Project 4 from Jason: Shaved VW Decklid.

It is common for the decklids on this generation vw to rust along the strip below the license plate. I don't know exactly why it is but I replaced a rusted one and shaved the emblem before painting it for the car. This decklid was one that came with a spoiler from the factory and the person I got it from tried to weld the holes shut to remove the spoiler. In the process he warped the top and then tried to fix it. Needless to say, his body working skills were not the best and it was not even so I redid it all. There were a couple dents that I also filled in. I figured using this decklid rather than a good one that was not warped or dented would be good for practice at body work. I spent a good deal of time on this but did not really keep track of how long it took.

I am gonna have to split this project in 2 posts to show all the pics along the way since we are limited 10 per post. If this is not ok then mods please let me know or join the two posts. Thanks.

To start, this is how the decklid was when I got it.
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All my sanding was done with a 3 inch 3M sanding block which I should have used longer one's in places like on the back.

I cut out around the emblem as it is easier to weld a filler piece in. I didn't have to do it this way but eh oh well.
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After that was welded, I moved on to the filler and sanding.
My initial putty job:
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I still had a low spot towards the middle. Guess my metal was not beveled out enough.
Second layer of filler to build up the middle.
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I then sanded that to a thin layer before putting my final coat on to even it all out.
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I changed between my hardener color so I could see the low spots I had. Kind of cool to see what you couldn't before but what you could feel with your hand.

Next was to fill two dents in the center of the decklid.
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After those I filled in to little dents near the front driver side edge. Again these were easy and untouched before hand.
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At this point I went on to fix the warped parts..
I had put a bunch of filler on the 3 bad sections(not sure what the middle was for but there are washers under it)
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I applied it kind of heavy and paid for it in the sanding.

The middle blocked out pretty well and flat.
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This is the passenger side. In the middle of my filler you can see metal.. I could not for the life of me prevent that spot from hitting metal. I redid this side like 3 times trying to keep it from hitting metal.. The metal spot does not feel low so I assume he warked it up?? anyways it all feels perfect when I run my hand over. I was thinking about denting this part but left it as I couldnt feel it...
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This is only pic I have with the driver side.
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Next step was was the primer and paint. It has 3 coats of primer, 5 coats of paint because the first gun used was having problems and I had to wet sand some runs out so it was 3 coats and then 2. The black was followed with 3 coats of clear coat. A friend helped spray it.
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Don't mind the dirt from sitting outside. This is no wet sanding or buffing.

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And one taken from my IPhone.
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The metal was mig welded. I used evercoat glazing putty, Nason(dupont) primer, Nason(dupont) paint, and Nason(dupont) clear. The first paint gun used was not mine and I am not sure of the brand but after the problems with paint it was DeVilbiss starting line guns. The filler putty was sanded with 220grit, primer was 400grit dry and then wet, paint was 1000grit wet to get out the runs. Clear was not sanded.

you mentioned changing your hardener color to see your low spots, another way to do that is with a guide coat. flat black lacquer dusted over the metal and bondo will show up everything when lightly sanded. also, a body file really helps for reading panels. it won't flex at all to the minute waves and dents. looks like it turned out alright, though. in about 6 months or so you're probably going to have some haloing around the edges of your bondo, but if you did a good job feathering your scratches out (did you do all the filler work with 220, or start with something more coarse and end at 220?) you should be able to wet sand and polish the halos out.

Ooh, nice work. So you butt welded the filler piece in using MIG? no flange? Turned out pretty good I'd say. Those magnetic triangles seem to be perfect for holding steel patch panels flush.

For some reason the pictures don't show the edges of the filler correctly. There was no hard edges left when I was done. All the filler on the back and the small dents was put on light and sanded with 220. On the top 3 bad sections, I put it on a little heavy and then sanded it down with 80 grit until it was low. I did not touch the painted surface with the 80 grit. I finished them off with 220. The file is a good idea that I didn't think about doing. I knew about a guide coat and it can be done with simple spray paint misted over it but I didn't use any and could feel the spots with my hand. Used different colors just because I thought it was cool and during my learning/practicing I could see if there was actually any spots I did not feel. As to haloing, I guess wet sanding and buffing should be done anyways so it wouldn't be a problem but will give me more learning experience. :)

As to welding it, I tack welded around the metal with a MIG. I started at one corner and moved in a square with a new tack at each corner/edge until I made it all the way around. Then I ground down the weld with a flapper disk. Those magnets are pretty sweet and really handy. I have used them for all kinds of things already and I have not done near as much welding as a lot of people on this forum.