Paint Prep Tips, Body Filler In Cold Temps, and More! || Autobody Q&A

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As the temperatures start to drop, it’s important to make sure you’re taking the necessary precautions when prepping your vehicle for paint. In this Autobody Q&A, we’ll discuss some tips for paint prep, how to deal with body filler in cold temps, and more! Stay safe and warm out there!

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QUESTION: Do you think applying Bondo in low cold temperature affects my paint?

It depends how cold. But I would definitely try to heat up your garage to 60 degrees if you could. If you can, 60-70 before laying filler. And if you’re going to be laying body filler in a super cold climate, make sure you add a little bit extra hardener in it. Don’t go on the light side of adding your hardener, go a little extra, so that activator in there works and it heats up. Because that basically heats up your body filler to cure right to get hard. So I would just add a little extra. 

QUESTION: I’m restoring a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer ES. It got damaged from scratches, dents, corrosion, and weather damage on the paint. What to do?

I’m assuming you said you’re gonna do a complete restoration. I’m not sure how far you’re going. Are you taking all the windows out? Are you stripping the interior? Like how far are you going with it? 

So if you’re just going to be doing a complete auto body and paint restoration on this thing, the first thing you want to do, I think, is to get your grinder out and start grinding your dents, your corrosion areas, and just go around the car. 

If you plan to do a lot of bodywork in the next day or two like within the first two days, then pretty much grind out everything that you think you’re going to be coating with filler.

And if you don’t think you’re going to get to it, I don’t recommend grinding it because if you let it sit, it’s going to get some surface rust on it and you never want to put filler over surface rust. 

So if you’re putting filler, you’re doing repairs on damages. You want to make sure you’re grinding down to the metal, especially large dents, large panels, or larger rusted corroded areas, you’re going to be grinding down a metal.

You’re going to be treating it with a vinegar-water mixture to kill the rust. You can also cut the rust out depending on what you want to do, we show you both ways in VIP.
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But what I like to do is if I’m going to do a quick body job and I know I’m going to be putting in a couple of eight-hour days, I just go around the whole car day one.

Well, the first thing I like to do is go around and get a magic marker and just mark all the dents that I’m going to be repairing. I just circle because some dents you don’t see too much right there like a quarter or dime-sized dings, there is not really a huge dent. it’d be marking going around the whole car so you know what you’re going to be working on.

And then the next step is basically sanding those mini dings with a DA (80 grit). I usually don’t go down to the metal if they’re like a quarter size to dime-sized thing, I just fill them.

There’s no sense of panel beating especially If it’s in a door, do you want to go to take out the door panel just to pop out a little 1/8 ding or is it easier just to hit it with 80 grit, fill it, and flatten it out. Depends on what you want to do. Dings -I just fill dents, I will grind out, especially larger dents. I will grind out, weld, pull out, body filler, and straighten it out with a DA orbital sander or a straight sanded depending on how big the dent is, and just going around.

== watch the full Autobody Q&A here ==

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