240z doors have waves what to do?

[wickiewicked240z]

2 door have waves there not that bad but the hatch as i pass my hand i can feel the waves much worse...what should i do I did a search some guy had the same problem and he put body filler and just sanded should i do the same ..and some other post racerx said to use a 12" or longer sanding block probably be making one with wood...

[Jolane]

Are the waves the kind that pop when you push from the other side (oil canning)? I have this on my rear hatch. If I put a shim between the skin and the internal support in the middle of the lower panel, it disappears and looks great. Maybe this would work for you. As for the doors, I have no idea. I went and found better doors for mine to avoid having to do the body work required (I don't feel comfortable just filling lows with bondo and moving on, especially if it is oil canned). This is also the problem with my hood...I will probably get a composite one to replace it.

I wish I could be more help...and look forward to more experienced replies...

Joshua

[DemonZ]

First you'll have to determine if the door metal is sound enough for bondo. If it oil cans a lot, you'll run into problems sanding it flat, and the bondo and paint may crack later on due to flexing. It should not indent much under sanding pressure.

 

 

Depending on how much work you want to do and how comfortable you are, you may look into new door skins. I recommend factory if you go this route.

 

 

The longer the board you use the straighter your work will be. IMO a long board from your local auto body supply store is a must. It's about 2 ft long, and has waffled sanding surface on the bottom that helps it cut and not load up the paper as easy (make sure you get a flat one). Get some "guide coat" so you can see the hi-low spots easy. The best tip in getting it straight is to get at least 90% of the shape done in 36 grit, and use fresh paper so it cuts the shape fast and even. Work your way from an edge that you know is straight. Fill in low spots with bondo. This is a fine line here, but remember the more you put on, the more you sand off, and at the same time, if you don't put enough on and put more on later, blending is more difficult as different aged bondo sands differently. Just right takes some getting used to.

 

 

You can move to 80 grit when you are convinced the 36 grit has done it's job. If you try and shape with 80 grit, you won't get it as straight since the finer grit won't cut into the waves, instead it rides them. When the guidecoat sands off uniformly, go over the worst imperfections with finishing bondo.

 

 

Next, sanding primer will really let you know where you're at. Spray the whold door. Use guide coat and 100-120 to break it, then move to 220-320 and you'll see very well overall where you are. Finish with 400 (500 wet/dry if you are painting it a dark color). Wipe it down with grease remover, and site it when it's still wet; it will look this way with paint on it if you do it right.

 

 

Sand in an "x" pattern using long even strokes where you can.

[AK-Z]

If you're lucky, its body filler flexing from previous body work. Tey tapping it to hear is its different from the high and low spots to see if it is. If you are willing to then sand the high spot getting just past the primer to see if it is filler.

[SSflyer]

Something I found is that bondo-ing the whole panel is alot easier and more productive than trying to determine which spots are low. I used a long block and would sand until the sheet metal just srarted to peek out of the bondo, and then went to the finer grits. Another good trick is to use some Plastik Honey to thin out the bondo. It spreads way smoother and farther, and there's alot less sanding required.

[OlderThanMe]

and that from an auto body expert!

better listen!

[wickiewicked240z]

these are 2 pictures of the door i'ts not bigger than 1/4 its less

[DemonZ]

That will easily take at least 30 hours to get straight enough for paint. It depends on how perfect you want it. If you are unsure, you can "rattle can" paint the doors and hatch with some cheapo high gloss color matching the car and decide if you can live with the waves (you might have to sand it all off when you ultimately paint it and don't use slow drying enamels, epoxy, and metallics will clogg your sand paper.)

[DemonZ]

Wick' date='

 

Without being there in person to really see what you have to work with, this is the method I would suggest to rid the waves on the door.

With what I see of the pictures, I don't feel it would take 30 hours to get the two doors to paint. I would approximate 10-12 hours. Just my observation.

 

Hope this helps - good luck!

 

RacerX[/quote']

 

 

Nice write up RacerX. 10-12 hours would be if you are Bondo Master For the rest of us it takes much longer. I'm no professional, but have been around the bondo block, and shared shop space with one years ago.

 

 

A proficient body man might take:

 

1.5 hrs buzz down for adheasion marking low spots.

1.5 hrs 1st bondo coat/clean up (30min each panel, 3 panels)

5 hrs rough in 36 grit per panel (2hrs each door, preserving delicate body line on doors, 1hr hatch)

1.5 hrs 2nd bondo coat (skim coat, a more advanced technique, with Bondo thinner)

3 hrs 80 grit

1.5 hrs pin hole, booger detailing.

1-2 hrs masking/ blow-off/ degrease wipe down

1-2 hrs spraying 2 coats of Primer (mixing, 15 min between coats, clean up)

3 hrs blocking out with 240 grit.

 

I get around ~18 hrs if you are an expert.

 

 

Don't get me wrong RacerX, I value your input, I just think you may have overlooked what a novice/beginner might need... , 3rd, 4th, 5th??? coats of bondo plus sanding blending.

[Oldestzguy]

Aren't door skins still available and still real cheap. Never understood how much work they are to change though.

[Guest Gr8White]

I happened onto something that I have found useful for seeing the overall quality of your work and detecting any rippples, etc. on bare surfaces. I stripped all of the paint off my car due to the overall poor shape of the finish and was using WD-40 to keep the surfaces from rusting between metal prepping. I noticed the WD-40 would give you enough shine and reflectivity to really see how good you were doing without resorting to a rattle can paint job (to ascertain how good it would look painted). It's been working for me, but I'm a novice at best and there are probably better ways to do this. I'm still learning, practicing on a junker while I learn...Very time consuming! Racer X- is this a sound approach for "seeing" your prep work??

[Jolane]

It's be great if someone would finance a venture for the Zcar!!

 

RacerX

 

No Kidding...This would be completely awesome! I am not so sure that the market could support it though (especially considering Dynacorn is only producing bodies as engines/trannies/etc are readily available).

 

Joshua

[Guest Gr8White]

Gr8white.

 

- I greatly advise against using WD40.

RacerX

 

That's exactly why I was trying this on my "guinea pig" junker and not my Z. I didn't think about the WD-40 being too greasy, but makes good sense. Thanks and great info as usual!