So, I went to patch the rust hole in my RR wheelwell today.

- Bondo Fiberglass patch kit: Check.
- Rubberized undercoating: Check.
- All other stuff: Check.
- Camera, to give my fellow BC'ers a blow-by-blow: Check.


*Yes, I'm aware that a brazen metal patch is the better option; given available $$, time, and resources, I went fiberglass.

Now, that being said...

I bought the kit at the Englishtown swap meet a couple weeks back, judging by the pkg it looked to be about 15 years old. But it was still shrinkwrapped and all, so what the hell it'* all good right?

No.

Not good.

Cleared all the old rusted/weak metal to get ready for the patch, opened the kit, what do you know- the hardener tube somehow deteriorated and leaked. Ran to Wal Mart and got new hardener. Came back, mixed the resin and the hardener, doused the fiberglass mesh in the stuff, tried to put it up in the wheelwell. 'Course, the mesh was sticking to my latex gloves, and not the wheelwell. It occurred to me I used way too much resin, and so I cut new mesh, using less resin. This stuff stuck... but did not harden after 30-40 mins.

Uh-oh.

I figured "well it'* a bit cool out, maybe it needs more time" and sprayed the undercoat on. What a punk-*** move that was! The black undercoat came out grey and it never fully dried. To help things along, I borrowed Mom'* hair dryer, and it only made things worse. The patch, which I discovered never hardened, fell right the hell off in my hand!

Cliffsnotes:

-Went to patch hole
-All my equipment was old/defective
-Repair failed
-Steve-O is pissed because he has to use his sister'* car to get to work tomorrow.

I bought a brand new patch kit tonight and 3M undercoat. Tomorrow, I own the rust hole. Right now, the smell of Bondo owns my interior. And my bank account, which is plenty pwned at the moment, is pwned even more now.

Steve-O... not happy...

See what happens when you try and save a buck?

hope it turns out better tomorrow

Sorry to hear that.... but didn't you know it'* Murphy Week? Stay inside a week....then try again.

I hate to hear it happened, especially since it'* happened to me so many times. If I've only learned one thing, it is do not buy chemicals of any sort, that you hope to have work, used. Nobody, myself included, stores them correctly.

Good luck getting her patched up, though. I wish I had confidence in my body work abilities. I'd attack some issues on the Bonne and The Missus' Astro

Definitely learned a lesson this time, trust me

MOS95B this is my first time playing with Bondo, I figure after it dries and is undercoated it'll look close to OEM. It'* in the wheelwell- if it was the body itself I'd be nervous too, trust me. Looks-wise, this one'* "out of the way."

Good place to start!! Make sure you take pics for us!

Fixed the hole for good today, all is well..

Sadly, I didn't get pics though. You can see an ever so slight "bubble" in the well where the Bondo mesh resides, but it looks reasonably close to OEM with the undercoat in there.

Steve-O. That sounds like something I'd do! Only I'd have stuck one of my latex gloves permanantly to the only part of the fiberglass patch that would have stuck to the car. The other latex glove would have been stuck to my shirt, hair, or prominantly displayed on one of the outer body panels of the car. Permanently, of course. Glad to know I'm not alone.