Serious question, what's your go-to method for dealing with a quarter panel that's been pulled and filled three times already?

I was absolutely convinced the only fix for this '98 Civic with the bubbled-up rear quarter was to cut it all out and weld in a new section, but after talking to an old-timer at the swap meet in Dayton last weekend who swore by a specific epoxy primer and a long, slow cure time before blocking, I gave it a shot and it's holding solid two months later.

3 comments

3 Comments

owens.nancy1mo ago

Wait, what epoxy primer did he tell you to use? That's the kind of detail that gets left out and then the trick doesn't work for anyone else. A long cure time makes sense, but the specific product matters. Some of those old school primers have way different formulas than what's on the shelf now.

ellis.rose1mo ago

Old timer tricks are the best, aren't they? Makes you wonder how many of those methods got lost before the internet. My uncle used to thin down body filler with acetone for the final skim coat on a repair like that, said it made it less likely to crack. Always seemed like a bad idea to me, but his work never came back. Guess sometimes the weird stuff just works.

jennyh551mo ago

Yeah the "weird stuff just works" thing is so true. My buddy's dad used to mix sawdust with wood glue for furniture repairs, looked like a mess but it held for years lol.