pinhole filling question

[JimWoo50]

My brother in law runs a automotive paint shop and he generously supplied me with some Evercoat Glaze Coat polyester finishing and blending putty. The stuff sets up so quick that I am unable to use all that I mix. From the time I mix it to the time it gets set up is about a minute. It works well as it is easy to sand but I am wasting a lot of it and am spending way too much time mixing and cleaning. Any suggestions as to how I could prolong the working time? Or an alternate locally available product? Thanks. Jim.

[jcoloccia]

The best way I've found to fill pinholes is skim coating with raw epoxy. There's numerous threads on here about that, and also a lot of information on the net about it too. A nice skim coat with West Systems is easy to do and it really does sand very well. If you do it right, there's not much to sand anyway.

Just try it on a small section and see if it works for you. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to completely fill those pin holes on the first try.

[664781]

Mix up smaller qty's and use less hardner. I just used a dot or so every time I mixed up a batch. Wasted very little this way but it does take more time.
Good luck, I hate pin holes

[mark manda]

I've been using that product for four years now. like Kurt said, just a dot and I mix a half dollor's worth or a 1.5" amount max and wipe on with a razor blade, two swipes and try to get all the extra off before it sets up.

I usually squirt a dab and that's too much.

btw-- I like the "Metal Flex" much better.

I'd like to find some other way too. Raw epoxy, I tried resin a couple years ago, slushed it on and wiped it off. Still left lots of pinholes.

I found with the Metal Flex-- four or five applications with primer to see where I was at seemed to be about what it took.

Let me know what you find works.

[f1rocket]

I used a big tube of spot putty, the stuff you just squeeze out of a tube. Spread it around with a squeege or a wide putty knife. Dries in a couple of minutes and sands easily. Just make sure you clean the area first with Prepsol or equivelant.

[Rick of Austin]

What works very well is T88 or even the faster curing adhesive epoxies for squeegeeing on a sanded surface. Its thicker and can easily be pushed into the holes with a hard rubber squeegee where it stays, after about 30 min its hard enough for another layer.
After I sanded the cowl with 80 grit there were many areas such as the edges of the core where the outer layer was cut through and fibers were showing. The epoxy effectively seals, bonds the fibers and fills the holes where the fibers were exposed.
The first coat took about 2 tablespoons to cover the top cowl, 30 min later it took about 1 tbls and the third layer took only a very small amount to leave a very smooth, shiny, pinhole free surface.
best of luck!
Rick

[roadrunner20]

I mix up a silver dollar size(the old original ones) and work quick and have my target area mapped out. It cures in about 30 mins and is sandable. I sand from 80>180>220>600. I've had to do about 5/6 iterations to complete the cowl.
Glad, I didn't build a plastic airplane.

Painting on Sunday.

[painless]

I did not use any type of glazing putty. A friend of mine who is an ex-body man turned me on to Nason fill and sand primer. 3-4 coats, sanding between did the job. I had started out trying the putty technique and got yelled at by my "friend" So he took over and that Nason primer really worked well. All my painter had to do was wet sand all the fiberglass parts and then shoot color.

Regards,