Some people shouldn't do bodywork....

[1 Wild R/T]

Helping a friend who wants to paint his car himself... I'm just providing guidance.. We've started stripping paint, gonna take everything down to bare metal... I'd noticed there was some filler on both front fenders... I hadn't put together why... Now I have... They brazed up some emblem holes.... Then bashed the area down & mudded her up... A little hammer & dolly work would have gotten it down to less than a teaspoon of filler... Instead the whole area was over 1/4" thick.... Honestly if they had just blocked the mud till a few high spots peeked through it would have only been 1/8" instead the whole area had an unnatural crowned shape.... Both fenders were this way... When it's done there'll be less than 1/8" of filler...

 

[A70Runner]

My RR was the same way. Probably from an accident in the 70’s. Brazing was very common. The whole quarter was done that way.

 

[eldubb440]

 

[Charles Cook]

That’s my brother from another mother. Lol

 

[Kern Dog]

I don’t see a problem.
On second thought…..

(Kidding, of course)

 

[69L48Z27]

Cave and Pave!

 

[jimbosride]

Patina ??

 

[eldubb440]

it's like Jesus toast

 

[khryslerkid]

Back when these cars were daily drivers if you got a dent it got smoothed over with bondo and spot/blend painted.

If it started to develop rust they knocked out the loose stuff and pop riveted a piece of scrap sheet metal over it. Bondo and paint. A lot of times the hole was packed with steel wool, newspaper or even a piece of wood. I've seen body shops use a coat hanger for welding material and torch weld a piece of scrap over the hole. Back then it was just about making the car last another year or two or get it to pass inspection.

 

[66 Sat]

My motto is "I'll do my best and bondo the rest!"

 

[Xp29h]

Helping a friend who wants to paint his car himself... I'm just providing guidance.. We've started stripping paint, gonna take everything down to bare metal... I'd noticed there was some filler on both front fenders... I hadn't put together why... Now I have... They brazed up some emblem holes.... Then bashed the area down & mudded her up... A little hammer & dolly work would have gotten it down to less than a teaspoon of filler... Instead the whole area was over 1/4" thick.... Honestly if they had just blocked the mud till a few high spots peeked through it would have only been 1/8" instead the whole area had an unnatural crowned shape.... Both fenders were this way... When it's done there'll be less than 1/8" of filler...

View attachment 1666599

Wow! Looks like something some of the boys here in Maine would have done!

 

[Monc440]

I grew up working in my dad’s body shop and he only did specialty vehicles, mainly hot rods and muscle cars. The way this was repaired was not the best or “correct” way to repair it but let me ask you, how old do you think that repair is and was it coming out or showing before you stripped the paint? If it is more than a few years old, not showing or popping out the repair worked and probably would have went unnoticed for many more years.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

I grew up working in my dad’s body shop and he only did specialty vehicles, mainly hot rods and muscle cars. The way this was repaired was not the best or “correct” way to repair it but let me ask you, how old do you think that repair is and was it coming out or showing before you stripped the paint? If it is more than a few years old, not showing or popping out the repair worked and probably would have went unnoticed for many more years.

It was securely bonded to the steel... But it wasn't even close to an invisible repair.... The first time I saw the car I knew there was filler on both front fenders... I just didn't know why.... Pretty simple really if you consider beating a dent into a previously straight panel then filling it with bondo an acceptable repair I wouldn't want you working on my stuff...

 

[68BabyBlue]

Back when these cars were daily drivers if you got a dent it got smoothed over with bondo and spot/blend painted.

If it started to develop rust they knocked out the loose stuff and pop riveted a piece of scrap sheet metal over it. Bondo and paint. A lot of times the hole was packed with steel wool, newspaper or even a piece of wood. I've seen body shops use a coat hanger for welding material and torch weld a piece of scrap over the hole. Back then it was just about making the car last another year or two or get it to pass inspection.

I did this stuff with my daily driver Valiant back in the day. The dealer who owned my GTX used OEM sheet metal, but it's an understatement that he had deeper pockets than most guys driving those cars in the 70s.

 

[ckessel]

For many car owners, repair cost outweighs correctly doing the work.

 

[1967coronet]

Standards in the industry have changed.
I will add ( for the better ).
Also when guys have a fit over the price of a paint job or repair these days you can always find a cheaper deal.

 

[Rich H.]

Cave and Pave, push it out the door, next car, collect a paycheck.

If it started to develop rust they knocked out the loose stuff and pop riveted a piece of scrap sheet metal over it.

Guilty, I did exactly that in the early 90s after I struck out getting any help. But....it had already been "done" that way once before, I just did a slightly less horrible job and painted it a much better color (went with black instead of do-do brown). Enjoyed the car 30 years well past the point of that stuff all failing.

Glad I hung on to both the car, and the passion long enough to come around to doing it right.

 

[TBZ67HEMI]

Just went through the same thing on my 67. We uncovered a lot of bondo and decided to replace both quarters.

They were supposed to be good to paint but something didn't look right to which we uncovered lots of bondo and warping on both sides.

Glad we caught it so it will be right.

 

[AR67GTX]

My 67 GTX has more bondo in it than I appreciate. One lower quarter has been replaced and looks like a fairly nice, butt-welded repair. The other side has some crap in it right behind the wheel well that I can feel down in the trunk drop off. The guy I bought it from said it had damage there from something but not rust. I would say that’s questionable. But after 20+ years nothing is surfacing. But the guy who painted it skipped filing several minor dings and apparently had no concept of block or board sanding. It’s saving grace is WW1 white paint. I would like to fix everything and repaint it but I believe in doing that sort of thing myself and I don’t have access to a paint booth and restoration paint shop prices have gotten ridiculous. Talk about inflation. So . . . Makes a good cruise night car as I don’t worry about kids, drunks and idiots doing it any damage.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

My 67 GTX has more bondo in it than I appreciate. One lower quarter has been replaced and looks like a fairly nice, butt-welded repair. The other side has some crap in it right behind the wheel well that I can feel down in the trunk drop off. The guy I bought it from said it had damage there from something but not rust. I would say that’s questionable. But after 20+ years nothing is surfacing. But the guy who painted it skipped filing several minor dings and apparently had no concept of block or board sanding. It’s saving grace is WW1 white paint. I would like to fix everything and repaint it but I believe in doing that sort of thing myself and I don’t have access to a paint booth and restoration paint shop prices have gotten ridiculous. Talk about inflation. So . . . Makes a good cruise night car as I don’t worry about kids, drunks and idiots doing it any damage.

View attachment 1668402

There's nothing wrong with a car with a 20 paint job... I prefer to drive them vs show them... But I've done enough block sanding to know the basics & if a younger guy is willing to do the bulk of the labor I'm willing to guide him... If I don't have the needed skill I know plenty who do, just gotta twist their arm...

We started down this road just planning to fix the 340... Then when we looked into what it needed he decided he'd rather apply that $$$ to a Gen III Hemi swap.... So we started down that path... I figured that would be enough.. The car was very much a 20 footer but still very cool & you didn't need to worry about rock chips/door dings...

But he decided since we're this deep onto it now is a good time to paint the car..... I tried to talk him out of it but he's set on doing paint... So at this point the car has been chemically stripped & the sanding out filler has begun... We'll get it all bare & in epoxy & evaluate from there...