what do i need for a diy bodywork repair and repaint?
Discussion
PositronicRay said:
longshot said:
HustleRussell said:
danlightbulb said:
what do i need for a diy bodywork repair and repaint?
Low expectations.
I want to have a go at it but im worried ill make it worse. Its unsightly now, so provided i dont make it worse then any chance of improving it or making it last a bit longer would be positive.
If i start sanding it, will i make it worse? Will i make the thing disintegrate and fall apart on me? After sanding back, will i have significantly more problem than i do now?
What happens if i do nothing? How long before buts start falling off?
If i start sanding it, will i make it worse? Will i make the thing disintegrate and fall apart on me? After sanding back, will i have significantly more problem than i do now?
What happens if i do nothing? How long before buts start falling off?
If you aren't going to do some research into it yourself, you really had better leave it alone.
It's going to look very gradually worse and worse, with the bubbled paint possibly coming away in places.
The only bit that is possibly going to fall off is at the edge and it will likely be years before that's going to be an issue.
All looks very familiar to people who fought in the Rust Wars of the 80s
It's going to look very gradually worse and worse, with the bubbled paint possibly coming away in places.
The only bit that is possibly going to fall off is at the edge and it will likely be years before that's going to be an issue.
All looks very familiar to people who fought in the Rust Wars of the 80s
If you feel the edge and it feels solid then sanding won't make it fall off. If there is any movement at all then it will fall off, possibly without much help.
i think you need to find a sympathetic body shop ( probably one that does restoration rather than some insurance sausage factory) and ask them.
i think you need to find a sympathetic body shop ( probably one that does restoration rather than some insurance sausage factory) and ask them.
It does depend a lot on your expectations. Are you attempting to make a functional repair to extend the life of the car or are you expecting it to also look pretty?
You can forget achieving a decent match / finish in metallic blue when it's 10 celsius.
I'd probably clean the area and waxoyl the s
t out of it and attempt a repair in the spring or book it in.
Also may I direct you back to my comments in the other thread about buying cars based on datasheets rather than keeping your options open and buying a car which gives you the right messages (and isn't rusty, because let's face it, ultimately rust is the killer and your car is closer to the grave than alternatives in your budget).
You can forget achieving a decent match / finish in metallic blue when it's 10 celsius.
I'd probably clean the area and waxoyl the s
t out of it and attempt a repair in the spring or book it in. Also may I direct you back to my comments in the other thread about buying cars based on datasheets rather than keeping your options open and buying a car which gives you the right messages (and isn't rusty, because let's face it, ultimately rust is the killer and your car is closer to the grave than alternatives in your budget).
The panel is made of two skins - one forms the inner wheel arch which then curves round and down behind the wheel (the bit that water splashes up onto that is usually sprayed with a rough textured black chip guard) and the other skin is formed into the outer panel that is painted and nice and shiny.
The two skins are joined at the lip of the arch - between the two skins is a space that isn't accessible (the inside of the panel)
The rust on the outer skin that you can see started on the reverse side to the painted surface - in the space between the two skins (inside the panel) and has worked its way right through the outer skin and is now breaking through the paint.
If you could see into the space between the two skins (the inside of the panel) I guarantee the rust on the reverse side of the outer skin would be ten times worse than what is showing on the outer surface.
To stop rust you first have to remove all traces of rust - even the smallest pin prick of rust will continue to grow and rot.
As the reverse side of the outer skin isn't accessible it's impossible to remove any of the rust inside the panel so the rust in there will just keep rotting away.
Any cosmetic repair to the outside of the panel will be just that - cosmetic. Within weeks or months the rust on the inside will be breaking through somewhere else and will 'blow off' any filler and/or paint that may have been attempting to cover it.
I understand you want to try your best to improve your first car but because of the way it's constructed coupled with the science of oxidisation means anything you try won't stop or even hold back the rusting in the way you thought it might - sorry!
The two skins are joined at the lip of the arch - between the two skins is a space that isn't accessible (the inside of the panel)
The rust on the outer skin that you can see started on the reverse side to the painted surface - in the space between the two skins (inside the panel) and has worked its way right through the outer skin and is now breaking through the paint.
If you could see into the space between the two skins (the inside of the panel) I guarantee the rust on the reverse side of the outer skin would be ten times worse than what is showing on the outer surface.
To stop rust you first have to remove all traces of rust - even the smallest pin prick of rust will continue to grow and rot.
As the reverse side of the outer skin isn't accessible it's impossible to remove any of the rust inside the panel so the rust in there will just keep rotting away.
Any cosmetic repair to the outside of the panel will be just that - cosmetic. Within weeks or months the rust on the inside will be breaking through somewhere else and will 'blow off' any filler and/or paint that may have been attempting to cover it.
I understand you want to try your best to improve your first car but because of the way it's constructed coupled with the science of oxidisation means anything you try won't stop or even hold back the rusting in the way you thought it might - sorry!
HustleRussell said:
It does depend a lot on your expectations. Are you attempting to make a functional repair to extend the life of the car or are you expecting it to also look pretty?
You can forget achieving a decent match / finish in metallic blue when it's 10 celsius.
I'd probably clean the area and waxoyl the st out of it and attempt a repair in the spring or book it in.
Also may I direct you back to my comments in the other thread about buying cars based on datasheets rather than keeping your options open and buying a car which gives you the right messages (and isn't rusty, because let's face it, ultimately rust is the killer and your car is closer to the grave than alternatives in your budget).
It does sound like it should be an easy job if I had the right tools. I don't see why it costs hundreds or thousands to do these repairs at a bodyshop.You can forget achieving a decent match / finish in metallic blue when it's 10 celsius.
I'd probably clean the area and waxoyl the s
t out of it and attempt a repair in the spring or book it in. Also may I direct you back to my comments in the other thread about buying cars based on datasheets rather than keeping your options open and buying a car which gives you the right messages (and isn't rusty, because let's face it, ultimately rust is the killer and your car is closer to the grave than alternatives in your budget).
If I could weld, why couldn't I get some 2mm thick sheet steel, cut it to shape and weld it in? With the right tools that wouldn't really take long. Then grind it off flat, fill, prime and paint. It doesn't sound like it should be complicated. Unfortunately I can't weld and I don't have any metal cutting tools or any sheet steel.
I don't expect it to look brand new, but I don't want to see any rust, or for sections of the arch to fall off in 6 months.
For my budget there wasn't a great deal of choice in the first place, and mechanically the Honda should be a sound car. Any £1400 car is going to have some faults, but I didn't consider that a 3 square inch area of rust would be so difficult to solve.
I would like to keep the car for 3 to 5 years. The rest of the bodywork is almost perfect.
danlightbulb said:
It does sound like it should be an easy job if I had the right tools. I don't see why it costs hundreds or thousands to do these repairs at a bodyshop.
If I could weld, why couldn't I get some 2mm thick sheet steel, cut it to shape and weld it in? With the right tools that wouldn't really take long. Then grind it off flat, fill, prime and paint. It doesn't sound like it should be complicated. Unfortunately I can't weld and I don't have any metal cutting tools or any sheet steel.
LOL! Sorry I shouldn't!If I could weld, why couldn't I get some 2mm thick sheet steel, cut it to shape and weld it in? With the right tools that wouldn't really take long. Then grind it off flat, fill, prime and paint. It doesn't sound like it should be complicated. Unfortunately I can't weld and I don't have any metal cutting tools or any sheet steel.
But .... LOL!
What next - 'Brain surgery made easy'? LOL
Rust is the cancer of metal - you can't just put a bandage over it and it expect it to heal itself.
As I explained just earlier the only way to stop rust is to remove all the existing rust before any other type of repairing is undertaken.
But you can't get to the underlying problem because it's originating on the inside of the panel.
So the only way to solve (or even slow down) your problem is to first remove all the rust on that panel -
and the only way of doing that is to get rid of that panel and replace it.
In short it simply isn't repairable in the way you are naively thinking it is - no matter what youtube may have you believe!
You want a quick - easy way of tidying up the wheel arches?
No Paint, No welding, instant cure?
Step right this way.....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wheel-arches-CHROME-HOND...
or in matt black
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-ACCORD-ESTATE-03-0...
No Paint, No welding, instant cure?
Step right this way.....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wheel-arches-CHROME-HOND...
or in matt black
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-ACCORD-ESTATE-03-0...
Edited by hman on Wednesday 9th December 22:51
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