A Body Filling Exercise

Hello again whilst we're heading towards the end of October, there's another load I've done.

On the previous week, I've bought a load of equipment from work in preparation to start flipping cars which included the following.

*    Body filler

*    Plastic applicator

*    Sanding block

*    Sandpaper sheets 240 and 800 grit

*    Extendable wheel brace

*    2 pairs of 1800 kg jacks

*    1700 kg trolley jack

But this post isn't entirely focused on any car stuff because at the weekend, I wanted to buy a foldable work bench as well. And years back, I was working on a previous art work which was laying in my parents' house.

So I got my dad to help out and take the pair of shoes and the board to me as well and then, resume the project.

So if you're wandering about this project, I'll give you what that was about. At the time I've bought these shoes, they were good for a few weeks until they became rubbish but instead of throwing them out into garbage, I've decided to turn it into a piece of art as a rebelious move against planned obsolescence and cheap and nastiness. With it, I've bought some red paint and a board from a warehouse store.

I've splat red paint on the shoes then sprayed clear coat over it. And the board, I've sanded it, primed and painted the top side white and the edges black. It looked alright but could be better but now I have bought some body filler, the Sunday was the grand opportunity to put it to use. And here came the body filling exercise.

With the work bench set with the board along with the sanding block and an old bit of 120 grit sandpaper, I got started sanding off the original paint.

So the top surface is sanded then showing its imperfections.

And with the edges sanded, next comes to use the body filler I've bought.

Using the body filler is my new thing. It was awkward getting the filler out of the jar with the plastic applicator as I couldn't fit it but strangely, I had to use the screwdriver to open the lid and put scoops of it on a piece of cardboard.

Once it's on the cardboard, I've applied a little bit of hardener. When using body filler, the filler hardener ratio is 50:1. I've had to determine how much hardener after that irregularly shaped blob of filler. Later, it's all mixed and ready to apply.

So then, here's the first application. One mistake I've made is when I was smearing the body filler on the board when the weather outside is warm and why is it's a bad idea is because it'll set more quickly. But besides that, I've waited 20 minutes until the first round of sanding.

With the sanding block and a pack of 240 grit sandpaper sheets, I've cut a third of one sheet and I've had a little while figuring out how to insert a sheet of sandpaper into the block. I then realised the block uses levers to open and close the clamps and that's all set. We got to figure out things don't we?

With the first round of sanding, it has revealed a decent load of deep pits so another load of body filler will be needed.

With the second round, I've decided to fill on the board in my house where it's cooler. With the edges, they're all good and the 20 minutes to wait and then, the last round of sanding.

With the board sanded to my satisfaction, the body filling is all complete. The last bit is spraying primer. You can now see how all the dips and imperfections are filled than previously when I hadn't even thought of using body filler years back.

Using primer this year had been strange as I hadn't used it for a decent while because the last time I used the primer was last year when I was fixing a lawn mower to sell. I've read the instructions to refresh my memory and once that's done, it'll be spray 3 thin layers with 5 minute intervals between. And after 20 minutes to fully dry, I've replaced the sheet of 240 grit sandpaper with a new sheet and then sanded all the surfaces.

After the first round of sanding, the top surface is all good. Only the edges needed some extra more primer.

And after that, the board is all good. Sanding off the original paint, body filler over the imperfections, a sufficient layer of primer, all done and dusted.

As I was packing up for the day, I've highly admired with the board lately. It looks and feels brand new as though it hadn't been used at all. This exercise has been a decent success at the end of the day.

The next steps are to repaint the board so keeping with the white surface on top and the black edges then gluing the shoes on using epoxy glue. And this artwork will be complete.

I'm greatly pleased to take up the exercise before I commence working on cars. When I'll flip cars, it'll be a handy skill to utilise if in case I have cars that may be dented and then repainting surfaces. If I ever have a car to work on, dents will be hammered out, imperfections filled with body filler, next primed, painted and then sprayed with clearcoat. Here's one interesting thing I've found when I was walking in Pakenham, I came across a paint shop where apparently do automotive paints. Conveniently once you provide a paint code, they'll do the mixing and they'll provide you with the paint you need. It wouldn't be as daunting as time goes by.

And speaking of trying things before I flipped cars, I've had a go with my trolley jack. After bleeding out some air as it's ideal after being knocked around during transportation, it'll create air bubbles and not bleeding out some air and operating the jack could result in bursting the seals.

With regards of trying my jack, I've used my car as a guinea pig but when I've looked underneath, there are those plastic panelling. I've looked in the owner's manual for jacking points but no luck so I went on the internet to find out.

With this diagram, this has taken a lot of guesswork out. You can see the squares are where to place the jack to lift up and triangles where you put the stands once the car's jacked up.

With that, I've jacked up and after a little fiddling with the release valve, the jack is doing it's job.

I was looking to try the stands but unfortunately, I needed chucks at the back wheels for safety. In the end of the day, practises, exercises and tests are a good way to make sure I'll be all good to go.

See you next time!