This much Bondo?????

[simpleman83]

So, I am doing a low budget spray paint of the blazer and I knew there were some rust spots I was going to have to take care of but this!!!??? I have never seen this much bondo. Is this normal? Did they put this much on from the factory or did someone cave this roof in at some point and then just bondo over the entire cab? Anyone got any ideas how to handle this? I'm thinking that I don't really care that much so I might just try to smooth everything down....sand and paint. I'm definatley not into refilling all that bondo.

I was taking all the rust down, filling small bondo spots and then priming it, sanding again, and then spray painting the real colors...

 

[ryoken]

thats a repair..... that someone was too lazy to shrink/pull out..

you can probably find sign's somewhere else on the panel of it being painted, overspray on a molding, etc....

you wont find bondo from the factory, they usually lead stuff in, qrter seams, etc...

 

[simpleman83]

so, what exactly would be the easiest way to do this? I'm not trying to get professional quality, just a consistant look. Should I just take all the bondo off? It seems like the entire front half of the cab has been built up with bondo. I'm just not sure what I could end up finding....

 

[ryoken]

just take a 7" grinder to to it with a 24 grit, come in from the edges somewhat and just put a good cut to whatever mud is sticking well... remove what "wants" to come out, or is chunking, cracking, etc, rust...

reskim as nes... tho todays muds have come a LONG way as far as thickness capabilty, cracking, etc, if the area you need to fill are deep, you may want to put a base fill of fiberglass bondo first, then a thin bondo or glazing putty coat...

 

[uao85]

wow thats alot of mud. I would have the entire roof sand blasted down, and start welding studs and pulling that back close to a factory correct surface and then skim with mud and glazing putty.

 

[Blue85]

If there is rust under that Bondo, you'd better get it off and start over.

To blend in your work, you'll need to lift the windshield seal. Just pull the locking strip out of the windshield gasket and stuff a small rope underneath the lip This will let you get your sandpaper and some paint under that edge.

 

[Blue85]

Just fix it up the best you can. As long as you have enough lift and tires nobody can see the roof anyway

 

[76zimmer]

Just fix it up the best you can. As long as you have enough lift and tires nobody can see the roof anyway

Primo

 

[Blue85]

If you think about it, a lift kit is WAY less work than getting the roof straight and a set of 38's or 40's is cheaper than having a body shop do the work, so why not have fun? Plus with a truck that big you're going to be scraping the roof on the garage door, tree branches, etc., so why even bother?

Seriously, I had a big peeled section on the roof for years and nobody ever seemed to notice and I'm only on 35's.

Is there a roof skin available?

 

[offroadblazer764x4]

Thats a distusting repair. But thats comming from a guy who just replaced his roof skin. you need to get rid of that rust or it will come back to haunt you.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

I had a '86 K5 as my first vehicle back in '96-97. Big POS. Someone had either rolled it or whacked the roof on something so hard the outer skin had seriously been pushed down. If my memory is correct the CRACKS IN THE BONDO were at least an inch deep.

Sucks about it but all I can say is fix it right.

 

[diesel4me]

It depends on how anal you are...my 82 K2500 has a good 1/2" of bondo over its entire roof,and a large chunk cracked out of it,exposing the roof surface which is rotted and missing peices,I think someone put a Lund visor on it to hide damage above the windsheild and I think a tree must have dented the rest of the roof,plus its all surface rust under the bondo..
I was too poor to buy a 25 dollar gallon of bondo, and so far all I did was use a 16 grit disc on a 9" grinder to remove all the loose bondo, and I used that metal roofing repair tape to seal it up for now,so I dont get leaks dripping on me! ..I primered it and its not a terrible mismatch for the maroon paint the truck has,so though its "ugly",I am probably the only one who see it or knows its there,being 6'5" tall..to me the truck aint worth the time and effort to fix "right",not when the rest of it is rotting too,and will only have a few more years left before its ready to scrap or part out..its sad,but 5 years is all you get out of an older vehicle here if you use it in the winter,even if its in nice shape when you got it,which mine was..WAS!..past tense!..:

If I had the patience and time,money and health to fix it "right",cutting a "good" roof off a donor truck at the pillars would be the quickest way,though maybe not the easiest one..might as well swap on a whole cab instead,or go to arizona and buy a rust free truck and not have to deal with rot..if I ever did that I'd STAY there,I am sick of rotted vehicles..