I have talked to several painters that say on my dad 53 chev. P/U fenders that they would go to bare metal, shoot etch then epoxy then scuff the whole thing with a red scotchbrite pad and give the whole thing a skim coat of mud to start off, what do you guys think? That sounds like allot of mud!

What about a few coats of hi fill surfacer over the epoxy instead and then use filler in the lows I have still after blocking it? Followed by epoxy and surfacer on top for the final wet block? Is this too much am I pancaking?

It is so hard to say anything without seeing the fender. I can say, I have one of these trucks and have straightened plenty. They usually need filler on just about every square inch, they are 50+ year old TRUCKS.

That being said, sometimes a skim coat over the whole thing is needed. Other times, filling the bigger spots with filler, rough cutting it and then applying a nice three coat application of polyester primer is the way to go. That polyester primer is basically a skim coat of polyester putty.

I use PCL which has a recommendation for etch primer. A double coat of etch primer, three coats of polyester and you have it.

I don't think you want to use etch, AND epoxy.
You can't put mud over etch primer, and if you use epoxy, you don't want, or need etch under it.
Either apply the mud to the bare metal, or spray the epoxy first, then mud, then surfacer.
Do not apply mud over any primer other than epoxy!! (Catalized Glazing putty is ok)
The polyester primers that Brian mentioned are super high build primers. Polyesters don't like water...and I would also use a sealer over polyester before top-coating.

Zach, a easier way to help you straighten those out is making a free standing fixture to hold the rear fender in place.

What I did when I metal worked the fenders on my 49 was bolt them to the boxside and take some measurements so I could build my stand.
What this is doing is stimulanting the fender being bolted on the boxside but yet not making it easier to work on as you have more and better access.

You dont want to bang away on those fenders sand the filler just laying flopping around on a bench. If you have them bolted on the box or some type of fixture that replicates the box you will get a MUCH better end result.

Theres a quick drawing to kinda show you what am talking about.
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/truck-rear-fender.jpg

What I did was bolt the fender on and take a few measurements on the center of the holes that bolt to the side. This told me the height. Then took measurements of the outside corners for height.
Do this so your fixture is the same dimensions as what it would be if it was bolted on.
I just used some angle iron drilled holes in the support braces and then bolted the fender on the supports and clamped the supports to a bench.
Hopefully the pic exlpains it cus even am lost after reading it :(

Zman, DX1790 over bare metal with DPEpoxy over it is what PPG has you do for their Lifetime warrenty paintjob.

Then I stand corrected ;)
I've been out of the business for about 4 yrs now, so not up on the latest, and greatest.
Dennis

Zach, the reason it was suggested to skim the complete panel is because usually these old parts are dinged and bent from one end to the other including factory waves and die marks from the stamping process. Even if your imperfections are light but many you will save time by skimming the entire panel unless you have above ordinary metal working skills to pick and file it close to perfect. If you do skim the entire panel it doesn't mean you will leave polyester covering the whole thing after the sanding is complete, rather cut off everything that doesn't need to be there.

smile.gif http://members.aol.com/icantunderstand/roadsterinbondo.jpg

Zman, not beating on you, I just don't want everyone reading it and getting confused smile.gif Martnsr, A pic is worth a thousand words huh?

Well anyway we are going to get them stripped this weekend and shoot a few coats of epoxy, then give it a light 220 block and see where to go as far as coating the whole thing or not. I am excitted this is a 51 year old truck that has never seen roadsalt, however I bought it from a mexican guy that had bought it from a old fruit farmer up the valley. Ofcoarse he took out a few leaves to lower it and gave it a great bomb can gold paint job, even did the jams! So we will see what is underneath! :D