Bodyshop Pictures of Bondo

Welcome to the Dark Side of Midlife: Bondo City!

These pictures were taken by the bodyshop personnel while I was away on business, and after the last set of pictures I took on Aug. 20. Midlife at this point was stripped down to bare metal on all exterior panels, and what you see as whitish colors is the bondo from previous work. These pictures indicate the state of "health" midlife was in prior to any further bodywork by Manassas Quality Auto Body. Based upon previous records, I knew that Midlife had been in some accidents, but I didn't know quite how many or how weird some of them were. Thankfully, there was very little new rust or dents after 8 years or so since the last paint job. Let's take a look-see:

The infamous hood-lip and bondo.
Because of this, the bodyman asked
me to buy a used hood, but it wasn't
as flat as this one was. Further, the
bondo shown here is far enough away
from the high heat so it didn't crack
in eight years.
This is the driver's side fender on
top. Records indicate a new fender
but this one was hit at the front,
probably at the same time as the
hood. Those nasty trees that bite
might have been the cause!

Here you can see some bondo around
the A-pillar and some on the roof!
Now how can one get into an
accident with the roof? Did Santa get
drunk and missed one of his targets?
Another, closer view of the bondo
on the driver's side door and A-
pillar area.

Ouch! The driver's rear fender looks
pretty well done over. Stick a fork in
it!
Some bondo around the bottom of
the rear window, but this is not
surprising, as there are three welds
that join up. Note the bondo on the
roof again!

Hmm. The left tail light panel is almost
all bondo, yet the deck lid is clean in
area.
Even more bizarre: the deck lid is
bondo'ed on the right side, but the
light panel is clean on the right.!
Maybe it was once replaced upside
down...you think?

Rear side view, showing the lower
quarter panel patch and it's bondo.
We knew about this from the riveting
seen from inside the trunk.
Driver's side door is pretty good. I
suspect it was replaced and is not
the original one, but I could be
mistaken.

Pretty ugly, huh? To do the car properly would require replacing every single piece of sheetmetal. Using repro parts, it would look awful, and using NOS would break the bank. Just go ahead and paint over it all: I don't want to ever see this again!

The infamous hood-lip and bondo. Because of this, the bodyman asked me to buy a used hood, but it wasn't as flat as this one was. Further, the bondo shown here is far enough away from the high heat so it didn't crack in eight years.	This is the driver's side fender on top. Records indicate a new fender but this one was hit at the front, probably at the same time as the hood. Those nasty trees that bite might have been the cause!
Here you can see some bondo around the A-pillar and some on the roof! Now how can one get into an accident with the roof? Did Santa get drunk and missed one of his targets?	Another, closer view of the bondo on the driver's side door and A- pillar area.
Ouch! The driver's rear fender looks pretty well done over. Stick a fork in it!	Some bondo around the bottom of the rear window, but this is not surprising, as there are three welds that join up. Note the bondo on the roof again!
Hmm. The left tail light panel is almost all bondo, yet the deck lid is clean in area.	Even more bizarre: the deck lid is bondo'ed on the right side, but the light panel is clean on the right.! Maybe it was once replaced upside down...you think?
Rear side view, showing the lower quarter panel patch and it's bondo. We knew about this from the riveting seen from inside the trunk.	Driver's side door is pretty good. I suspect it was replaced and is not the original one, but I could be mistaken.