I have only used the bondo brand of short hair filler. Does anyone have experience with the Duraglas filler?

I'm also looking for a DA. I'm just getting started doing any kind of body work and don't want to break the bank until I decide if I will ever do it again. My compressor can handle 15cfm at 145 PSI

duraglas-- DA ---

 

I've been doing custom bodywork for over 40 years now, and almost never use short or long hair fillers. I know a lot of people use them for hack repairs, instead of doing their metal work better. Besides, they are too hard to sand! I use lite fillers, and try to keep the thickness to under 1/8". I've got cars out there I did over 30 years ago, that still look great!
DA's...hmmm. These are usually real air hogs. Use a LOT of air to run them. But the better brands are more precisely made, and use slightly less air, than the cheap ones. I prefer Ingersol, die to the way they 'lock" the orbital action part. A pin that goes into a hole. Others use a cam type lock that doesn't work well.

 

I was actually going to try and repair a broken center console in my brothers Monte Carlo. The plastic is very brittle and there are a couple of small pieces missing. I was going to try and lay fiberglass mat on the inside and then use the reinforced filler to fill in the missing pieces on from the outside

 

If you're going to repair a center console there's no need to buy a DA sander, just sand it by hand.

 

Cool Ill give it a shot


Also Ive got rage gold filler already, but I was worried it would crack if the center console plastic bent any... is that a fair concern, or would regular filler work here? I know I wont be able to duplicate the texture of the plastic, but really were just trying to make it work.

 

Got to be careful when working with plastic. Lots of different types, and some do NOT like having things stuck to them, like paint or filler. If you can find a casting mark that has info on what type of plastic it is, you will be much better off trying to repair it. Usually, if the plastic feels very slick, or greasy, stuff won't stick to it without proper preparation, or special primer/fillers. If you find markings on it, like "TPO" or "HDPE", an online search will tell you if it friendly to using filler or paint. If you can't find anything, I would use a "rigid plastics repair kit" on it, with the fiberglass as a backing, to fix it. It's made to stick to most plastics on autos.
Oh, and another tip...'glass matte, is made for using with a liquid. A thick filler won't get into the strands, and make a good solid saturation of the strands. Trying to force the filler into it, will likely wind up breaking more of the brittle plastic. I recommend using some screening, like window screen, or a fine mesh, as a backing, that the filler can completely fill.

 

^^ Thanks, Ill see if I can determine what is made out of and start from there. He really want to keep the console even though there's a B&M shifter coming out of the top of it now.....I offered to swap the motor out a few years ago, and there has been some project creep.. but in for a penny in for a pound

 

As a side note, I built an El Camino for a guy, who liked carbon fiber. I made several pieces for him to decorate the interior. Including a new cover for his B & M shifter. I covered the existing shifter with carbon fiber, after treating it with wax, and parting agent, so it wouldn't stay stuck to it. Just a bit difficult around the corners, as he wanted to see the pattern of the carbon. But you could duplicate the whole console (plastic part), in fiberglass, then smooth out and paint it.

 

Ive got this one lined up pretty well, but the bottom at the back is all broken. Im going to make some sort of top piece to make it look good. Rockler used to sell a mother of pearl sheet, but I cant find it anymore... but maybe something like that, or maybe just black plastic