You are just breaking the ice by asking the question about lead. Actuall=
y
you should be asking are there any heavy metals in the old paint. The
answer is yes. Most old primers and finishes had chromates and lead in
them. Heavy metals are very good rust inhibitors so they were commonly
used. Even today, many modern auto primers have chromates in them. If y=
ou
wear a mask when sanding the stuff, you should be fine. The guys who real=
ly
have to worry about that stuff are the guys who do it everyday since th=
e
stuff (heavy metals) can accumulate in your body after long periods of
exposure to the dust from sanding and grinding. The problem with lead i=
n
house paint ( which I assume is where your questions came from) is caused=
not by the paint being in a house, but the fact that kids can eat the pai=
nt
chips. Most adults don't eat paint chips. (At least I hope not)
Anyway, take the appropriate precautions and don't worry about it. =
As far as filler goes, the less the better. The stuff I think is the bes=
t
is the Aluminum filled body filler, one brand I have used is Allmetal. =
Basically all it has in it is polyester resin and ground aluminum. It's
tough to sand, but they say it is waterproof. You should be able to find=
an equivalent at a body supply store. Just look for the most expensive
filler they have, that is probably the stuff. I have a car that I made
repairs on 21 years ago with the stuff and the patches are still holding
just fine. (Unfortunately now the lacquer based paint is failing - anothe=
r
story) If you have to build up an area, you can use the Allmetal stuff =
as
a base coat, then use regular Bondo on top of that. The problem with Bon=
do
is that it absorbs water, then rust starts underneath it and it pops. Bu=
t
if you keep it away from water it should last indefinitely also. =
Have fun.
Dave
+++++++++++++++++++++
Message text written by "John Walz"
>It has three different paint jobs on it, does anyone know if any of this=
old auto paint is lead based?<
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