You can come over anytime, it's out in the shop! graemlins/angry.gif

Anyway, bought a used fender that had slight damage and had been returned to it's near factory shape. I have worked and worked on this thing going on 2 weeks (about an hour or so a night), and can't get it straight. I don't have any oil canning, just a lot if nickel size high and low spots. I used a straight edge, found the high spots, tapped them down, checked again. I then applied a layer of filler and sanded starting with 80 grit using a 4" sanding block. When I get it down close, I switch over to 80 grit on a 12" straight 1x2 block of wood or a paint stick. Keep finding high spots, tap them down, apply filler again, and repeat the process about 7 or 8 times now. After I'm done sanding the filler is very thin, so I know I'm not masking a really low spot.

My question is my sanding technique and tools. For a fender that has curves like this one (70), is the block killing me? Should I be using something else? I didn't think I needed the long body shop type blocks until I was blocking the primer.

Do I just keep working it like I am until it's perfect or am I pi$$ing in the wind?

Thanks.

This sounds like a situation I found myself in once, I'll throw in my .02 cents and bump this back up to the top and hopefully one of the guys that does this for a living can give a professional opinion.

I did the same thing on a door, located a high spot, tapped it down, then it appeared somewhere else, tapped it down, now it's over here... What I realized after awhile was I that I was chasing my tail. I overworked the area and had the metal stretched and it was just moving all over the place. What I ended up doing was shrinking the stretched area as best I could and then worked on getting the whole area tapped down, and then did my filler work.

Dont attack each little high and low spot.Cover the whole area with filler and block it with a long board in an x pattern.

Sounds like a little problem with an easy solution, because the metal is not stretched. My suggestion would be to pick down the high spots,and lay down a nice coat of filler. This means one nice coat covering the whole area. I have already had filler from edge to edge to achieve a level finish. This sounds drastic, but the filler coat is very thin. I call this a glamour coat, sounds funny, but this will make it very straight. Don't use that 4" block for that big of an area, a straight paint stick works great. Hope this helps, good luck sanding.

sometimes it's good to guide coat the filler to actually see how it is shaping as you sand. Do the major sanding then guidecoat the panel and run over it with the longest practical board for the panel. An 18inch sanding board will work well on the most of the panel.

Hell if you bring it on over to KC Ill do it.
Theres a topic about some sanders with pics!!
http://www.chevelles.com/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=008196

I would recommended block #1 in the photo. Mine is made of plastic but the preferred material is wood. I like the plastic one better. Hutchins makes the BEST and ONLY board sanders worth owning, expect those flex sanders.

Check out www.autobodystore.com (http://www.autobodystore.com)
They have ALL those blocks for sell, that #1 block is roughly 20 bucks. My favorite set #7 is 120 bucks for 5 sanders

A guide coat is a great idea, in fact I use it to finish off ALL my filler work. I use a product by 3M called dry guide coat,works slick. Also sold on that site for around 25 bucks, plus it CANT bbe beat for usage when blocking primer.

I agree with Snydes. The more you hammer on that metal the more it will stretch somewhere. Maybe you don't have oilcanning but it's stretched at least a little for sure.

Go to metalmeet.com, you have to register to access the forums, search for "shrinking disc". They show you how to make and use one and I think list someone who sells them too. This should cure your problem.

Good Luck.

Wally