Bondo on Corvettes

[Walter F.]

I have a small area on my Corvette that I want to try and repair myself. Part of the 32 year old paint has chipped off. I want to fill in the chip sand and repaint. Can you use bondo on such a small repair or is a special filler needed for Fiberglass ?

[Joe R.]

Re: Bondo on Corvettes

I have a small area on my Corvette that I want to try and repair myself. Part of the 32 year old paint has chipped off. I want to fill in the chip sand and repaint. Can you use bondo on such a small repair or is a special filler needed for Fiberglass ?

Walter,

Here's a thread I started on a similar topic:

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthread.php?105968-Repairing-nose-gap

I got the distinct impression that Bondo is not a good idea on fiberglass.

Joe

[Chris S.]

Re: Bondo on Corvettes

Absolutely you can use plastic filler on fiberglass. I use Rage Ultra. Bondo is a trade name made by 3M, but its real function is plastic filler. It can be used on fiberglass - It should not be used to fill cracks or bond parts together - there are other superior products for that. Plastic filler should be 1/6" of an inch thick is used to smooth body imperfections.

[Duke W.]

Re: Bondo on Corvettes

There are a lot of body filler products that are generically called "bondo" and quality varies. Most are polyester resin based as are vintage Corvette body panels, so if anything, these products are more compatible with Corvettes than steel-bodied cars.

They are fine to fill gouges, but they don't have much structural strength. so cracks or holes should be patched with fiberglass cloth or mat and polyester resin on the inside surface. Then a polyester-based filler can be used for final blending with the surrounding surface.

Duke

[Mark S.]

Re: Bondo on Corvettes

I have had good results with 3M Platinum Plus Filler. You can also purchase this filler in a small can for small jobs.

[Domenic T.]

Re: Bondo on Corvettes

Chips one thing, Cracks another. If it is cracked similar to the headlight area where you can't get behind to glass it, I found that JB slow works wonders if you V the crack. You can hold the resin in place with masking tape directly over it and the tape will peel off. Used it to fix stubborn cracks and they never cracked again.

Dom

[Edward C.]

Re: Bondo on Corvettes

There are a lot of body filler products that are generically called "bondo" and quality varies. Most are polyester resin based as are vintage Corvette body panels, so if anything, these products are more compatible with Corvettes than steel-bodied cars.

They are fine to fill gouges, but they don't have much structural strength. so cracks or holes should be patched with fiberglass cloth or mat and polyester resin on the inside surface. Then a polyester-based filler can be used for final blending with the surrounding surface.

Duke

People used the term "bondo" as a generic term all the time but its a (was) a brand. Now 3M makes "Bondo" brand products and in fact I just used a Bondo/3M fiberglass repair kit to patch the bottom of my Corvettes interior floor pan by the driver seat screw hole. It cracked around the threaded area. I used the cloth and the resin bonded to the surrounding original fiberglass very well. Easy to use. Just have to sand it out a little even though it will be under the carpet. I also patched it from underneath. That unfortunately will show a little. I was thinking of dropping some black dye in the resin and putting one more coat underneath just to blend it with the original color glass a little better.

[Dan P.]

Re: Bondo on Corvettes

The problem with body putty or Bondo is it expands and contracts differently than the the fiberglass.I know they are both Polyester. If put in the sun the car will become wavy.3m makes a Vinyl Ester filler called Premium Marine filler that was designed for fiberglass and according to there tech people will not cause any problems when left in the sun.

[Russ S.]

Re: Bondo on Corvettes

If all you have is a paint chip, sand it and surounding edge, tape of slightly larger than chip, mask the rest of the car and prime three or four coats. Remove the masking around the chip and block sand it level with the paint with about 600 wet.

I have a small area on my Corvette that I want to try and repair myself. Part of the 32 year old paint has chipped off. I want to fill in the chip sand and repaint. Can you use bondo on such a small repair or is a special filler needed for Fiberglass ?

[Stephen R.]

Re: Bondo on Corvettes

Has anyone used an airbrush for small chips, dings etc and how successful was it? (single stage lacquer)