I just bought an 84 Z28, the body is in good shape all but a few rust spots ( I think one of the previous owners had a bra on it ) At the front edge of the hood there is rust spots that east all the way into the metal. I *do* plan on getting a cowl hood one day but right now i'm trying to do cheap fixes / upgrades as i am new to this type of hobby. Can I just sand down the rust and bondo it? Or what would be the best way ? It's on the edge of the hood so if i sand it off there wont be 4 sides to the hole, can i still bondo it and just work my way out and make a new edge or do i need some kind of mold/pattern to place before i do it ?

Bondo will just hide rust until the metal becomes so fragile that the bondo falls off. If there is any sign of rust then it will just spread (whether you can see it or not). Completely get rid of it, then bondo over it.

If you want a temporary fix that will last a while till you buy a different hood, you could clean out all the rust and then use fiberglass rasin with mesh (or whatever they are called) to fill in the hole. Then you should be able to use a body filler to make everything smooth and make the corners sharp.

Putting bondo on top of rust will not do anything. Your metal will keep continue to corrode and bondo wouldn't even adhere all that well.

Also after you clean the rust, make sure to use some kinda rust converter to make sure that whatever is left in the pits will not come back and make things even worse

So like a dentist filling in a cavity, remove all rust to good metal then bondo it ? my problem is this , let me try to explain it maybe i didn't do a good job. The rust is on the far edge of the hood, if i sand it down there will be an indent from the edge. Do i need to put some thing under the spot when i bondo it to brace it while im making a new edge or no?

thanks, so i need to put mesh on it before i bondo ?

I am hoping someone who knows what they are talking about is going to add to all of this. I am just like you. I am deep into my first project and only been reading about all this stuff (but reading for a while now).

Yeah, that's what the mesh is for, to reinforce the material while it is hardening. Either way you have to make sure there is absolutely no rust before you try to repair the area. Also there is body filler which is designed to go into dings and such. I don't know if that would be good for places where you just have a hole. Then there is (I think) fiberglass rasin. One that solidifies, it is designed to be hard enough to stand by itself. Just make sure you don't go to autozone and buy the cheapest 1gal can of bondo, that won't last.

Read more and check out autobodstore.com.

Duraglas

Fiberglass kits are cheap and available at your local pep boys or whatever... mix the resin with the hardener, lay down some matting, fill.... lay down matting, fill, so on and so forth...it hardens rather quickly, you can then sand it down and use a filler to smooth over any imperfections. Fiberglass is fun to work with.

Thanks, i was looking at a body kit for an 84 camaro. It comes with 4 fenders , leuver, hood and front spoiler for $1400 all fiber glass. I'm thinking of just getting that instead of waisting time trying to fix something i don't plan on keeping on the car anyway.

grind the rust out, first use Dura Glass. It's water proof and it's really really hard. Definently a good base to use. Then bondo over the duraglass....that stuff is great