Body work etc

I need to do alot of body work on my camaro. Mostly replacing the panels. My roof is a vinel top. It is down to the metal, I am going to put filler on there because it is pitted . what is a good brand of filler that protects from rust but not expensive. What should I put on top of filler? filler primer or sealer primer ?What sequence of sandpaper 80 grit then 150 grit then 220 grit? Filler primer or sealer primer. After words what sequence of sand paper should I use , 80 grit, then 150 grit then 220 grit? Should I wet sand? Till I get real; smooth , then clean with metal cleaner ? Thanks for your help


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There is no filler that protects from rust. You need to soda blast it or cut out rusted section and replace it.

filler is not meant to protect from rust, nor does it. You should put a quality epoxy primer on your roof (SPI expoy), and you can apply filler over this. Remove all the rust you can from your roof.

On top of the filler you'll probably want to put more epoxy as you've probably sanded through your first coats of epoxy when you were sanding the filler. Then over the fresh epoxy, you can apply SPI 2k primer (a 'building' primer).

If you spray the epoxy within a week it does not need to be sanded. If it's been over a week I sand the epoxy with 220.

I block the 2k with 220. You can use 180 but for me the 220 isn't as aggressive and doesn't take it off as fast which is good for hobbyists such as myself. After blocking's all done, wet sand with 400-600 grit before applying base coat. I need to recheck those last numbers though, it's been awhile.

For filler, I go over it with 40 grit real quick to remove ridges and the bulk of everything that is definitely excess. Then I move to 80 and form it more. Finally, I smooth it out with 180 to get it to perfection and feather the edges nicely. Then I shoot my epoxy or 2k over it, depending on what I need to paint. If it's a polyester filler that sands a lot easier I use 80 grit to remove the bulk and then 180 or 220 to finish sand.

Start by getting a good compressor and some air tools an electric orbital sander and a drill wont get you there, you'll just screw everything up and end up scrapping the car....

good luck with soda blasting rust .

Here we go again

Yeah, soda will remove paint but wont touch rust you need to use the proper media for the job. I'm betting the motor and tranny are still in it so any kind media blasting is out unless it's stripped down to a shell.
Phosphric acid is a good alternative..cheap too.. I use Ospho,look it up.