I just bought my first truck! Its a 1985 ford f150. I would like to restore it over time beginning with the body. I was told that fiberglass bondo would do the trick. I've taken to the time to look at the cost of buying new sheet metal. It doesn't look cheap either. I have rust around the wheel wells of course, bottom of the doors egdes of hood and random spots here and there. Since there is a gap between the wheel well trim and the rusted away panel I have no idea how i'm supposed to bondo it. Maybe theres other ways of going about this. I might visit the local u-wrench-it and see if they have any panels I might be able to use. I'd also like info about having the engine/transmission rebuilt also. ANy and all info welcome. Thank you for your time
camplo

 

I just bondoed my rear drivers fender on my 85 F150 last week. i'll have to snap some pics of how it turned out. didn't get a chance to paint it yet.

bondo isn't the best way to fix a rusted out fender hole, but it works in the mean time

 

I had an 83' f-150 with the 302 and AOD tranny. When I bought it, the right fender had rusted through right over top of the wheel. I tried bondo and that didn't work. Tried fiberglass filler and that looked a little better. But my auto body skills were a little worse than I desired. And it didn't turn out right. I couldn't get the edges just right around the lip if the fender. So I went to a local retailer of generic auto body panels,(Town & Country Auto) and bought a right front fender. Then bolted it in place, and sanded it down good with really fine grit sandpaper. (It came primered in black.) Then I Shot a few coats of gray primer on it, then wetsanded it. Then I went over the whole truck and used bondo to fill in the dents and dings, (I used bondo, since its a little easier to use than fiberglass.) then I sanded the bondo down even with the surface of the sheetmetal using medium grit sandpaper. And worked it with really fine grit sandpaper(wetsanded), until it was silky smooth. I masked off the windows and mirrors. Then primered the whole truck in gray. Went over the rough spots with fine grit sandpaper, then wetsanded it. I had a neighbor paint it Charcoal Gray for $100. But I had to buy the paint. He told me to go to Napa and tell them I was his nephew since he got his paint from them cheaper because he bought it in bulk alot. I did, and they gave me a discount! The final outcome was a masterpiece. I left a few low spots where I filled in the dents and sanded it down a hair to far. But other than that, it turned out great. I also had the engine completley rebuilt too. Sorry I got carried away with my stories, but I had a truck at one time like you have now. That was my first Ford truck. And your thread just brought back a few memories from my past. Good luck with your project. And take your time on it. Ahhhhhh, memories.....

 

I use kitty hair. It is a product of everglass. It is a fiber reinforced body filler. It sands fairly easy. For a final skim coat, I use Z-grip, which is made by evercoat. It's a filler, but sands real easy. When using bondo or whatever, you have to get it down to bare metal. I usualy use a grinder with a sand wheel to put some heavy scratches in the metal. apply your filler next, once it starts to get firm use a cheesegrater to file the excesss filler down and form it to the panel. Take some 80 grit and dry sand the area down smooth, don't worry about leaving heavy scratches as the primer will take care of those. Once you have it where it is straight as you can get it and you cant fill the egdes , put a few wet coats of 2k primer on the area. Once dry, sand it smooth with 320 or 400. If needed reprime and sand again. You can use the primer to hide any imperfections in your bondo work. For any pinholes, just use some glaze putty with a razor blade. you can use the puttly over primer.