Vintage Cars: 57 chevy, paint thickness gauge, refrigerator magnet

Question
Selling a '57 210...guy came to look at it and said the car had a lot of bondo!  I did not know this...I tried the magnet method and there are places it does not stick, but my question is how do I know how much bondo has been used and is there any way I can tell?  The owner passed away several months ago and there is no one else to contact.

Answer
A typical flexible refrigerator magnet is a super cheap way to tell if there is a lack of metal, or bondy covered area.  sometimes though, somewhat good bodywork will also fail this test.  Not every repair is nothing but metal, and a skim coat may cause some weak magnets to not stick.  

But when I look at old or used cars, I take my magnet and if it doesn't stick, it alerts me to look deeper and harder.

You can also tap lightly on metal and about any thickness of bondo will cause it not to ring like metal should.

repairs like this are bad because they can come loose and cause problems down the road.  Bad bodywork can cost thousands to repair later.  some people will put up with it if they get a fair price taking the bodywork into account.

A better way to tell paint and body problems is a paint thickness gauge.

Check out one at:

http://www.eastwoodco.com

they sell electronic ones for the pro that can run $350 or more.  the best ones that will work on both aluminum and steel can run near $700.

But Eastwood also sells a magnetic one (works only on steel obviously) that does a decent job of a pure novice for $50.

Just search their site for Paint Thickness gauge.

These can sometimes show bondo or other plastic fillers to a degree, but for the thicker applications, the gauge just will show no metal for quite a ways.

The better gauges will give you a good idea, but the cheap gauge will work for this.

My advice is to re-evaluate your pricing based on how extensive the bodywork is.  Is it just in a couple areas or the entire side of the car?  Check the lids over the headlights too.

Most of the time, you can tell bad bodywork by sighting down the body.  All metal with good paint will be smooth and have a near perfect reflection.  Bad bodywork or paint will look and be wavy.  Check out some new cars and some used ones, look at most cars at a cruise-in and you will see a LOT of wavy bodywork.  That is a clue to me that the car needs a lot of work and isn't worth much.

Don