plastic body filler or fiberglass resin jelly?
 

I have my C2 stripped to the glass. Plastic body filler (bondo) was used on all bonding strips. It was applied about 30 years ago. Now that I stripped it, should I use plastic filler or fiberglass resin jelly.

If I use resin jelly, should I try to remove all of the bondo (to me a scary thought)?

Another question, portions of my fender "peaks" have fiberglass hairs sticking out. It is not real bad but I am worried that the body lines will not be as sharp as stock. should I put a little resin jelly there. I will be using three coats of primer. I have been told that the primer will take care of it.

i'm not sure what 'resin jelly' is, but if it is like resin, it has NO strength by itself and is VERY brittle; i would not use it alone as a filler.

conventional wisdom is to remove as much of any body filler you have and replace it with a newer material (any shop that you would take it to would insist on doing that or they wouldn't take the job or guarantee it). that way you are using the latest and greatest material currently available, and you will know what you have.

a good heavy coat(s) of a good polyester primer/surfacer will seal the glass. some people will advocate spraying it with gelcoat to seal it, but i see no harm in using some resin to do the same thing in a small area.
Bill

Check this product out.

http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?p...10&dept_id=127


Eddie

I am refering to a product made by Bondo. They call it Fiberglass Resin Jelly which you mix with a hardener. Apparently you can use it along with fiberglass to do repairs. The person who suggested it suggested it be used instead of bondo plastic body filler.

i did a google search and here is what i found:

Thick gel, high viscosity resin. Will not run or sag on vertical surfaces. Designed for use with fiberglass mat or cloth. Will repair damaged fiberglass and rusted out metal areas. Blue cream hardener included.

it sounds like it is only a thick resin and must be used in conjunction with fiberglass mat or cloth. if this is the product you are talking about, then i definitely do not recoommend that it be used alone.
Bill

The only filler I would use to redo your body lines or fill in low spots is Evercoat 870, a very dense filler that is very close to the density of the original glass. It will not shrink like other fillers that are 20-30% or more talc. I would not sharpen up fender lines with glass.

If your seam lines are busting out, then you can dish grind them and glass in the seams which is a bunch of work. If they aren't bad and you are looking to grind out the old bondo for some reason, you could fill with the 870 or the new Evercoat Glasslite, which is a fiber reinforced lightweight finish filler or even their Fibertech, however it will require to be ground and finish coated with 870.

I would stay away from seams if possible. Use the evercoat to skim the seams and block sand. It's almost impossible to completely hide seams in glass bodies. (If it ain't broken, don't fix it). If you like sharp peaks, I have no fix other than trying to block sand and resore VS trying to add material. You can build up the peaks somewhat, but you may want to have someone who has done this before to fix them so you don't damage existing glass.