First Time With Bondo

[cooldudejz 10+ year member]

i recently made some new kickpanels out of fiberglass. Now the hard part for me is getting these things smooth enough for me to paint. I just cant seem to do it. I have done several layers each time increases the grit. i went from 80 to 120 to 220 and i still cant get it completely smooth. i think it has to do with the way i am applying the bondo, which is with a putty knife. the round edges are killing me. can anyone give me any hints/tips to getting this thing smooth. if i cant that it looks like i will be carpeting, but i really dont want to.

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[Rawr-DQ 10+ year member]

after the bondo, you would want to do some primer, perhaps a spray can from home depot or something. Try different builds if you want, just keep on sanding. However, don't use anything with rust inhibiting ingredients like rustoleum.

 

[xtremekustomz 10+ year member]

i recently made some new kickpanels out of fiberglass. Now the hard part for me is getting these things smooth enough for me to paint. I just cant seem to do it. I have done several layers each time increases the grit. i went from 80 to 120 to 220 and i still cant get it completely smooth. i think it has to do with the way i am applying the bondo, which is with a putty knife. the round edges are killing me. can anyone give me any hints/tips to getting this thing smooth. if i cant that it looks like i will be carpeting, but i really dont want to.

After you put the bondo on...use 80 grit to shape. Then move to a 180 and finish sand it. You can buy some automotive primer and spray it with an automotive gun and it will fill any scratches. After you spray the primer..sand with 400 and paint. Also if you decide to cover, I would recommend doing vinyl. You can stretch it alot. I know Stinger makes a really stretchable vinyl.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Just sand. Don't add more bondo after each sanding which is my understanding of what you are trying to do based on your post. Put on the initial layer of bondo, it doesn't need to be very thick at all, and start sanding with 40ish grit as soon as the bondo starts getting rubbery to knock down the high spots. Once the bondo hs set up more, switch to 120 grit. Once you can't get it any smoother with that, go with 200 grit.

If after the 200 grit you have any scratches left in the surface, you can use high build primer in a spray gun or glazing putty to fill them in followed with sanding with 200-400 grit. From there spray a light coat of dark paint and go over the whole thing with sand paper to find the high spots and sand them down. Repeat this until you have a smooth, uniform surface.

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

did you wear protection?