I have been in the auto body industry for nineteen years and started in a new shop this past year. The guys there put bondo over scuffed up paint and say this is common practice now. I have never heard of this but they say you can as long as you have good paint adhesion, so I ask, how do you know you have good paint adhesion? I will not do it this way and get harassed for taking to long with feather out the edges. Four guys in this shop that have their own specific jobs, one tears the cars apart, one does straightening and bondo, one does painting and I do all of the above plus esimating. Thank God I've got a (non auto body) job in the works because this is just one of there practices I have never heard of, have any of you? and are there other shops out there who just have only specific jobs for their techs because one can't paint or straighten a panel ect.?
Thanks for your comments, Todd

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The only company I have ever known to recommend applying their filler over paint is UPOL. They say you can simply apply any of their fillers, incl. their 'glass reinforced filler, directly to OEM paint....unsanded and unscuffed at that. You
WILL NOT catch me doing it.

Todays fillers are designed to go directly to metal more than ever before. Evercoats fillers; Rage, Rage Gold, Z-Grip, and Everglass are all part of Evercoats Metalworks systems which all contain a certain chemical to help the fillers to bite the metal and bond stronger than ever before.
Marson has also reformulated their Platinum fillers with the same type chemical. Both of the companies now offer lifetime warranties against corrosion and failure when using these products.
I dont think you'll get either of the companies to recommend applying their fillers over paint. I know Evercoat does not even like to hear of people putting their fillers over Epoxy primers, which some paint manufacturers so strongly recommend.....and I have my issues with.

Polyester glazing putties are a different story and can be applied over scuffed paint.

As for the shops with techs with specific jobs.....you have obviously not been in any high production shops. REAL combo-men are few and far between in most high production areas.

Shannon

If it's glazing putty, then it's OK. He might be using "Bondo" as a generic term for filler or glazing putty.

We are using Evercoat fillers with two part Evercoat final glaze.

Obviously I'm not in a high production shop because I (a combo man) can can out produce these specific job techs 2 to 1. Just gets frustrating having to stop and help these guys who have limited abilities. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

i have been working in body shops for about 12 years now and that sounded weird to me at first too, because i had started in restoration shops. it is very common today because of the many new cars with such thin metal. if the metal is grinded (especially in the middle of the door) the whole door heats up and warps. bondo over paint, sounds weird, but its common today with the right filler.

The Bondo can warp some of today's sheet metal. If you ever get a chance, mix up a batch of bondo and a batch of glazing putty and see which on gets hotter. I bet'cha you can't keep the bondo in your hand! http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

I use glazing putty all the time, over paint, primer or bare metal. I just make sure the metal is straight and use less than 1/16" of filler.