Bondo body filler
 

My dad got in a wreck in his 5th gen, he basically hit a guardrail and the whole drivers side is messed up. If we used Bondo on the smaller dents, how long would it last? Keep in mind that he's paying for a quality repaint, so we dont want to waste money. I know it will last a few years, but how many?

smaller dents should be able to be popped out, and/or have the panel straightened. body filler is for holes in the body, not so much covering dents that can be easily and properly fixed.

then again, im not a body man :gotme:

Anybody know?

Bondo works fine, but is very cheap body filler..it will hold quite well, but the cure is not very consistent and requires a good deal of working in order to sand out. What you want to use is a body filler called RAGE GOLD. It's a bit more expensive, but it will work VERY well. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING when applying body filler will be the prep work of the surface...you must apply the Rag Gold directly to bare metal, and bare metal only. Sand down the area you are going to apply it on, wipe the are down with acetone, then apply it with a plastic spreader. PM me if you have any other questions.

scratch all that nonsense.

bondo is not used for filling holes.

any body filler by evercoat will work great. rage is a lightweight filler intended to reduce pinholes, but isn't worth the extra cost.

do not spread filler thicker than 1/8". thats where the common misconception of bondo being a hackers solution. too thick will increase rigidity not allowing the panel to flex and cause cracking. bondo works just fine when used correctly, and will last 15 yrs or more easily.

remove dents by inspecting damage and working in reverse. prep sheetmetal by removing paint to bare metal and allowing a feather edge of 3-6" around damaged area. use a sanding block to finish body filler or it will NEVER be straight.

Ok thanks guys! I'll post some before/after pics when me and rome finish doing it. The bodyshop quoted my dad $4600 to fix the panels and repaint the one side of the car. Thats INSANE. I'm going to order a front fender and rear bumper from ebay because those parts are just too banged up to even try to fix. Anybody have any experience with taking off the driver side front fender and the rear bumper?