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Today, we're going to be working with a two part polyester filler. You've heard
me talk about body filler in the past.
Sometimes it's called mud, sometimes I called it Bondo - Bondo is the manufacturer name, sometimes
it's just called body filler. Basically, this stuff is gonna allow us
to smooth over
any of the surface imperfections. As I told you before, aftermarket parts are
imperfect. They span a few years. They're never exact. Sometimes the way they're
made
is a mold is taken of an existing body. They'll make another mold, make another mold
from that and then they have their final mold - the negative mold.
And what you're left with is a mold that will stamp a piece of steel into
the shape of the new part.
The chances of that aftermarket piece matching perfectly is pretty slim.
At this point, there are probably
five panels that are complete. Everything's been grinding, welding, sanded and
hammered the best we can with the metal.
Now it's time for the polyester filler.
The filler we're using this high quality
and it's also very strong so it'll add rigidity to the panel. The body filler is
used to smooth out and make all the areas consistent. It also means we're
going to use a very very thin skim coat of this polyester filler. About eighty five
to ninety percent
of this stuff will end up on the floor when we're all done with it. The first and roughest stage, we use a
rasp to get the
general shape of the body down. After that we use what's called block sanding.
We use a very large sanding block to give us a nice flat and consistent edge
from side to side across the entire panel. So this is the polyester filler that
we're using.
as a skim coat on the
front end of Minerva
and other body panels as well.
This stuff is self levelling.
This also has an air release agent so all the little tiny bubbles that are
trapped in there get pushed to the surface.
It gets rid of pinholes.
Another good thing I like about this body filler...
when you sand it, it falls.
It doesn't become airborne so much so it's better for your lungs. Always wear your
respirator!
So, you'll notice this panel is
a light blue. You're gonna see that
probably all around Minerva.
But, don't worry.
Any show car that you've ever seen
that has that glassy finish with a really nice paint job...
The only real good way to get that
is a really thin coat
of this polyester filler
the really high quality stuff.
You get a mirror finish.
And when we do the airbrush work, you'll see what we mean when we're all done.
*music* (Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf)