shape the metal so you use only a skim coat of filler.

Ask me how I know! I bought a beautiful '73 years ago and after a few years I got some cracks in the rear flare area. some clown had put like 1/2" to 3/4" of bondo over horrible body work...........we had to take the whole car down to bare metal!

do the job right the first time.

[Zeke]

Hard to save filler not catalyzed properly. I'd remove it. It will eventually harden, but you probably would rather get on with it.

[Mitch Leland]

Mario,

Like Dick says you want to minimize the depth of the filler, less is better. When you catalyzed the filler you can tell by the color after mixing how hot the mix is. The darker the final mix the hotter the mix is or the faster is will go off. Again a lot will depend on the ambient temp. If it's cold and damp then a heat lamp on the work can help.

You should have a cheese grater file to do the rough filing just before the filler dries hard. You can do a lot of hand work in this stage particularly in compound curves.

Remember if the filler didn't go off, remove it... Always put the filler on a well prepared surface that is clean and rough up, preferably bare metal, not over a painted surface.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Mitch Leland

Always put the filler on a well prepared surface that is clean and rough up, preferably bare metal, not over a painted surface.

Sticks well to any rough, cleanly prepared surface. Maybe what you mean is that the surface must be stable. Paint that is checking or going away, will still go away at the feathering point if not prepared correctly and sealed correctly. Just my experience, YMMV.

[Mia911]

you have to sand it off again and re bondo....i would used dyna grip (DURA GLASS) its a fiberglass bondo, lightweight and very forgiving to use.....sand back and re prep your area, and only mix small portion at a time, this is to make sure it don't get hard on you....

[DanielDudley]

Next batch use a heat lamp, heater, or even a blow dryer. If you think you put enough hardener in it and mixed it well, then try a hairdryer on this batch.

[Mitch Leland]

"Maybe what you mean is that the surface must be stable".

Stable is good, bare metal is better...

[mmasse]

thanks for all the inputs!!

I will check when I come back from the office today. Yesterday night it seemed to be hardening...although it was taking TOO much time. It was just my mistake I did not mix enough hardener. I worked with the same filler on the other side, properly mixed, and no problems.

Mia 911. I actually did what you are recommending. I used FG bondo for the first pass and then regular Bondo for the imperfections...and I applied on bare metal.

I did work on the metal as much as I could, but not being an expert I still need bondo in some place, but not 1/2"!!!

Thanks again for all the inputs

Cheers