Fille fibreglass

[Knuckles]

The titles meant to be filler and fibreglass. Damn iphone


I've just got hold of a 1*2 front bumper, it's not in perfect condition but I dot really care for £80, I'm trying to do a lot of work myself to save time and work in the body shop... Which should save me money.

I've sanded it down as much as I can and I'm wondering if the p40 fibreglass mix and p38 filler from halfords are decent enough to fill the deeper dents in the bumper... Not the fibreglass obviously, that'll be for filling the gap between bumper and wing.

Is this good practise or am I wasting time and money and should I just give the guy at the bodyshop the bumper to sort himself? Because id like to hand him a finished part to spray really

 

[Dan1587]

Dam right its good practice, I'd love to be a good at bodywork, I have tried and im s**t, but then you gotta keep trying! The only thing I would say is that some sprayers like to work the material themselves, only due to the fact its all in the prep, so if the paint looks bad then it makes him look like a fool, but you can give it a go, take it to him and if he wants to do a little more adjustment you can see what he does incase you want to do it next time!
Fair play to you mate...!

 

[mx1_champ]

unless you can do it properly DONT ! touch it... not even sand it unless your using like p400 .

im a painter and nothing pisses me of more than when people have a go themselves to save time and money for me/them . often there work needs totally undo'ing which takes time and costs more.. then often repair work to the damage the customer caused by sanding the whole thing with p80.... honestly mate leave it to him. the fact your asking what is and isnt good enough is a good indication your not experienced enough. im not having a go and im all up for people trying themselves but the majority of the time it creates more work for the prep/paint guy and costs the customer more.
best thing you could do is get a grey ( unltrafine) scotch pad and go over the intire thing every nook and cranny on the face of the bumper. leave the rest to him

 

[Knuckles]

Fair enough dude, id be fairly competent with the filler I just wasn't sure whether halfords stuff would suffice... I have sanded down the whole thing but that has most definitely made an improvement, I'll just leave it as it is and give it to him

Thanks for the quick replies

 

[Dan1587]

Really...? Fair play mate, I understand that but hows anyone ever going to learn if they don't give it a go? How would you do it? Fill it and use something, like you said, p400?
Doesn't scotch pads just give something the paint to stick to?

 

[mx1_champ]

there is a difference between using filler and using it properly. filling say a dent on a wing you may do it and it look good to you, but then when you put a coat of primer over it you will soon see how far out it can be. its not something you can pick up easily.
i cant comment on how i would do it as i havnt properly seen the damage.. chances are it will just need a DA with a p180 pad to get the sratch out then a few coats of high build primer.
Yeah thats correct it will just give something for teh paint to key to , but in just scotching it he will struggle to do anything wrong.which will in turn cost more... i could say get some p400 and get the scratches out to but if he does it wrong it could put a low spot in the paint which will then cause more work for the painter.

as for learning/ practise. have a dig around a crap yard for an old bonnet or wing and practise on there.. watch guides on youtube etc.. some of the dvd's on ebay are good to ( aim for more english based ones tho, as the americans have their own ''better'' way of doing things etc. and use different products)

 

[Dweeb]

any reccomendations regarding videos/dvds mx1?

 

[mx1_champ]

its been years and years since i have looked.. each one varies a little but if you watch a fair few you will start to get your own idea of whats right and wrong.

 

[Knuckles]

Thanks for the advise mate... I see how it could do more damage than good actually, ive just rang the body shop and I'll be dropping it off on Monday.

But heres some photos of where the bumpers at, I've tool the majority of the clearcoat and 'gloss' off of the paint (I read on here that you need a dull/matte finish)... I got the diamond housing off with a pair of pliers because the bolts were seized somehow and I got the archliner off the same way.

 

[mx1_champ]

is it the scratches to the right of the number plate bit you wanted to fill ? if so they far from need filler just a quick sand with 180 then a bit of high fill primer would sort that right out

 

[rich-6]

One thing i was told when i started in the paintshop... Never teach yourself out of a Job

 

[Knuckles]

There's more scratches, they're all around the diamond recess and next to the wings and on the bottom, I don't wanna sand them that far down for fear of making the bumper too thin. May be anal but Ive never done this before. And lol at rich

 

[mx1_champ]

rich6 is right... if to many people think they can do it right they will try it themselves to save a few quid..

you made a bumper to thin ? jeeezz how far did you go with it lol ? there only light scratches tbh sanding would be fine

 

[Knuckles]

Lol dude, I'm aware I could sound thick but it was covered in fairly deep scratches. The majority of them are flush now. I don't wanna risk going too deep so to speak.

Either way it's going to the body shop on monday

 

[JCC]

unless you can do it properly DONT ! touch it... not even sand it unless your using like p400 .

im a painter and nothing pisses me of more than when people have a go themselves to save time and money for me/them . often there work needs totally undo'ing which takes time and costs more

As a painter myself I agree with this. No offence intended to you Knuckles, it's just that good painters take a lot of pride in their work and would rather know the prepping is 100% spot on before putting paint onto it.

 

[mx1_champ]

Lol dude, I'm aware I could sound thick but it was covered in fairly deep scratches. The majority of them are flush now. I don't wanna risk going too deep so to speak.

Either way it's going to the body shop on monday

judgement on when to use filler and when not is something that comes with experience... you will be surprised at what you can actually get out of a bumper without going to far