My build purchases include Bondo 20126 liquid hardener for fiberglass resin. I keep this small finishing supply in the kit alongside the preparation and coating materials from my van project.
My build purchases include Bondo 20126 liquid hardener for fiberglass resin. I keep this small finishing supply in the kit alongside the preparation and coating materials from my van project.
The product number matters here: this is liquid hardener for fiberglass resin. The tube and bottle alternatives below are compared by chemistry and packaging.
Where it fits my build
My exterior diary records a long preparation sequence: masking the boundaries, covering adjoining surfaces, sanding, blowing away dust and cleaning before coating. The photographs show that exterior preparation and white-bedliner project.
I organize the hardener with my finishing supplies. The documented coating session gives the surrounding build context: surface preparation, mixing and application were separate stages of the work.
My van with masking around the exterior areas prepared for coating.The side of the van during the white-bedliner project.
My build notes
My practical finishing notes focus on the time spent preparing the van and the quality of the coating application. The masking stage took around eight hours, and some finished edges still needed touch-up.
For this purchase, the useful comparison is the small Bondo tube against another tube-format hardener and a larger measured bottle. That separates the resin supply from the much larger preparation job around it.
Masking, preparation and application method each became a substantial part of the exterior-coating job.
Alternative products
Two alternatives to compare
Bondo is the compact tube in my purchase record. Evercoat offers another squeeze-tube MEKP hardener, while Polymer World supplies a larger bottle with a measuring cup; the resin system determines the catalyst and mixing proportions.
Evercoat 100603 Liquid Hardener
Evercoat 100603 is a liquid MEKP catalyst for polyester resin and gel coat. Its graduated squeeze-tube packaging provides a different dispensing format for resin projects.
Polymer World supplies clear MEKP catalyst for polyester resins, gel coats and vinyl esters. The linked eight-ounce bottle includes a one-ounce measuring cup.
