Body work

[Kaos Photo]

Judas has some cracks, bubbling, rust, etc. on the actual coach body. What is the best way to fix this? I have heard that Bondo isn't the best idea, so what else can ya' do? I don't want these places to get worse, but I don't have a lot of money to take him to a body shop right now. Any tips?

[Guest]

i had a similar problem on mine. let me tell you, it was a can of worms.

i don't know about your coach, but mine has about 1/2 - 3/4 inch worth of mud on the back quarters, at least near the top where the quarters meet the vinyl top.

when i got the car, there was a crack at the top of the quarter, just below the vinyl. it was leaking rust, so after about 9 months of owning the car, i decided to do something about it.

i started sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and finally went to a wire wheel grinder. i had to grind through a bunch of really thick mud before i got down to the sheet metal. by the time i was done, i had ground away a space about 5 or 6 inches long, and about 3 inches high - the metal was corroded and disfigured from rust.

I ground off all the active rust i could, then treated it with rust converter. after letting that dry a while, i started with the bondo. in retrospect, i should have used the bondo with fiberglass in it.

i spent three weeks working on the bondo, sanding it, and painting it. every time it would crack on the joint between the old and new mud.

finally, i said to hell with it, and took it to a body shop.

i think you can do it, just get plenty of rust converter, different grades of sand paper, paint, etc. remember to use the fiberglass bondo if you have to put it on more than about 1/8 in thick.

[kshearsedriver]

Unless you plan on making entirely new panels you will be using some filler. M&M uses tons of plastic filler from the factory. The best thing is to make sure you remove all the old filler and get down to clean metal before you try to refill it. Evercoat makes a good 'glass impregnated filler that is pretty damn strong.

I like the looks of my wifes '78 M&M but the factory body work is the sloppiest of any of our coaches. There are/were quite a few spots where the filler was close to a half inch thick. Of course it is also the newest in our collection so that may have a lot to do with it. The older coaches just seemed to have been built much better.

[Riff Raff]

Bondo is a fickled bitch. Just enough done right and she will be beautiful for a long time. Use too much and she will come back to haunt you in a very bad way. Which it sounds like what the factory did on your coach.

Yes, the factories did use butt loads of bondo on coaches. It was cheaper than making panels fit exactly right and tight. The best way to fix it is to grind it all off, treat it. Being a bodyman, I would would fashion patch panels over the gaping seams or holes and weld them up tight. Then use bondo to smooth them out. Anything over 1/4 to 1/2in is too much.

I realize not everyone can do or afford to pay someone to do this level of bodywork. So if you are going to use lots of bondo, use a fiberglass impregnated type, ie; Duraglass, as a base. Build it up with Duraglass, then use regular bondo on the last 1/2in or so. This is not the best way to do it, but it should hold up better than straight bondo.

PS: Do not let the bondo be exposed to air on your car. Bondo is very porious(sp) and absorbs moisture over time causing the cracking and lifting. We even goes as far as not putting bondo on bare metal for this reason, becuase it will cause rust to form and you are back to square one.

[Kaos Photo]

Thanx for all the info so far! Sounds like I may check out a body shop, if I can find one I trust! I don't think I trust myself not to screw it up more than it is already!