Bondo brand filler

[MikeP]

It shows how great marketing gets a name stamped into one's brain, kinda like tissues for blowing your nose is most times referred to as "kleenex", therefore bodyfiller is often referred to as "Bondo" So here's the question.. is the actual "Bondo" brand any good? If you got to their website, seems as though they are part of 3M.. Not sure about that.. How do you all feel about the actual Bondo body filler? Decent? real good? pure junk? Thoughts appreciated.. Mike.

[Len]

It shows how great marketing gets a name stamped into one's brain, kinda like tissues for blowing your nose is most times referred to as "kleenex", therefore bodyfiller is often referred to as "Bondo" So here's the question.. is the actual "Bondo" brand any good? If you got to their website, seems as though they are part of 3M.. Not sure about that.. How do you all feel about the actual Bondo body filler? Decent? real good? pure junk? Thoughts appreciated.. Mike.

Actually they make some pretty good products, I don't know if it's ALL good but the Dynatron brand are Bondo products and I use and sell a lot of them. I know that a lot of the commercial auto stores like Auto Zone, Pep Boys etc. have Bondo brand fillers on their shelves which is probably a more inexpensive product so I probably wouldn't use it on better jobs.

We used Dyna-Lite for years and it served us quite well but we found we got better results more easily using Evercoat's Rage products however they are more expensive.

[Mooch]

It shows how great marketing gets a name stamped into one's brain, kinda like tissues for blowing your nose is most times referred to as "kleenex", therefore bodyfiller is often referred to as "Bondo" So here's the question.. is the actual "Bondo" brand any good? If you got to their website, seems as though they are part of 3M.. Not sure about that.. How do you all feel about the actual Bondo body filler? Decent? real good? pure junk? Thoughts appreciated.. Mike.

I use Bondo products more than any other .

I use their body filler also and like the Ultimate light filler the best of the Bondo name .
Bondo has been around a long time and has aquired several companies along the way .

Mar-Hyde is one of their brands and I prefer their poly primer Quicksand over evercotes slicksand anyday .

Your question started out like a rant to me ?
Have you had a problem using bondo ?


Mooch

[334hillbillycustoms]

Rage Extreme,no Pits Easy To Apply And Sand

[MikeP]

I have no opinion on "bondo" - in fact I've done so little body work over the years that believe it or not it wasn't until about 2 years ago that I actually saw "Bondo" brand bondo.. Can you imagine that? I thought bondo was JUST a generic term.. Ha, back when I was 18 (and I'm in my 40's now) I bought a gallon of some type of lightweight body filler and some glass filler, and I used it on probably 6 projects over the next 25 years - and I still had some but decided to toss it. How could it last that long and still be good? This car I am working on now is the first one that will not be a daily driver, so I am trying to be a little more professional about it. I have to say that I have painted some dark colors, including black, and my body work is great, although it takes me a long time to get it that way. But who cares how long it takes me. Anyway, as with anything, the more I read and look and ponder the more I get confused - makes me just wish I still had that half-gallon of 25 year old stuff.. HAHAHAHA..

[Phil V]

Mike, the word "bondo" is still a generic term for any polyester based automotive filler. But the Bondo brand of fillers today are good fillers. I tried a gallon of their premium lightweight filler from Murrays or Autozone and it was definately an excellent filler. ALL automotive fillers used today are polyester (fiberglass) based with talc (same stuff you use on a babies butt) or micro fiber glass spheres to add body to the filler. You can pretty much gauge the quality of the filler by the selling price. But having said that I don't believe there is presently on the market a "bad" filler. They are ALL good fillers, just that the cheaper fillers are more coarsely ground, sand a little harder and takes more labor effort to work with. On the other hand the premium lightweight fillers are easier to work with, sand easier and do a better job of finishing off the repair. Any premium lighweight filler would be a good choice of a general filler to use and the Bondo brand of premium lighweight filler would be right there on the list.

The formula I arrived at for doing my filler work is I use Evercoats Z-Grip (more coarse filler and less expensive) for the bulk of my filling work then finish off with a coat of Evercoats Rage Extreme (finely ground, spreads better, sands easier and works like a polyester spot putty).

Something else that has changed in the last 25 years is the use of polyester spot putty. 25 years ago everyone was using lacquer based spot putty that came in a tube like a large tooth paste tube. Being lacquer based it took a long time to dry and it swelled and shrank from the thinners/reducers sprayed over it in the primers and topcoat paints. Many times it would leave what we referred to as "bullseyes" in the finished paint job that usually didn't show up until weeks later. No professionals that I know of use lacquer based spot putties any more. We all switched to the polyester based spot putties. Its basically the same as polyester based fillers (bondo -generic term) but its fillers are ground very fine so its easier to work with, spreads easier, sands easier and finish sands to a finer sandpaper grit than regular filler. Works well also for filling those occaisional pesky pin holes in the "bondo" etc.

[MikeP]

That actually helped clear some of the haze of all the different fillers out there. Funny, I still have a half a tube of the "claw glaze" as it is labeled, the laquer based glaze. Still in good shape, I bought it when I painted my sister's car when I was 16. I just can't bring myslef to toss it, and in fact I used it on my Olds when I painted and blended the nose, I had no ill-effect, but I certainly won't use it on this project car. It's gonna be black, and I know what you mean about the bull's eyes, I had a few on my 73 black Impala, which I painted when I was 18. Mike

[Phil V]

I have a tube of Nitrostan lacquer spot putty thats been in my shop for at least 15 years and for some reason I just can't throw it out. Its red oxide in color and come in that bright yellow tube. I'll never use it, just for some reason I refuse to throw it out.

[Len]

I have a tube of Nitrostan lacquer spot putty thats been in my shop for at least 15 years and for some reason I just can't throw it out. Its red oxide in color and come in that bright yellow tube. I'll never use it, just for some reason I refuse to throw it out.

I guess it can't hurt anything if you don't use it and the smell will probably bring back memories.

[88GT]

I wouldnt keep laquer putty around. I wouldnt even use it on a bicycle. Polyester is the way to go. I keep my storage cabinets as clean as possible. No room for junk or things I will never use. I didnt know Mar-hyde was a bondo product. I like the few mar-hyde products Ive tried

[Silverback]

I use normal bondo all the time to fix wood trim, rot… around the house, and the last time around I grabbed a can of their “professional gold” just to see how different it is, and to be honest, the stuff is really nice. I usually use rage extreme or marson’s platinum for actual bodywork and I wouldn’t hesitate at all to use the bondo professional gold in a pinch and I can get it at autozone or walmart at whatever odd time.

[Len]

I used body filler for just about everything around the house but found that fiberglass fillers usually work better for exterior applications because they are more moisture resistant.