Seams sanded down...some areas very unlevel. help please.

[soon2bcobra]

I have just started work on my body (this is a very early "white" MKIII body). I have no previous body work experience (so I know I have a long road ahead). I have knocked the seams down with a rubber block and 80g. Most feels pretty smooth but on the nose (the seam that goes across the front of the car) it seems like the side closer to the hood is higher than the nose part. Not sure if I was able to capture it in the pics. If not let me know...







Another area I am having trouble with is below. Again It's like the part closer to the wheelwell is higher overall than the part in front of the seam.






My question is basically where do I go from here?? Do I continue to sand this down? If so, how do I know when I'm done?

Thank you VERY much for any guidance.

[Mark Ames]

Its normal!
Keep knocking the high side down and rough up the other side, skim with a good filler and make good...a little time consuming but easy.
On heavy scabby seems a file works well.
I used a orbital sander and just kept working it, it will come out good with a little work

[soon2bcobra]

Thanks for the reply.

I know this will sound like a stoopid question but this is the first time I have so much as touched on body work...

When you say "Keep knocking the high side down and rough up the other side, skim with a good filler" what exactly does this mean??

You see, I really have no clue as to what I'm doing Do I continue to sand with my small block cris-cross across the seam onto both sides until there is no longer a "bump" OR do I need a longer block ? Do I sand just the high side until it's lower and then rough up the low side? It just seems to me like the entire half of the body on the hood side of the seam is higher than the nose part.

"skim with a good filler"...do you mean spray a thin coat of primer or do I apply with something else? and what's a good filler to use?

I read the faq's on painting. I am just worried about over doing this part or damaging the body by sanding too far.

Thanks!

[DMW]

Soon2be:

A couple of things:

Did you check the "seams" (note, the body is laid up as one big piece of glass so the seams are from the mold pieces, fyi) for gel coat?

You may have to go a little deeper into the seam itself to make sure there is no gel coat down there before you start filling.

Anyway regarding your immediate question, I would use a long board across both sides to bring the high side down to a closer level. By "filler", Marky means a filler called "Rage Gold" that is available from good body supply shops.

[soon2bcobra]

DMW, thanks for that. Regarding the long board...are we talking about a rigid long board? What type of material? How many inches long?

The Rage Gold...does that need to be sprayed on? How is that applied?

Sorry for all the q's. Got much more time than money

Regarding the seam grinding....I was actually going to ask about having to grind the seams after reading a couple other posts. Looks like the new black MKIII bodies don't need grinding. Mine is a white early MKIII body. What exactly am I looking for in order to know if I have to grind? Here are a couple pics of the seams...







Thanks!

[soon2bcobra]

DMW, I tried to respond to your PM. But your box is full. Let me know when you make some space so I can send my reply.

Thanks!!

[DMW]

Sorry, I made some space.

I never had the gel coat problems in the seams but you probably will. Due to the manufacturing process, some gel coat gets down in the seams. It is important to get rid of that because gel coat (the coating on top of the actual fiberglass) has no structural strength and the seams of the body will be weak. To get rid of it, you have to carefully grind down into the seam. A lot of people use a die grinding bit on a drill or a ridgid sanding disk to get down there. You only want to remove the gel from the seams. You do not want to grind through the body! Now, once you clean out the seams, you have to fill the void with 3M High Strength Marine Filler. This filler is super strong and will adhere extremely well to the raw glass (but it will not adhere to gel coat!!!). You want to fill the joints to just below level with the 3M HSRF then let it sit for 2 weeks to harden and gas off. Next, you will cover that and the general seam areas with Rage Gold then sand the rage gold smooth.

PLEASE do some searches on this entire subject. There is a lot of excellent material here and in the main forum.

The key steps are:

Cleaning the body,
Rough sanding and exposing pin holes,
Seam grinding,
Seam Filling,
Body Prep,
Body Priming,
Painting.

Each of these steps has a lot involved and each can be done right or wrong so it is important to get all the info.

Where do you live? You would be well served if you visited another owner that has his work in progress or someone that works on these bodies. I did this with a friend an hour away and it was time well spent.

[Rick61]

I can recommend a few good books on the subject:
Paint & Body Handbook, Don Taylor & Lary Hofer. (HP Books)
That one covers f'glass & paint etc

These 2 are mainly paint:
Automotive Paint Handbook, Pfanstiehl. (HP Books)
How To Paint You Car, Parks & Jacobs (Motorbooks)

I'm thinking theres probably a few books on f'glass boat making that would be real handy for helping ya get a FFR body sorted for paint but don't know of any off hand. I'll be looking next time I'm at Barnes & Noble tho.

How are ya with the mechanical side of things?

[LARRY6302]

A suggestion, let us know where you are located and i would bet that if one of our ffr brothers is close, they would be more than happy to stop by for an eyeball and show you. Just a suggestion. Good luck!

[Mark Ames]

I second the bulk of what DMW says, I have prepped 4 bodies to good effect using similar tecchniques.
You should put where you are located and then maybe someone local to you can come to your assistance.

[Bob Hill]

Soon2B,

Best piece of advice for where you're at now is the board. A rigid one or a flex board that takes standard paper strips is the best way to get the panels straight and level over the seam. A rubber block flexes too much and follows up and down. You need a straight, hard surface to get it flat.

Another tool which is helpful to get panels flat and straight is from the aircraft industry--I believe they call it a splining board. It is a piece of thin basswood big enough to hold a full sheet of paper--but thin enough to follow the curve of a large panel. I think they use it for sanding wings on full size kit planes....they do a nice job!

Work one area at a time and be patient--the body work is the biggest chunk of time and/or cash involved in these builds-- so for every drop of sweat consider it money saved!

Hope this helps!

Bob