How to Use Body Filler - DIY Tips From A Show Car Builder

We brought our 1968 C10 SEMA Truck build over to No Coast Custom and Rod Shop to walk through how to go from metal work to body filler and prep for the paint job. We’ll show you how to use Bondo body filler as we apply it to our Chevy C10 body work.
Before starting on the body work, we sanded off the e-coat so we could get a nice surface to put some epoxy on and let that sit for a week. Then we sanded over the epoxy as a guide coat to show any low spots around the tailgate that need some extra work. You don’t want to sand through to the bare metal, just enough to give the filler something to bite into.
When it comes to mixing the body filler, it’s good to pour the mixture into about a three inch by three inch circle with a single stripe of the hardener across it, but be sure to refer to the can for specific instructions.
Perfecting using Bondo body filler may seem like a lot of work, but if you break it into small steps and follow along the project gets simpler.
#bodyfiller #bodywork #c10 #truckrestoration #bondo
0:13 - Prep for Auto Body Filler
2:23 - How to Mix Body Filler
2:58 - How to Apply Car Body Filler
3:48 - How to Sand Auto Body Filler
8:20 - How to Fix Panel Gaps with Body Filler
Parts from this episode:
Classic Truck Sheet Metal www.speedwaymotors.com/shop/c...
C10 Patch Panels www.speedwaymotors.com/shop/c...
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[@banjohero8352]

1: Sand the tail gate with 80 grit not 220 when applying body filler. 2: Knock down the High area in the tailgate or pull out the edge of the tailgate so you don't have to build up and make a thick lip. 3: Always sand your body filler down to 220 before priming Please! 4: Use powder Guide coat it will reveal all sand scratches! 5: Give your primer plenty of dry time! Trust me on these steps! I have learned the hard way!

[@rickminear9029]

Lay the tailgate down on a saw horse and you'll find it much easier to sand on filler all day .

[@jamesward5721]

One "Tip" regarding body filler few will share is when you're finished sanding, ready to prime, do one more step - paint Mipa over the entire area, using a brush. Yes, a brush. One coat is fine. Once you do this for the first time, you will never prime over body-filler without doing this, ever again. It eliminates so much ball-ache, it's unreal. Not gonna bore ye with the how, what why - just try it. Your filler will look like glass & blend perfectly with the surrounding surfaces - no more "show through". First time you try it, you WILL go "Wow!". It then becomes your standard pre-primer treatment. Mipa isn't cheap, but it is priceless. Never seen a single video on its use - my rationale on that is anyone that uses it doesn't want others to know the benefits & they treat it as a "Trade Secret". Which is probably fair enough. Every trade has secrets. I guess Mipa is one too.

[@jamesward5721]

Other HUGE benefit of using Mipa is you will see every boo-boo that would show on the final paintjob, before you shoot any paint at all. You can then address those & re-apply. It's like shooting clearcoat first, without having to - you see exactly what the final surface will look like. That alone makes it invaluable. Never mind all the other Upsides.

[@steveroy6334]

Thanks for helping DD speed shop!!! Keep helping the little guy, love your costumer service

[@speedwaymotors]

Thank you!

[@tbranscom1]

I was all on board until he started building height on the tailgate with filler, that was excessive, needed a combo of adjusting the tailgate and bumping metal around

[@Awakened133]

Agreed. 100%

[@clintonepps3666]

I would have tapped the panel up to raise low have you seen how body filler or spray filler act when hit against another car or brick

[@jestersucks515]

The shop that I work at some guys cake the filler on. The less filler you use the better

[@jodaddysdodgegarage3533]

Very nice video,clean, to the point with great info. 👍😎

[@kurtchristopher7392]

Excellent video. Thanks for sharing. Getting ready to paint my 1996 Landcruiser.

[@jeffreystorer4966]

Skinning cat's whatever works for you as long as it's got longevity , two pack epoxy highbuild primers, have come a long way,but there's not substitute for nice metal work , thanks for the tips

[@thomasstott527]

this gives true high end car building shops a bad wrap... i give it to them for using epoxy.. and making sure they do not break threw the epoxy .... but you never ... ever finish your body work in 80... and use your " high build" primer as a band aid... primer shrinks ... you will see those 80 grit sand marks... your body work should always be finished in atleast 180.. if not 220... you should be using a powder guide coat between your grit changes from 80 to 180 to insure you get your 80 grit sand marks out... but it said these guys build sema cars... fast... low quality .. most those cars dont get finished before they get to sema... they cant run inside so they rush them to get there and they only need to look good in pictures.... i guess this video shows that even "show car builders" are not doing it right 🤷

[@thomasstott527]

@@JakeStewart1343 if he stops at 80 grit.. then primes... his sanding skills are questionable 🤔

[@____MC____]

Ikr. He lost me at applying bondo over 220 sanded areas.

[@Awakened133]

Lost me at building the side of the gate(thicker edge appearance) instead of removing the gate OR using a spoon and slight pressure to bring the low edge to level.

[@jamesadamson8560]

Worked in shops where we finished in 120-150 and didn’t really get trained to make sure the 80 grit marks were sanded out between skims, have worked in shops where the standard is a lot higher and bog work is always finished in 180, all lower grit marks have been taken out along the way. The quality difference is noticeable, also working to a higher grit and better finish improves your skill set

[@markanthony3275]

"80 grit and straight" was what the bodyman had to finish the filler with before he sent it to the painter...and that was back when we used thin watery lacquer primer. Say...there's a clue in that. Maybe don't use high build on your first coat of primer...keep it more "watery" like a regular primer. Then spray two coats of high build over it when it flashes. The problem with high build is that it is thick enough to bridge the 80 grit scratch ...without sinking in right to the bottom and filling it. Now...if you make the sand scratch even finer, the primer will bridge it easier...and over time you will see sand scratches. So I would say , finish filler not with 80 maybe...but 100-120 and no finer. I once knew a bodyman who finished his filler with 220... it always looked great , but what a waste of time!

[@brucerohn116]

I work for a high-end auto restoration company, mostly doing packards, but also muscle cars. While body filler will always be used at various levels, when you have situations like the bedside tailgate issue, we would never let that much filler be at a corner point. One bump and filler can break off. Time for metal work. Also, 2-day drying time on epoxy should be sufficient. I also would fill the entire bottom of the tailgate, then cheese graded the filler for the first coat. Although we have sanding blocks as long as 4 ft. Note that the resion e coat is removed many times. Rust is left on parts before coating.

[@WJHandyDad]

very helpful... thank you!

[@camerondulohery418]

The top of the tailgate was a perfect candidate for lead

[@Awakened133]

As I see your point, have you ever dug into leaded roof seams after 20 years? Not always Purdy.

[@markanthony3275]

In the old days we would use a brazing rod to fill in a small spot here or there.

[@67polara]

Not all Epoxy Primers sand so easily I'm wondering if that's VP-2050...

[@rikacoetzer8135]

A Master at work😅 !!!!!!!!

[@Nigriff]

Not according to the top comment

[@cyrushohbach6729]

Nice video that's exactly how I do it👍👍🍒

[@Nigriff]

The quick way

[@the7tongardengnome]

I gotta big American truck that needs body work. The cab is covered in rivets and the surface is all uneven. Should I use a paint stripper around the rivets where a DA can't reach.

[@khancross]

In Germany they use tin for welds. Never seen this in the US. Any advices to this?

[@margenat5]

What if the tailgate is 5-10mm lower ,will you build a V!?

[@robokiss7822]

Does the body filler your using say apply to bare metal or on to paint

[@thomasstott527]

Never ... ever apply filler to bare metal.. even if manufacturers say it's possible.. you can have moisture cause corrosion due to the filler being porous... it's been proven to apply epoxy primer over bare metal then apply filler over epoxy

[@poortouringhotwiregarage5617]

I don't use epoxy for my 1st coat anymore. I thin lightweight polyester body filler with fiberglass resin, then roll on with a paint roller to skim the whole vehicle. Cheap, easy, super smooth, a great DTM plus tough as nails and waterproof

[@markanthony3275]

We had that in the 70's for Vettes...it was called Feather Fill. It was basic fiberglass resin with a grey primer additive, and if you didn't clean your gun out 20 minutes after you mixed it, you were throwing your gun away. The downside to all this skim coating and stuff like Feather Fill, is that it forces you to go through enormous amounts of sand paper . Using my background in the fiberglass industry I realized that to avoid devouring bundles and rolls of sandpaper , I would just cut off the supply of oxygen to the fillers...because anything with a fiberglas resin in it is anerobic...it hardens only with a lack of oxygen...that's why the surface always remains tacky. Try it on a small area of filler, take some masking paper with the plastic vapour barrier in it and slap that over the filler...and then see how it sands after 20 minutes.

[@immanutt4442]

So the said tailgate will never be opened and closed ?

[@jimk7882]

220 grit and then fill lol? The true professionals are few and far between.

[@HondasAreNotForChristmas]

I personally wouldn't go finer than 180, would be between 120 and 180 for me & I wouldn't leave the filler in 80👀

[@markanthony3275]

@@HondasAreNotForChristmas You could do 80...but if you did, you would have to spray a good coat of primer mixed to be thinner, and then follow that with two coats of high build after a good flash off period. The biggest problem with going 80 is leaving 80 marks in paint adjacent to filler, and not seeing them when you prime. 80 in paint is much worse than 80 in filler it seems. So, yeah...better to at least do 120-150...I consider 180 a waste of time , but that's me...others like it and good for them.

[@jestersucks515]

In a high turnover shop the push 80 grit to save the shop money

[@markdullaghan847]

Americans love the bondo

[@Nigriff]

Not all of us

[@Oo-rc8tp]

Says it all, show car builder, most of those cars dont run, smoke n morrors

[@poortouringhotwiregarage5617]

Your 1st tip for any show car builder should have been to metal finish as close as humanly possible. It ends up making the filler so much easier and less prone to issues down the road. NEVER use more than a 1/16" of body filler as per the manufacture's specs.

[@markanthony3275]

Many , dispensing auto body wisdom on You Tube do not even know what metal finishing is. They think it means to finish the car by coating it entirely with body filler...and making character lines and edges where there are none.

[@adamrushka8096]

He said that at 20 second

[@jamesofallthings3684]

Scotch bright for filler? I guess show cars never get used so it doesn't need to be durable.

[@Nigriff]

Now i see why show cars are so expensive.

[@stevesimpson2819]

I always wondered why show cars looked a bit off to me. Now I know it is because some guy bondo'd the crap out out of it.

[@Awakened133]

The Art of metal work, The desire for a lasting repair, and the patience to do it the right way and have pride in your work has been replaced with the industry attitude of “right now”, While throwing away “the right way”.

[@markanthony3275]

What do they say about women who use too much makeup? "Powder and paint, to make them what they ain't".

[@NickDanger1957]

Take the tailgate off really

[@jraposo911]

I think it’s gotta be installed to even it all out “together “

[@humanrefurbished]

Just found ya. Come find me.

[@MrSticks9999]

There are several things done here that I absolutely do not agree with. This is what is wrong with "show" car bodywork.

[@tommytomtomt]

$50 on the table that when you close that tailgate that Bondo will pop right off and crack eventually over time on the top of that tailgate that you build up

[@Nigriff]

It's just for show and will hardly ever get used