Ok, got some time and money together to start some serious body work! I'm sure i'm going to need it as this is my first time! Take a look at my pic.. This is the worst of it.




From what I've read, I need to use 3M Short Strand Fiberglass Reinforced Filler. I assume the grey is primer? ... and do I need to gel coat?

Thanks for your help!

 

short strand,yes gelcoat, no.Is it cracked anywhere?The pics are hard to tell.

 

No cracks (there may be cracks elsewhere) but pitted badly... looks like someone shot it with a BB gun!

 

I'd also use a spray guide coat while sanding.

 

no gel coat necessary. spray it with a polyester primer. works as a gelcooat but easier and sands nice

 

Take off the bumper. Throw on some wheels and tires that you don't care about.

Good luck (I HATE bodywork....)

 

A lot of guys don't like doing bodywork. Some guys do. I fall into the later group. It is dirty work, time consuming, exacting and all that. But it can be extremely rewarding once your vehicle is done and painted. Look at each step as more like a step along a journey, rather than trudgery. Also, you really need to make sure you don't cut *ANY* corners.

Like was said in an earlier post, remove your bumpers and all chrome right away. Might as well remove the hood and doors too. Get some junk yard rims/tires too, or else be super carefull to cover up your rims/tires when you prime/paint.

When I look at the pictures, it looks like the car was originally white, then it was primed a bunch of times with older, lacquer primer and repainted. You can see the cracks in the paint. That was common back then as they used lacquer and it couldn't handle the expansion/contraction of the fiberglass, or even steel and the paint would crack. The quick solution back then was to spray a thick hyde of "spray n fil" which was sort of like a spray bondo and a predacessor to modern high build primers. It would fill the cracks and it would be sanded down and painted over.

If you want to do it right, I would chemically strip the whole car down to bare glass. Maybe leave the side of the fender if the bodywork is still good and you don't want to re-do it. I used Kleen Strip fiberglass safe stripper on my 81 and a razor blade to strip off 8-10 coats of old paint and primer. I had to let it sit for about an hour to penetrate all the coats. But it worked great. Of course, it's more work to do it that way, but if you take it all the way down, you know what you got and should last longer. If you don't want to get into a huge project, maybe just sand it down a ways then apply a primer, sand and paint over that. I have paint tips on my website: RepairNation.com

Good luck,

Mark G