Painting bonding strips on fenders

[igasper10]

Well I'm getting close to being able to start work on the "looks" of my L48 instead of the "guts." I desperately need a new paint job! The previous owner tried to do it himself and it turned out horrible! The bonding strips that mate the top and bottom portions of both the front and rear fenders can be seen under the paint. I don't want this to show, and I may be painting it myself. I have the equipment to do it, but if this is a major issue I might just end up having it done. But I will save big $$$ if I can do it myself. Anyone have any experience with these strips and this problem??? Why are they showing through the paint? Will I have to put filler over them and sand it down? Please help!

ian

 

[JohnZ]

That isn't the bonding strips showing, it's the filler above the bonding strip in the gap between the upper and lower panels; the bonding strip just reinforced the back side of the joint, and the design gap between the panels was filled with the same resin during the bonding operation in the off-line subassembly fixture. The resin in the gap was later ground flush with the two adjacent panels in the grind booth, and any low spots were built up with more resin and ground again - shrinkage of the resin filler over time results in the ground seams becoming visible, especially with dark colors.

 

[ChuckG]

For what it's worth...I bought a really nice 72 Elkhart Green coupe in 1973. Had about 10K miles on it. Garage kept...never hit. You could see every bonding seam....all 4 fenders....under the factory paint. People asked me about it back then. I told them it was part of the "GM Mark of Excellence" . Chuck

 

[paintdaddy]

Chucks right,Ive seen alot of "original paint"cars and they all show the strip and are very wavy.Makes me wonder why I spend alot of time blocking.

 

[igasper10]

So should I just fill over it again and sand it flush? Or is there a trick to doing it?

 

[paintdaddy]

Yes ,you can sand it down until you see a definite 1 inch(+ or -).When your done you might feel a little dip where the stip is .You can fill that with a thin body filler or a thick primer.I prefer a thick polyester primer ,then block sanding it until you start to see slight traces of fiberglass again.This insures you that the strip is filled and the mill thickness of the primer is not to thick.

 

[igasper10]

Videos?

Thanks paintdaddy...

Since this will be my first painting project on a car, (I've only painted motorcycles up until now) are there any good instructional videos or even manuals that you know of and would recommend for painting fiberglass?

 

[81LT4]

Barnes and noble, has the best books for that.

 

[paintdaddy]

I really dont know of any but 81lt4 said,shop around at some book stores.Thats probably your best bet.

 

[RonS95]

Painting

Several years ago when I was getting ready to paint my 78, I pick up a book from SA Design Books on custom painting. The book was great source of information and alot of help. The finished product was 12 coats of hand rubbed black lacquer that had a mirror finish. Oh and I did re-do the seams, after cutting them out and resealing with the factory sealer. I topped that with a coating of jel-coat and then with a good primer sealer. Its best to let the filler cure for about a week before applying the primer.