Hi I'm new to this site and I've just sorta been browsing through the past few days. I've found tons of answers to my questions except one... I have an 85 Iroc Z28 with 134K miles that appears to have been wrecked. The whole car has been repainted silver and there is plenty of bondo along the driver side of the hood, on the top of each rear fender, and numerous other places, including behind the door on the drivers side. The front clip and fenders have been replaced and painted. Also, the passenger side door is further into the car than the front fender is. There is about a 1 inch gap here, YIKES! The lock cylinders were pulled in each door and there was damage to where they used to be so I pulled the handles and I have been practicing to weld pieces in for shaved door handles. I am novice with body work and I am wondering if this car is a good candidate for a black paint job!? and if so, where should I have it done? I live in the woods so it is hard to keep debris from falling on a car while painting it (tried it before, not pretty). If anyone could give me some input, it would be greatly appreciated! I hope to start body work soon, I just got done welding my y-pipe and hollowing my cat so my exhaust is taken care of - for now. Thanks!

 

You can paint your car any color but it will depend on what quality you want. I personally don't like Bondo on any car I am planning on keeping a long time. If you can replace then do so. Only Bondo if you have to. JMHO

 

there is no thing as a straight car with no bondo - metal is not straight - however on the flip side bondo shouldn't be more than 1/16" thick as much as 1/8" in minor small spots would be ok. without seeing what you are looking at its kinda hard to say but if you are learning and teaching yourself then i say go for it. though i love third gens its no major big loss if you mess it all up. if you are really serious about saving/using this particular car then you may be money ahead to pay a body shop to put the car on a frame machine to make sure the unibody isn't tweaked. the one inch gap you are talking about could have occured from a minor front end collision which pushes back on the radiator core support and inner fender.

 

as long as you fix everything the RIGHT way there should be no reason it cant be painted black, bondo is fine as long as its not to thick

 

Rogue, how would I go about fixing the gap between the fender and the door caused by collision? Also, I planned on having the bondo about 1/4' thick to cover the metal pieces welded in for my handles. Would this be okay? It's about a 5x2 inch piece to be filled. Thanks!

 

For the door/fender gap, I would get the frame checked as already suggested, there is definately something not right there. Sounds like the lower frame is pushed up, forcing the fender out. As for the handles, that much bondo (please don't use "Bondo" brand, get some "Evercoat Rage Gold" ) is too much. Put some short or longstrand fiberglass in the hole first, then "skim coat" it with the filler.

Something else........"Black paint" and "beginner" usually don't belong together in the same sentence unless the word "not" is included somewhere. Be prepared to spend alot of time blocking out the car before painting, and be sure to use a guide coat during the sanding process. Black show every little flaw that you may have missed.