I am almost finished with my body work, but I have some small pin holes in my mud work- I don't have a digital camara so i can't post a picture, they are very small though like you poked the mud w/ a pen tip. Question is- will a filler primer fill these, or shat should I do to make sure that they don't show in the final paint?

Thanks

Nick
70 Malibu Convertable

There is a product made specifically for filling those pin holes. It is sold in the same general location as body fillers in most auto repair/parts stores. I think it is called glazing or spot filler. The stuff that I use is kind of orange/pink. It goes on easy and dries fairly quickly and sands very easily to a smooth surface. Someone else will post the name of it here I bet. It is made by the same people that make Bondo.

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1969 Camaro 383/365HP, B/W T-56 Six Speed, 12 bolt, Eaton Posi! 3.73, 4 Whl. Disc brakes, console w/Auto Meter gauge package, tach, clock, tilt wheel, Black Deluxe houndstooth interior, rear window defogger.

Go69 is correct, it's spot or glazing putty, except my experience with it is it takes forever to harden up. I let it dry at least a day, and be careful sanding it off, as you can wreck your other work.

FYI - The pinholes in the "Bondo" were caused by whipping air into the mix. Go a little slower on your next batch http://www.chevelles.com/forum/wink.gif.

Go buy some Evercoat polyester glaze or "icing" made by USC.It mixes like regular body filler and dries in 10 minutes.For pinholes mix a little up and dab them with your finger and you can sand it smooth with 220-600 depending what stage your at.Most guys spread a thin coat over their body work as a final sand coat because it spreads out like butter and sands very easily.

70isfine is correct. The polyester putty is the best for pinholes or as a final skin coat over filler. The drawback is that it is relatively expensive.

The $5-6 tubes of glazing putty(red or green) are cheap, but shrink terribly bad in addition to taking so long to dry.

All things considered, buy the polyester putty. Evercoat is a good one.

Am with 70isfine and Vettefella, go with the putty. Spreads great sands like a dream and will fill those little pinholes. Like mentioned before that red spot putty will shrink terribly and later after you have the car in paint you will be able to see those pinholes cuae the spot putty shrank down...Eric

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1970 chevelle
1970 chevelle SS455 not a typo its a buick baby
1949 and 1972 chevy trucks
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/sevt_chevelles

Wow- thanks for all the replies guys- I think I already have some polyester glazing putty, if not I will buy some evercoat. Could I just fill the holes and get away with it, or do I need to put a final coat on the whole area? I already did a final coat (twice actually) and it seems like I actually make things worse when I try to get that coat back to where I want things! If I just fill the holes will the filler wind up backing out?

Thanks again

Nick
70 malibu convertable

Nick, you really want to do your filler work so you have NO pin holes. The following is my "Basics of Basics" on polyester body filler and it outlines what to do so you never will have pin holes. I shouldn't say never, because they will pop up once and a while, but almost never. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

Guys, FORGET the "glazing putty" in the tube, it is JUNK. It is really lacquer primer (1K) and shrinks VERY BAD.

The best thing to do is finish your filler so you don't need it, feather out all scratches so you don't need it, and you will be much better off.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >"Bondo" Basics

What ever tools you use the trick is to not add the last "skim coat' till you KNOW that it is all you need. Don't try to block out that first coat, just use it as a base for the LAST skim coat.

I was taught this procedure after doing bodywork for a number of years and it really works well:

Just apply a nice coat of filler (what ever brand, whatever style, we will put that aside right now). Cut that coat NOT to make it perfect, but to get the basic shape and filling you need as a base for the skim coat. You can cut it with 36 40 or 80 depending on how big the area you are working is. In other words, if you can cut it fast with only 80 then do it. But I would say that this would be limited to an application that is no larger than about 8 inches.

If you happen to have a few high spots, see if you can tap them down.
If you have a few low spots add a bit more filler to ONLY those spots.

Re-cut these last low spots you have just filled with the same grit you have been using (most likely 36).

If you now have a surface that ONE skim coat will fill, then apply it. If you don't work with it a bit more, but NEVER add a little here or there and think you will finish it without a skim coat.

If you have a surface that is very close with only a few VERY MINOR low spots like poor feathering onto the metal, poor transitions from one application of filler to another, or from the metal that is "poking" up here and there you can do the LAST skim coat.

This skim coat is very important, you want it to extend over the COMPLETE area, this is well past the damage you have been working. Maybe as much as 3 inches past the plastic that you have applied to "rough" it out.

This skim coat can be regular filler or a polyester glaze like "Icing" or "Polyester glazing putty", that is your choice, I use both depending on the size of the area being worked. Do not use anything that doesn’t mix with a hardener. NO, “Spot putty” in a tube, only polyester putties or fillers. If it uses a hardener, it cures to a hard film. The “spot putties” stay soft and can become even softer when the solvent from the primer coats it.

You now run a block, long board, or hog even over this skim coat with a little bit coarser paper than you plan on finishing with to cut off the resin that has surfaced in the filler. I usually just use the 36 or 40 or whatever I have been on the "rough" work. BUT take CAUTION not to cut much off, you want to JUST take the very top, don't really sand AT ALL.

Now finish sanding with your longboard or block or hog or whatever using the finer paper like 80 on a large area or 120 on that small 8" sized area. Block it out to perfection with a nice feather edge to the surrounding metal.

I can't stress enough, the trick is to know when just ONE LAST skim coat will do the job. And apply it COMPLETELY over the surface. If you only one little low spot in the middle, DON'T just do it, skim the ENTIRE thing. You HAVE to have one LAST skim coat over the ENTIRE thing every time. If you get in the habit of this you will do it over and over on every dent you repair and find that you can do just about any dent with just
two applications.

As you sand the filler let the board or block you are using run over the surrounding metal. If you only work on the filler you will sand it too low. You need to keep it as high as the surrounding metal, so use the metal as sort of a straight edge that you run the block or board off of.

Don’t worry if you cut through this skim coat here and there. In fact, you WILL most likely cut through. The point of that "LAST SKIM COAT" is that after you add it, you don't add ANY MORE filler. That "LAST SKIM COAT" is just that the LAST filler you add. If you hit a little filler below, or metal, that is normal and fine. The only thing you are looking for at that point is if the panel is FLAT. The filler skim coat is serving no other purpose than to finish you filler work, it is not a "sealer" or anything like that.

You can add fiberglass resin (“A” coat if you have a choice) adding the resin was exactly how I learned from the great Emery Robinson (my personal hero in the auto body world). But remember there was no products like polyester putties back then. When you add resin, that resin comes to the top of the film of filler. It is then something you have to deal with. The whole purpose of the SKIM COAT is to put a layer of filler over the top that is easy to block out with as little effort as possible. You want to be able to concentrate on making the panel FLAT not fighting with gummy resin, sand scratches and the like.

So the polyester putty though expensive is what I use.

How is this for an idea, a co-worker of mine showed me this very obvious tip. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

Add pour-able polyester putty to the regular filler! What an idea! LOL A little pour-able squirted into the "bondo" really thins it out nicely.

The "LAST SKIM COAT" should be left to cure a good long time. Where you may jump on filler and sand it as soon as it is hard, the skim coat should be GOOD AND CURED for an hour or more. If you can of course, in the production shop you may not be able to wait that long. The benefits of the procedure will not be diminished.

A little added note, I have found that I don’t use 36 or 40 grit at all anymore. I went to work at a shop that didn’t use the coarser grits so I had to learn not to also. I have found that using just the 80 and then finishing the Skim coat in 120 or 180 works great, even on large panels.

At this shop it was the first time that I wasn’t doing my own primer work. This meant that I couldn’t “cheat” with a lot of primer and blocking the body work “one more time”. I found that I had to get the work PERFECT, then give it to the painter. I did this in an interesting way, I look at the last skim coat as even a more “final” step. I now look it as “primer”. You see I have used polyester primer, which is like spraying “bondo”. They are both polyester resin based and act and sand very much the same. So, I figured why not just “spread out my primer” as the skim coat! It has worked GREAT, the painter jokingly says, “do you think I’ll need to prime this or just paint it?” I tell him, “Just clear it, it’s a shame to hide that work under primer”.

This method has worked great for me, it’s more of a state of mind than a procedure.

And don’t be afraid to buy the best sand paper and use a lot of it, the cost of the paper will be nothing next to the time and muscles saved. Find the paint store in town that services the PROS the Body shops in town, that is were you will get the right stuff and the right info.


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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

While on the subject of glazing putty,a guy showed me this once,not sure if its a good idea or not,what do you think?The shop we worked at the boss was cheap,he didnt want to spend the $20-$30 on the can of Evercoat.A guy there showed me a trick,he would add fibeglass resin liquid to the regular filler to thin it out to an almost pourable consistency and use it as a glaze.It worked nice,but im not sure of the long term effects.

70, that is fine. In fact it is exactly how my mentor Emery Robertson showed me this skim coat tecnique. Remember, the filler is made up of polyester resin to begin with!

But, the modern polyester putty like Evercoat "Glaze coat" is SO FAR SUPERIOUR to that resin thinned "regular" filler it is ridiculas. The resin thinned stuff is MUCH harder to sand and you use more paper, there really is no savings. He is a micro manager that needs to open his eyes to the big picture.

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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

We topglaze ALL filler work with a polyester skim coat. (Spread on) The quality catalyzed glaze coats sand better, and are not as porous as filler. Less shrinkage and absorbtion of primer-surfacer. MARTINSR was right on the money as always. Pay special heed to his comments on covering entire area with skim coat. No matter how careful you are, every time you mix a product it has a different amount of hardener, and the earlier coats have had more cure time. Therefore, they will sand differently. Polys, and fillers also have different sanding characteristics. Think of it as trying to sand a box of golf balls to a smooth surface, can't be done!! Only exception is if you are down to just a couple of pin holes, then it is ok to just apply to pin holes. Remember, though, spread poly firmly into pin hole area, with little build, force into holes with spreader. Sand lightly to knock down excess. try not to cut previous filler coat, with out digging a hole in filler. Your prime coat, after blocking will correct any minor deflections from this application. NEVER use lacquer based tube type spot putties. Poly glaze products are NOT intended to replace good body work and use of fillers. There are also many sprayable high build glaze products available, however I have always felt that using them was like cheating on body repair, and trying to hide your sins. Karl

Another Evercoat product is,Plastic Honey
#101249.
It's a poly thinning product. I use it in the Last Full area skim-coat.
It spreads like glazing putty and exhibits all the quailities of premium glaxe poly putties.

For polyester fller putty I like Evercoat
Metal glaze #100416 for minuet corections


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Wayne
ACES# 1556
TCG # 186

Thanks again for the great info guys- I am really begining to appreciate why taking your car to a shop to get this work done is so expensive, this is a lot of work! Thankfully I only have a couple pin holes so one last skim coat should solve my problems.

Nick