# shaving body lines



## rfc_lockhart (Aug 5, 2005)

I would like suggestions on the best way to fill the body lines on my 97 200sx. I have considered using sheetmetal and welding it over the gap but woried about condensation causing rust fron the inside out. Also considerd drilling holes and filling with fiberglass. I have never had to fill anything before and am not sure how to go about it. Info would be appreciated!!!

P.S. I am confident I can do this with the proper info and materials, I did shave the inner tail lights adn it came out beautifull, but there was no filling involve just a tiny bit of bondo


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## xbrandonx (Mar 27, 2004)

since you open and shut your doors, you'll need to do sheetmetal and welding. Bondo will crack from opening and shutting the doors.


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

Be careful if you weld. If you fail to control the heat, it will warp the relatively thin metal Nissan uses VERY easily! As for the rust, I'd just paint inside the door when you are done and that should solve it. Also, if you have no experience with Bondo, you may wish to skip this mod as it is very easy to make things worse rather than better if you don't know how to work it. You really need an air file and a 50 gallon compressor to do it effectively. It can be done with a compressor of at least 25 gallons, but it will take forever since the air file will run the compressor out of air and you'll have to stop and let it fill back up before you can continue. Then, you'll want to primer it with a good filler/primer and block it out at least twice to be sure it's flat and straight.


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## thestunts200sx (Jul 11, 2005)

you can always make a slit in the grove....tap out and weld the best you can...and keep tapping until its as close as possible to smooth...then do minor filling with bondo.....


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## K2Fugative169 (Mar 31, 2005)

*No Bondo..*

don't even think about using Bondo for something like filling body lines. like was mentioned above, it'll crack and chip out in no time. 

you need to use a different kind of body filler called DuraGlass. Bondo is a Polyester body filler... most of its ingredients are inert (stuff that does nothing more than take up space). DuraGlass is more of a resin based material... it is much much stronger because it chemically bonds with the surface, and it also a bit forgiving to impacts and body flexing. 

this is the stuff you use for filling anything more than 1/8th of an inch thick. then, once the bulk of the space has been filled, block sand it smooth and come back and hit it with a *thin* layer of Bondo to smooth out your imperfections. then, naturally, fill pinholes with glazing putty. 

The only problem with DuraGlass is that it's expensive... about $45/gal. vs. $25/gal. for Bondo Gold. But, then again, it's very cheap compared to the cost of removing the old bondo, re-filling with duraglass, re-sanding and prepping, and re-painting a month down the road when it chips out and destroys the paint. so it definately pays to do it right the first time.

Hope this helps..

-Mike


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