old car fan Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Just posted on the lincoln forum about our lincoln,was wondering when they started using plastic body filler? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 I can't speak for Ford, but GM (or Oldsmobile at least) was experimenting with it around 1968-69. As in when my Dec 68 built Toronado was stripped to bare metal, one side of the roof-to-quarter seam was done in lead, and the other in plastic. It had been under a vinyl roof all those years and showed no signs of quarter-panel replacement, so I don't think had had any work done. All other seams and jamb areas were finished with lead.Ran into an old-timer who had worked the Toronado body line in Euclid and he remembered that sometime in late 1968 they were experimenting with plastic filler under vinyl roof jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidAU Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 The smash repair shops were using it at the start of the 1960's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jim_Edwards Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) The smash repair shops were using it at the start of the 1960's1961 to be specific. Fifty years of Bondo! In all fairness to the product it beats the heck out of paddling lead and is less likely to come off in a huge chunk as lead can do if close attention is not paid to pre application prep. Lead is a lot less forgiving of bad prep than Bondo or Snow White. All Metal is even more superior thanks to having expansion and shrinkage characteristics more closely akin to steel. None equal cutting out damaged and/or rusted steel and welding in new steel. Edited January 2, 2012 by Jim_Edwards (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coley Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Hammer welding also make for less filler.Once saw a Rolls Royce front fender that was made up ENTIRELY of 6" square sections, hammer welded together and then filed down. Heavy primer was the only filler.What a nightmare of a job that would have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danhar1960 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Coley,What is "hammer welded" ?? I can't say I've heard the expression before.Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jim_Edwards Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Hammer welding is basically what blacksmiths do. It is the best way to join two pieces of sheet metal without ultimately having to use filler to correct metal expansion and contraction caused by mig or gas welding. Below is a link to a really good explanation with photos of the process.Metal Hammer Welding - Technique & Overview - Rod and Custom Magazine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Trust me it isn't as easy as it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Actually if you are good with a mig welder and take your time very little hammer work is needed. Hammer welding is a good way to do it if you only have access to an acetylene torch and hammers and dollies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jim_Edwards Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Actually if you are good with a mig welder and take your time very little hammer work is needed. Hammer welding is a good way to do it if you only have access to an acetylene torch and hammers and dollies.Very few things are as easy as they may look. Not even MIG welding. Dollies and hammers are fairly cheap, gases not so much. I suspect one might be able to get away with using a MAP gas torch for hammer welding metal under 16 ga. but I haven't tried it. A MAP gas/oxygen rig would get it done, but those are pretty Mickey Mouse and consume oxygen like it was dirt cheap. The fact is even with MIG welding one has to have a variety of clamps, hammers, dollies, brushes, and shielding gases to do a job right.Ain't no cheap and easy way anyway one looks at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Plastic body filler as we know it comes from the polyester resin used in fibreglass. It was first used right after WW2. Early experimenters with fibreglass mixed filler with the resin to use on their fibreglass experiments.The first plastic body fillers offered for sale to the public were around 1957. Bondo was one of the first brand names. At least, 1957 was the oldest advertisement I have seen.Years ago I knew a man who claimed he invented one of the first body fillers on the market, made from polyester resin and Portland cement mixed in a cement mixer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Barry B. Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 If I remember right they also used Lab Metal before Bondo, it was good in some areas but had shrinkage problems and was tough to sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) I,m not sure it is plastic,but it is filler and not lead,and again ,no damage on the inside. Edited January 5, 2012 by old car fan (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlLaFong Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Hammer welding is basically what blacksmiths do. Not to be too nit picky, but blacksmiths forge weld, which is a totally different process than hammer welding. It should be called hammer welding, I suppose since, other than heat, a hammer is all you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest South_paw Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Plastic body filler as we know it comes from the polyester resin used in fibreglass. It was first used right after WW2. Early experimenters with fibreglass mixed filler with the resin to use on their fibreglass experiments.The first plastic body fillers offered for sale to the public were around 1957. Bondo was one of the first brand names. At least, 1957 was the oldest advertisement I have seen.Years ago I knew a man who claimed he invented one of the first body fillers on the market, made from polyester resin and Portland cement mixed in a cement mixer.That early body filler weighed a ton too. It was nothing like the lightweight body filler of today. So hard to sand and lots of pinholes too. Who remembers Nitro-Stan Red Lead putty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 We used gallons and gallons of Nitro-Stan. After all body work was complete you had to wait 6 weeks for the lacquer primer and glazing to dry thoroughly or sand scratches were inevitable. Ahhhh, the good old days. When we started in 1979 Lacquer primer was $11/gallon and black paint was $22/gallon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 We used gallons and gallons of Nitro-Stan. After all body work was complete you had to wait 6 weeks for the lacquer primer and glazing to dry thoroughly or sand scratches were inevitable. Ahhhh, the good old days. When we started in 1979 Lacquer primer was $11/gallon and black paint was $22/gallon.And a New 6 volt battery was $15 bucks. Seems like a half a life time ago. Oh wait,... it is. :eek: Dandy Dave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W_Higgins Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 With the first 1959 Lincoln Limousine conversions by Hess and Eisenhardt, they were using "plastic" filler on the roof to smooth out the stamped detail that runs above the rain gutter prior to installing their vinyl tops. That started September of 1958. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Did plastic filler hit the market to cover MIG welds or was there another reason? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W_Higgins Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Did plastic filler hit the market to cover MIG welds or was there another reason?I would think the reason is the same as most things that come to dominate the market -- economy and speed. Lead work is time consuming and requires more invasive prep work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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