All fillers needed for restoration project

Schroeder

Schroeder

Promoted Users
I'm working on a 2nd gen fbody ( 77 TA). The roof skin and quarters are being replaced. I have flared the quarters 5/8" to get 345s in the back. The markers are deleted, and I added little pockets in the quarters to access Corvette style electric door buttons because I shaved the door handles. There are lots of welded in customs details. The sliver that was added for the quarter flare was butt welded in. What reinforced fiber glass filler should I use for the welds for the flares and customer pieces? That's assuming I need something stronger for the welded areas. I read fiber reinforced filler should bed used around and over butt welds. I assume I'd use this as the filler I would put in the roof/quarter seam too. I have seen some people fill in the roof/quarter seem on these 2nd gen fbodies with a small filled piece to strengthen the seam and minimize the amount of filler in the seam. I plan on doing this too.

Will rage evercoat ultra be the best choice for the rest of the car and for filling in as a skim coat over the fiber-reinforced filler?

I've never done any of this before. Gotta start somewhere. If I screw it up and blow thousands of dollars and hours I can fix it. It's just more time and money.
 
texasking said:
2-3 coats of epoxy over all clean metalwork and rage ultra is all that is needed. Never had any luck with the reinforced fillers being any better.
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You stress "clean" metalwork. Are you doing something above and beyond wiping the metal with SPI 700 and then SPI 710?
 
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Chris_Hamilton said:
In addition to properly wiping down,,,,,,,,,Clean meaning rust free, old paint/primer free, and 80 grit scratches.
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Got it. The epoxy will have been sprayed 1-3 months before filler. I need to sand it with 80grit and then apply the rage ultracoat? Or should I sand the old SPI epoxy with 180grit, reshoot, and apply the rage ultracoat to that?

Who has the best prices on rage ultra?
 
Schroeder said:
Got it. The epoxy will have been sprayed 1-3 months before filler. I need to sand it with 80grit and then apply the rage ultracoat? Or should I sand the old SPI epoxy with 180grit, reshoot, and apply the rage ultracoat to that?

Who has the best prices on rage ultra?
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Per the SPI manual, you can apply filler over epoxy without sanding within 7 days of spraying the epoxy and as long as it hasn't been outside (exposed to sunlight). After the 7 day window (but no longer than 28 days after spraying the epoxy), you have to sand with 180 prior to filler. After 28 days, you have to reapply epoxy. What you're looking for is the filler to be feathering out at the edges. If it's not feathering (kind of peeling up), you better remove it and start over with your surface prep.

95% of the time, I use Rage Ultra. I either buy it from Amazon or a local shop if they have a decent price. I have some Evercoat glazing putty, but I don't like how it dries with a sticky outer layer so I think I'll stop using it. I also have "honey" that I add to the Rage Ultra for when I want to thin it down a little bit to act more like a skim coat or if I am applying over a large area and want to cut down on the pinholes and get it to self level a little better. I have some USC Icing on order, we'll see how that stuff works. I typically only skim over areas to fill pinholes and make blocking 2K go a little quicker and easier.
 
Schroeder said:
You stress "clean" metalwork. Are you doing something above and beyond wiping the metal with SPI 700 and then SPI 710?
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To me clean means pinhole, slag, and void free in this context. The reason a lot of guys use fiberglass type filler over their welds is because they aren't confident in the welds being solid. The glass is supposed to stop moisture coming through the weld and bubbling their work. If you are confident your metal work is solid and correct no need for stranded glass. As far as adding strength to a quarter seam, filler of any kind wont add enough to matter. JMO
 
1A Rock said:
To me clean means pinhole, slag, and void free in this context. The reason a lot of guys use fiberglass type filler over their welds is because they aren't confident in the welds being solid. The glass is supposed to stop moisture coming through the weld and bubbling their work. If you are confident your metal work is solid and correct no need for stranded glass. As far as adding strength to a quarter seam, filler of any kind wont add enough to matter. JMO
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1A Rock said:
To me clean means pinhole, slag, and void free in this context. The reason a lot of guys use fiberglass type filler over their welds is because they aren't confident in the welds being solid. The glass is supposed to stop moisture coming through the weld and bubbling their work. If you are confident your metal work is solid and correct no need for stranded glass. As far as adding strength to a quarter seam, filler of any kind wont add enough to matter. JMO
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Should I be using fiberglass then if I'm not completely dressing the entire back side of a weld? For the example of a quarter panel where I added a flare; The panel is new and it keeps getting put on and off the car right now. Before I weld it on fully I will be shooting the backside with epoxy. However, I have stopped completely dressing out both sides of a butt weld in areas where it is not noticeable from the inside of the car. I knocked down high spots on welds that are on the insides of panels that no eyes will ever see, but I don't bring it down to be the same thickness as the panel. For me this eliminates pinholeing in the weld when grinding it down, thinning out parent metal, time spent filling in pinholes with additional weld, and lots of time and headache in general. Not too mentioned, the weld is slightly thicker there and stronger.

Which rage fiberglass product is recommended, which USC fiberglass and other fillers are recommended?
 
i have a friend who helps his dad redo cars. They've had cars show and win at pebble beach. They use PPG and USC products. I of course am using SPI epoxy and looking for a filler.

You guys are saying evercoat rage products are good to go, but I want to be absolutely sure it won't weep moisture up from the backside of a weld if there is a missed pinhole in the weld. My friend does the USC duraglass over welds, USC kromate light for typical body filler, and USC 26006 icing for thin finishing glaze where needed. Does anyone here have any experience with this approach or comment on this method and compatibility with SPI products as opposed to simply using evercoat rage ultra in place of all these other products?
 
2-3 coats of epoxy over bare metal should be enough to fill in mini-pinholes in welds from porosity. Anything bigger than that needs to be welded up to fill in the voids. I really like 3M Platinum Select filler, it spreads thin for skimming and sands really well.
 
texasking said:
Very rarely do I use anything but Rage Ultra. Every once in a while I use dolphin glaze for chips or light scratches, but the ultra sands so easy, there is really no need for anything else.
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You cover welds with it too? Won't it week up water from the backside of you missed a pin hole in a weld? Do you use evercoat everglass? I finally found this today as a possible evercoat equivalent to USC Duraglass? One user on another forum said they used USC Duraglass and then used rage on top as the final filler. I have read- and it seems intuative- that different manufacturers' products shouldn't be mixed, so will USC Duraglass or evercoat everglass be better and more robust? It sounds like USC Duraglass is bullet proof.
 
Schroeder said:
You cover welds with it too? Won't it week up water from the backside of you missed a pin hole in a weld? Do you use evercoat everglass? I finally found this today as a possible evercoat equivalent to USC Duraglass? One user on another forum said they used USC Duraglass and then used rage on top as the final filler. I have read- and it seems intuative- that different manufacturers' products shouldn't be mixed, so will USC Duraglass or evercoat everglass be better and more robust? It sounds like USC Duraglass is bullet proof.
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There is no need for any reinforced filler over welds. That's a lot of horse manure. You can mix different manufacturers products, it's not a problem. It's done all the time. If you are welding it correctly and inspecting for pinholes (then welding them) you very, very rarely have any issue. If you do like Astronaut said and epoxy first then you will not have any issues. I too only use Rage Ultra and a glaze by Evercoat (name escapes me ATM) Duraglass and all the fiberglass fillers are generally used when someone wants to abuse the process and put filler on very thick. If it makes you feel better then use some, but you would be better off inspecting your welds and getting them solid.

If you read here you will see that Rage Ultra passes a 500 hour salt spray test. It's essentially as effective as the fiberglass products especially if you use it over epoxy

 
I will clarify when I say you can mix different products I mean you can use one brand of filler and another brand of glaze for example.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
There is no need for any reinforced filler over welds. That's a lot of horse manure. You can mix different manufacturers products, it's not a problem. It's done all the time. If you are welding it correctly and inspecting for pinholes (then welding them) you very, very rarely have any issue. If you do like Astronaut said and epoxy first then you will not have any issues. I too only use Rage Ultra and a glaze by Evercoat (name escapes me ATM) Duraglass and all the fiberglass fillers are generally used when someone wants to abuse the process and put filler on very thick. If it makes you feel better then use some, but you would be better off inspecting your welds and getting them solid.

If you read here you will see that Rage Ultra passes a 500 hour salt spray test. It's essentially as effective as the fiberglass products especially if you use it over epoxy

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So the everco ultra won't weep water from the back? Is that what you're pointing out with the salt spray test results? What's the best way to inspect for pinholes? I weld, grind them down, grind down high spots on the back side, turn the lights off in the shop, and trace the entire weld seam with the pretty bright flashlight. Any pinholes are marked, welded, ground back down, and then the entire seam is checked again until I don't see any pinholes of light shining through. Is there a better way?

I've stopped completely dressing the backs of welded seams on the insides of panels where no one can see because of all the time it consumes on top of the abrasives. I also think if the weld seam is just a touch thicker from not being dressed out entirely I'm more ahead.

With the glaze coat you're thinking of be ever coat polyflex or ever coat metal glaze?

Chris_Hamilton said:
I will clarify when I say you can mix different products I mean you can use one brand of filler and another brand of glaze for example.
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I knew what you meant! Lol
 
Any thoughts on evercoat rage gold instead of the ultra. I'm going to pick some of this stuff up at the local shop tomorrow, and that's what he's peddling to me. He had ultra, but he says he sells little of it. He has a lot of guys using gold. Would that be a better or comparable choice to ultra for going over welds and everywhere else on the car?

I was going to get some USC Duraglass for over the welds and was going to put this rage gold (or ultra) over everything else. I also thought I'd buy a little bit of evercoat's honey stuff to mix with the gold or ultra for thinning it out and feathering in to panels.
 
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