Body filler help

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Discussion

felixlighter

Original Poster:

228 posts

154 months

Thursday 25th April 2013
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Hi all, looking for help please

Just carried out some repairs to on my old car bodywork, filled, smoothed, primed and painted. Taking a lot of time getting things smoothed out it seems Iv'e wasted a long time as after spraying cellulose paint 50/50 mix on top the repair the filler has shrunk and there is a ring around the repair. Where I was expecting a light polish and "job done"it looks a mess.
Any ideas what causes this and how to overcome it please.

andym1603

1,841 posts

179 months

Thursday 25th April 2013
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How deep was the filler? To me it sounds like it was more than just a skim. Filler should only be used thinly once most of the panel has been hammered out.
If this is the case I would be tempted to dig it out and start again.

felixlighter

Original Poster:

228 posts

154 months

Thursday 25th April 2013
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The thicknes varies , a skim to 3mm . I have dug some out of the door panel and it was soft.

Crafty_

13,482 posts

207 months

Saturday 27th April 2013
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If it was soft it hasn't gone off, mixed up wrong ?

3mm is the upper limit for depth imho. I'd look to do some metalwork to minimise that, 20 minutes with a hammer & dolly can save lots of time the other end..

What did you use after filler ? sealers/primer etc ?


felixlighter

Original Poster:

228 posts

154 months

Saturday 27th April 2013
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Apparently Upol big easy could be the problem as it's in the cheaper end of the market unknown to me at the time of purchase. Going to try BarCoat on top of the primer filler and then top coat. This should provide a barrier to stop the cellulose getting past.

paintman

7,765 posts

197 months

Saturday 27th April 2013
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TBH I'd be inclined to remove the lot & start again.
I've used 'Easy One' & won't again. Pinhole city & I threw most of a tin full away.

Edited by paintman on Saturday 27th April 20:53

felixlighter

Original Poster:

228 posts

154 months

Sunday 28th April 2013
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What's your recomendation for a good filler that doesn't give problems???

Crafty_

13,482 posts

207 months

Sunday 28th April 2013
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Not at that stage yet but I'm told Upol smooth 7 is better than big easy.
Another one that I see lots of people use is an american one called rage gold, made by evercoat.


If you want to combat shrinkage get the filler on and put the car out in the sun for a few days, heat/cool cycles should help to accelerate any shrinkage, which you can then rectify, hopefully with primer coats / stopper.

Edited by Crafty_ on Sunday 28th April 09:04

paintman

7,765 posts

197 months

Sunday 28th April 2013
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I use either Latico (from a local motor factor) or Loctite (Plastic Padding) Ultima. Good results with both, but Ultima is the better. Ultima comes either in tins or as a two cartridge system which measures the precise mix amount of filler & hardener. The cartridge holder is eye wateringly expensive to buy, I managed to get mine free.
When you fill you must prime or you will get the 'fried egg' effect around the filler edge. I use a 2k high build primer. I don't like aerosol primers as they can be incompatible with cellulose paints - the thinners attacks them - not an issue with 2k primers.

Edited by paintman on Sunday 28th April 10:26

Crafty_

13,482 posts

207 months

Sunday 28th April 2013
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I was chatting to a mate and he suggested the use of celly primers might have also contributed. He always uses 2 pack primers now and lets it harden before painting for at least a few days.




TallPaul

1,518 posts

265 months

Sunday 28th April 2013
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More info needed!
What did the filler go on top of, bare metal, galvanised steel, aluminium, old paint, factory paint, multiple layers of previous paint? Did you harden it with the correct ratio of catalyst? How long did you leave the primer for before applying the topcoat, did you flat the primer before applying the topcoat?

felixlighter

Original Poster:

228 posts

154 months

Monday 29th April 2013
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TallPaul said:
More info needed!
What did the filler go on top of, bare metal, galvanised steel, aluminium, old paint, factory paint, multiple layers of previous paint? Did you harden it with the correct ratio of catalyst? How long did you leave the primer for before applying the topcoat, did you flat the primer before applying the topcoat?
Well it went on top af all of that except alluminium , galvenised. the primer was left for a day flattened and top coat applied.

T1pper

275 posts

143 months

Wednesday 1st May 2013
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I have used big easy and it has been ok (easy to sand), used 3 coats of high build primer to seal everything up after the filler and flat back between each coat for a nice finish, used wet n dry on last coat for a ready to paint surface.

Painted in black pearl celly (Halfords) with a 2k clear coat (ebay) both in aerosol cans first class finish!

It is harder than people think to get filler to blend into the surounding area and even the smallest repair will need a few coats of filler rubbing down between each application to acheive a seemless repair.

Additionally this can not be done in an afternoon it takes time for the filler and primer to fully harden and become dry enough to sand properly before appling the next coat, last filler/paint job I did was done over 2 days.

felixlighter

Original Poster:

228 posts

154 months

Saturday 4th May 2013
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Problem was caused by the paint thinner, Chxrchxll paints topcoat thinner, supplied by my local paint supplier, it'smore like paint stripper.