im going to finish welding my tailgate tomorrow....i cut out the center piece n handle and put a license plate angled at the right....now im not to good of a welder so i didnt form the pieces right....now i have to fill it up so that it'll look smooth with paint....what do u guys recommend? bondo or fiberglass??
both..i used fiber on mine first..i had some problems with the metal warping so I just tacked it all the way around instead of laying a bead..there wasnt more than a 1/8 of inch gap between the tacks..filled with the fiberglass bondo...then did the finish work with regular bondo
Any welding should be fully stitched ,ground down ,than filled with a good product like Evercoat! Before filling I coat the metal with a rust preventive ,than fill. Any pin holes or gaps will in time show rust & or crack out!
I've been pretty lucky with mine..I know a solid bead was the right way to do it but my welding skills were not the best at the time...its been almost 11 years since my truck was shaved and not one crack...yet
even with horrible welding skillz (ie: mine) you can weld, grind, repeat until its on there solid. use of bondo or fiberglass to complete a joint should be the last possible option. a good way to see if you have pin holes is to put a light behind the panel. then mark any holes with a sharpie, hit em with the welder again, grind smooth then check again. good news is the more you weld the better you will get.
the liscence plate bucket should be totally welded in this prevents any moisture from getting behind ur bondo and fiberglass. if this happens it will rust and the filler will fallout with the next pothole. use all fiberglass filler if possible it dosent absorb water and will give u less problems. just sand the metal with 36grit first and dont lay it on paint.
get it as good as possible with the welding that way to minimize the amount of body filler put into the truck i perfer micro-lite body filler it spreads well and evenly and dont "roll" , "clump" unlike the Bondo brand. you can get it at napa .
I agree as mentioned above bird terd and grinding is the better, but if you want to fill it other than welding the absolute best metal filler is called lab metal made by alvin products, it is the same basicly as bondo but instead of plastic fill it has aluminum in it. Once its set you can drill it, tap it, machine it, Ive been using it for filling cancer for years and have never had it fall out or crack even in my chase truck --- ie Baja 1000.
i use long strand filler, than short strand. then a two part spot putty. i usually use evercoat gold, or another brand i can't think of but its called platinum. both work well. cost about $45-50 a gallon last time i bought some.
the metal filler will be extreemly hard to sand and u will have to go overit with bodyfiller. fiberglass filler is easier to sand and can be used by itself if applied smooth and featheredged. from what i have seen evercoat is usually the best bet when it comes to cost and performance. we used it on a calicombo that was backed into the same day and it didnt crack out. this sold me on the stuff.
The lab metal really isnt hard to sand in that aspect, and the sanded finish is the same as plastic filler ie bondo, evercoat, its only as good as the applier mixing it well, appling it smooth, and sanding it with the correct sand paper to avoid sand marks, also you should always use glazing putty,and sand with at least 800 for a good finish.
for this glazing putty is nice but expensive for a spot job i would only but it if you plan on doing moor work to the car.
