[RJH]

Basically, i'm after the totally smooth look on my tailgate and people say that that to fill the badge recess you have to have it leadloaded and/or plated and to fill any bodywork recesses such as smoothing bumpers etc, they should be plastic welded, why not just fillered?

I've been speaking to someone recently who's been in the bodywork/motor trade for 15 years who's done umpteen of these filler jobs and various other jobs aswell on parts such as these and they have said that the whole leadloading thing is just b******s, filler will do the job fine!

So am i right in thinking that all you guys who claim leadloading is the only option for smoothing are saying he doesn't know what he's talking about? [:|]

If so, i'd love to know why! Filler is cheap enough and sets hard as a rock so why should i go with the extra expense of leadloading/plastic welding [:O]

 

[Pat]

mate, bumpers for example are plastic and are therefore flexible. If you filled the recesses for the bump strips with something hard ie filler, then when the bumper flexs for whatever reason, the bond between the plastic and filler is compromised and can break away. If plastic strips are plastic welded into place, then its all flexible together and won't break half as easily.

Badge recess is the same sort of theory in my head apart from that the metal isn't as flexible as the plastic of a bumper. But imagine if you have filled the recess with a big lump of filler, every time you shut the tailgate it's vibrating and making it weaker and weaker until it starts to break contact with the metal and falls out completely.

Your infil panel if 100% smooth is required then why not consider having a bespoke metal extension made instead of the stick on variety. I'd bet you could offset that cost against the stick on version?

This is what I've learned in the past from various people's experiences but I've never had anything like it done myself. See what other folk on here think. Hope it helps!!

 

[Pat]

btw I'm not saying your man is wrong, but I'd maybe ask for some kind of guarantee incase it went *** up )

 

[sonnys_sdi]

I was going to filler in my recess but i decided to leave it in the end
and go for a military style badge because of all this talk about
welding and lead loading, but if the filler works for you tell me
because then I'll be ripping off the badge and attempting it myself.

Sonny

 

[dub warrior2]

Have been looking at getting my tailgate done lately and the guy in my bodyshop told me that it is not worth doing with filler of fibreglass as they shrink. To get the recess lead filled will not be much more expensive and is really the professional way of doing things. If its good enough for rolls royce and bentley it will be good enough on my Bolf.

 

[RJH]

So where do you get this plastic welding done then? is it expensive?

I need mine done pretty soon but if it costs a lot to get it done then that idea's out of the window i'm afraid! [:'(]

But to be honest, filler seems an easy option on the bumpers as they aren't going to move much after all, and also the filler i have is vibration resistant! []

 

[RJH]

So where do you get this plastic welding done then? is it expensive?

I need mine done pretty soon but if it costs a lot to get it done then that idea's out of the window i'm afraid! [:'(]

But to be honest, i can see the point you're trying to make on the boot being banged all the time and the filler eventually dropping out, but filler seems an easy option on the bumpers as they aren't going to move at all really, and also the filler i have is vibration resistant! []

 

[Pat]

Vibration resistant filler sounds interesting. Well, to keep costs right down, why not have a go at filling your recesses prior to having your bumper painted? If you need a lift with it you know where I am D

 

[RJH]

I may aswell give the vibration resistant stuff a go and drive round for a week or two to see what happens and see if it has any effect, after all, it could end up cheaper that the whole leadloading thing if it turns out to be ok and doesn't drop out! []

 

[binlinerVR6]

It is necessary to have things like badge recesses welded and lead filled as filler will shrink and look crap... with bodywork you generally get what you pay for, cut corners and you'll end up with a job that won't last five minutes and you'll end up paying for twice

 

[graygti]

also if you was gona use filler in the bumper recess what are you going to do about the holes bwgind the infill piece? look inside the recessed part and there full of holes?

 

[Pat]

you would need to seal it somehow

thread from the dead or what??

 

[graygti]

yeh i no. i was digging deep in the forum and found it lol

ok would it have to be a permanent seal or just while it drys?

 

[marc-dub]

Whats up with RJH signature? has somebody p****d him off?

 

[Pat]

Gray, it'd need to be a permanent seal, as if moisture got into the filler it'd likely expand / contract, and eventually it'd begin to show on the outer faces of the bumpers.

Marc, I don't thing anyone did anything in particular to him, he just lost interest in the whole car thing and doesn't come on here any more ( I still see him bezzing about in his mk4 however I heard he was about to sell it

 

[graygti]

oh true..so they would have to be plastic welded up or something like that.

cheers that answered that lol

 

[Dubswich]

Whats up with RJH signature? has somebody p****d him off?

Check the initial post date !!!!