67 Panel Project Page 18

This page marks a HUGE setback for our Panel Project. After investigating with a couple of auto body supply stores, we found out that the primer that was applied on our project was applied too soon in the project. This primer is the final urethane sanding primer and was not meant to be applied directly to the metal. First first stage should have been first applying a metal prep., then a self etching primer, then a sealer primer on top of that. So now we have to strip the Panel back down to the metal, then start again. The first picture shows the top after we sanded it back down to the metal, wiped it down with metal prep, and applied two coats of self etching primer. The self etching primer bonds to the metal exceptionally well, and creates a base for the next two primers that will be applied. The second picture shows the primer sealer applied. This primer does an excellent job of sealing the metal off from any moisture that could possibly get to it through the paint.

As we progressed farther in stripping off the the sanding primer we discovered some “Pin Hole” rust in the right rear quarter. This is where we discovered another major setback!! The rear of this project had been repaired at another body shop, and rather than fix the rust they decided to just apply “Bondo” on top of it. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!! When you do this, the rust will just continue under your new paint job blistering the paint. Not only will it have destroyed the new paint job, it will have caused a minor problem that was a fairy easy to fix to now require major surgery to repair. The first picture shows the new rust that had already started under the work and we haven’t even painted the project yet! Had this been allowed to go on unchecked, in a matter of less than a year the paint would have blistered. The second picture shows what other shoddy work was done. As you can see, a new piece of metal was applied right over the old metal that was left over after they cut out a section. This is another major mistake. Water will get trapped between the two surfaces and rapidly rust the area out!

In these two pictures, the first one shows the back side of the bad section so you can better see how bad it really was. The second picture shows the lower quarter removed and the metal behind treated with Rust Mort to convert and stop the rust from advancing any farther. We will shoot the back panel of the work area with a good zinc primer and sealer and once we apply the new patch panel, this area shouldn’t ever give us any problems in the future.

Once we discovered the shoddy workmanship, we decided to check into another one of the other body shops repairs, and we found more of the same type of work. The next two pictures show the taillight section that they worked on. Not only did we find the same overlapping metal, but there was more than a 1/4″ of bondo applied over it. You can not apply bondo that thick because it will shrink and crack. You also can not apply it directly on top of welds because it doesn’t adhere very good to it. You are supposed to apply a fiberglass putty on top of welds.