Got told my filler work on a 2018 Civic was too thick

Customer's dad came by the shop and pointed out my filler was like a quarter inch thick on a fender repair. He said it would crack in 6 months with these New England winters. Went back to bare metal, spent more time on the hammer and dolly work, and ended up with a way thinner skim coat. Anyone else have a run-in with a customer's relative who actually knew their stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

bettywood1mo ago

Did you catch that video from the guy in Maine who did a deep dive on filler shrinkage? He said anything over 1/8 inch will eventually cause problems, especially in cold climates. Sounds like you dodged a bullet with that dad.

lisaf381mo ago

Cracked a 1/8 inch joke at work once and the crew still brings it up.

the_thomas18d ago

bettywood's right about that Maine video, I've seen it too. That 1/8 inch line is a hard rule in my book, especially up north where the freeze-thaw cycle will pop any thick filler right off.