If you have seen my restoration thread, you know I have been trying to restore multiple fender panels that were damaged. My goals were first to get the profile back to correct, and then smooth the sheet metal as much as possible. I might have dreamed about achieving a metal finish that would not require filler, but that will not happen. So should I stop now and move on? My guess is that these panels will only need a thin skim of filler.

Nothing to be ashamed about a thin skim of filler. You would be amazed at how many custom cycle tanks and high end custom cars have filler in them.

Previously I showed an aluminum cafe racer tank I did in aluminum only to make the point that you can do it without filler but the time and effort is crazy. Expecially given that steel is harder to work than aluminum.

To get to no filler with steel is an inordinate task that will involve lots of hammer and dolly planish work, metal slapping files, shrinking disk, metal body files, and finally DA sanding to level it all off.

Not to mention that you have some really limited tool access up under the lights and up toward the front bumper transition.

As long as you're only using the filler to fill in low spots, weld seams, and is 1/16" or less, you've done a great job. No shame. Declare victory & move on.

Your on a slippery slope here. And you ever seen any of the high end cars. filler is used to get it for the 98% to 100%. It also comes down to time, and let's face it, building high end cars, time still comes down to a factor, as it is shop labor.

If you felt like learning, and making the investment in the tools, a good mobile plansinhing hammer and proper dies would get you even closer, but with out years of practice, it will still need filler.

Have fun, and your work looks very nice.

Thanks, guys.

I'm also a member of the dreaming of the no filler bodywork club and realizing it would only be a dream. I also followed the 1/16" rule. I wound up exceeding it slightly in a few really difficult spots but mostly got by with just a skim. That said, if you haven't worked those areas with a slapper, I'd do it before that skim coat.

Filler is not your enemy, even 1/4 inch or so, not to much beyond that though will last longer that the vehicle that it's on. Main things to mention are.
1. Get all the way down to clean metal, use a quality wax and grease remover to wipe down panels before applying fillers or primers, wipe on the product and wipe totally dry with a clean cloth, wiping on a wax and grease remover and not using a clean dry cloth to wipe dry will leave a residue that you don't want.

2. Once you have clean metal you can apply filler, don't glob it on heavy, put a nice even coat with a good quality spreader, let dry then use some cheap rattle can black and mist over the filler then block it out with a 150-180 grit paper and look for low spots, the mist of black will stay in the low spots to show where you'll need additional filler.

3. When finishing your filler work Don't use a sand paper rougher than 180-220 grit, Yeah it takes longer to block it out, but the Old school guys that blocked everything out with 80 grit, were the guys that all painters hated Today's primers weren't manufactured to be applied over a scratch any deeper than the 180-220 profile. Sure you can HOG on primer and fill anything, BUT after you paint that sucker all those Deep scratches you filled with primer will shrink forever, and you'll see Big scratches appearing in your Nice car that look really Fugly, and they don't go away until you sand them all the way down to the Bondo and reprime and paint.... Hope this helps

https://www.trick-tools.com/common/images/p...arge/030076.jpg

Traditional method is to fill with lead, but that’s a toxic, obsolete
and highly skilled craft. Your work looks great. A little skim is fine.

My wife would hate you for showing me such tools.

If that is just guide coat your are doing better than most collision repair bodyshops.

Rich's planishing hammer will help that considerably.

I agree with the consensus here. Modern fillers and skim coats are "extremely" durable and should last forever if applied to that area properly.

I had the luxury of working with a metal artist on my car. My father, who is 72 now, was working metal back in the late 60's all the way up to his recent restoration endeavors (outside of my car). He's really old skool, has some tools that are from the 40's and 50's that we used and he is very well trained in the work.
That being said, unless you train yourself to be that good, you've done a great job to this point. As everyone else said, filler is not your enemy and even as good as our fenders came out, we still used a skim coat of polyester to make it perfect.
This link: https://www.2002and914.com/home/the-914/bod...der-body-work// will show you some of the work that was done.
I have video links, at the bottom of the page, of the metal work if you want to see it while it's actually being done. It's pretty cool to see in action.
Mike

Key issue with pnuematic planishing is that it is easily overdone. You then end up with stretched sheetmetal and oil canning that in turn needs to be shrunk back.

Talk to the shops charging 25k for a paint job and ask them if they use any filler beyond 2k primer. The answer is yes.

It's all about prep work for the filler and the quality of the materials..

Keep the filler under 1/4" and you'll be fine. Hammer/dolly/pull anything that looks like it'll need more. If you have a bad spot, just get through it however you need to...



Personally I would hammer/dolly that for about 20 minutes to get it a little better then skim it with glaze. If you've already been at it for a long time then just stop. You don't want to fatigue the metal.

Watch a few episodes of Bitchin Rides. These are very very high end builds in which they invest many months and 100’s of thousands, with no compromises in quality.

They all get a final skim coat before paint.