skim coat the whole sides?

[1968_Charger]

the guy i had fix the quarters on my car did a good job making the sides smooth overall, but left many deep scratches in the body filler, should i try to sand them out or skim coat over the sides to smooth it all.
the bondo is very thin and im afraid that trying to sand them out might cause so low areas.
   ive also read that most cars have a skim coat over the entire car anyway. so im looking at skiming over the car. should i skim with bondo or glaze putty? or would you just try sanding the scratches out?

[Mike DC]

Give the rough areas a spray of thick high-build primer.  That should get you enough fill to sand it down smooth.  You should be able to spot-putty anything that remains. 

[FLG]

Alot of body guys will skim coat the whole car then sand it down to smooth it out. You would be suprised at all the low and high areas on both brand new repo parts, nos parts, and just original panels.

[Silver R/T]

primer filler will fill 80 grit scratches.

[restoman]

Give it a coat or three of polyester primer - essentially sprayable filler. It will block out smoothly without any shrinkage ever, no putty spreader marks to deal with, it will fill and permanently eliminate 24 grit grinder marks and anything else you care to cover, and can be painted over directly or primered with high-build urethane primer (which does shrink to some extent). 

[1968_Charger]

ok, does this come in a can or does it have to be applied with a gun? and can you give me a good brand name?

[Charger-Bodie]

Give it a coat or three of polyester primer - essentially sprayable filler. It will block out smoothly without any shrinkage ever, no putty spreader marks to deal with, it will fill and permanently eliminate 24 grit grinder marks and anything else you care to cover, and can be painted over directly or primered with high-build urethane primer (which does shrink to some extent). 

I agree with all of this ,with one exception, I would never spray anything over 24 grit scratches...knock them down with something first.

As for your dilema...By all means , shoot it with poly surfacer....you will need to spray it with a gun.

[1968_Charger]

ok, thanks.
im not sure what size grit the scratches are but they are pretty deep. ill give the spray a shot. if that doesnt work then i guess ill go with putty skim coat.

[1968_Charger]

cost is an issue, my budget is tight. how much do you guys think it will cost to skim coat the car with putty vs. spray on filler?

[jaak]

I think cost wise...poly primer is the way to go. most bottles/cans of metal glaze is 25-30 bucks, a gallon of Evercoats slick sand is around 70 bucks a gallon w/hardener. Although I have never used it I heard Mar-hyde Quicksand is another good poly-primer, its about 55 bucks a gallon w/hardener.
Remember when spraying poly primer, you need a gun with a big tip. I bought a cheepo spray gun off eBay with a 2.0 tip, just to use for spraying poly-primer...I give like 20 bucks for it. I would guide-coat and block with 180 before spraying it though to knock out some of the 80 grit scratches before priming with the poly.

Good luck,
Jason

[1968_Charger]

i bought some icing today. i think ill start there and see how it does.

[Silver R/T]

i bought some icing today. i think ill start there and see how it does.

you'll like it. It sands smooth, dries fast, doesn't shrink. You can apply it over primer/scuffed paint/fiberglass, etc.

[superbirdtom]

i used to use icing  but started using napa tec supreme bondo. it is the best i have ever used and is virtually pinhole free. and spreads like icing but costs much less.