How To Bondo?

[Datsun-Fever]

Hey everyone, I am restoring a 79' 280zx and the body is in good shape, but the rust has ate the rear quarterpanel, on the edge of the wheelwell. Can i fix this with bondo or is it better to just get a new panel? how would i craft the bondo to look just like it used to? Thanks alot.

[blitzkraig]

Well, first of all you need to remove all the rust from the area. Otherwise it will just keep eating your car. So you can do this two ways. One, cut out the diseased metal and have some new metal welded in (cut some sheet metal and form it to match the cut out contour on the car), and then finish it off with bondo. Or, you can sandblast all the rust until there's just shiny metal and fiberglass over the affected area, and again finish with bondo. As for the bondo finishing itself, ya gotta sand it down to the contour of the car. Start with 40 grit sandpaper and end with about 120 grit. Primer follows. Good luck and feel free to ask more questions if you need.

[Datsun-Fever]

Thanks alot!