I've never done any body work... no sanding, no painting, no touchups; nothing.

These pics are from last winter, I think it has gotten a bit worse since then.





If someone (experienced) can take a few minutes to outline the steps and products I need to use to fix these spots, I'd greatly appreciate it. I was considering going to a shop to get it fixed properly (with resin, or new sheetmetal welded in) but since the thing isn't my daily driver any more, I can afford to experiment on it myself to save a few bucks. I HATE RUST, so it needs to look clean in the end!

Thanks.

My body guy told me the rust will be back in less than a year if you try and patch it. Unfortunatly I dont know the exact steps for you but here is a pic on how mine was fixed in the exact same spot as yours. This was just him fitting it and eye balling the bends before cutting the old off and welding the new on. I watched him do some of it and it looked fairly simple, but then again, he has 25 years experience. Hope this helps a little anyways.

http://boostcontrol.org/DSCF0006.JPG

How much should one expect to pay for a job like that? I think for the front fenders, Im just gonna replace them... but the rear quarters need fixing.

I was aware that it might indeed come back... but since the car isn't a daily, it no longer sees bad weather, so I doubt the rust would poke through so soon.

Anyway, as I said, I think I'll just try fixing it myself. I've got nothing to lose by trying. If it turns out like ****, I'll send it off to a shop.

Thanks.

I dont know how much it would cost, I got the whole car stripped, blasted, welded and painted for $2500. I provided two new fenders and a new spoiler.

You are right though, might as well try. If you can end up bringing the car into a body shop with all the rust patched up, dents out and sandblasted surface rust anywhere else, the paint should only cost about a third of the job. (depends on how many clear coats you want, colour, etc...) I didnt have the guts to try it myself, I wanted it done by a professional with a gaurantee.

Good luck and take some pics of your progress once you plan an attack.

I done the same to my car almost 3 years ago now. It is basically just like Rob said. To do it right you will have to grind the area, sand blast the rust then weld in a new patch. It may not look to bad now but once you blast you will see the real deal. This has to be done in a dry warm place. Do it all at once so you can use bare metal primer then prime it all at the same time to keep the moisture out of it. Of course then you will have to spend hours shaping it with filler. I believe some filler can go over certain primer while others do no like it as much. Your local body supply store will become your best friend.
My car was just starting to bubbe a little bit this winter. I also done all my body work outside at the end of october by the time I was done. If I had done it in a garage it would still more then likley be fine.I drove it one and parked it the next, and am driving it again this year.
Someone backed into my car this fall so while it was at the body shop I got the few spots fixed, the two front fenders, the one rear quarter. These were just bubble repairs, about 4 hours worth of work and it cost me $700 just to give you a idea.
It also wouldn't hurt to pick up a how to body book, there are some good tips in those.
Hope this helps some.

Matt

I used a budget way to fix this kind of rust on my previous Integra, in a similar position.

1) use sandpaper to get rid of the rust, use rough one first such as 80
2) then keep sanding by using fine and even more fine sandpaper, until I think most rust are gone and the area is "smooth" enough.
3) use touch-up paint. Whether you use those little paint brush or paint spray, depends on the size of the rust area.

This is a real simple method even if you don't have any experience on body work can do it. (Obviously if your car was rust up pretty bad, this method is useless) Your car is black Darko, it should be easier to cover it up by this method. Since you are not using your car for a car show, if you are looking for a REAL cheap method, this is the one. Cost for this? $15. I'll see if I can get you some pic of my Integra....

i have a great shop for you Darko if you are interested. If you dont want to waste time or money then dont do it yourself for the only reason being you never done it before. You will find it will come back "QUICKER" if you dont do it correct. There are not many ways or any to prevent the rust from coming back, but there are for making it come back alot longer time. Although replacing it works. In some cases replacing it all then getting them to repaint might be cheaper pending on were you go.
Thought of that?

Josh,

I'm looking for a descent body shop for my project car if you could post the details for him I'd be very interested.

What I did for that exact spot is just spraypainted right over the rust. Obviously ghetto and won't last more than a few months but I didn't have time to fix it, so having it all black looks a hell of a lot better than having it rusty. I find on a black car it pays to spray over any kind of scratches, dings or rusty spots. At least as a temporary fix. Nobody will even notice unless they look for imperfections. Obviously the more sanding and prepping you do the better the final quality will be. In your case to do it perfect would be to weld in new sheet metal.

Oh, I just remembered I read about this product por-15 (http://www.canada-por15.com/) that you can spray over rust and it will seal it so it won't spread. Then you can prep that and paint over it. Also a ghetto solution, but much less work than welding.

one thing I did around teh window and some joints of the old Galant to prevent the rust from going further was to cover it with silicone.


silicon glue and finger!, I covered it all so it was "sealed" and couldn't get more air to rust further.

I think if you know how to weld your best bet is o get that chunk from someone who is parting out.
Just show up with a grinder and get that piece off.
later at your place chop off the smaller piece that you need and place it on top of your rusted one.


I think the best bet to do it right is that you have to start to grind it down and see how deep it is. Then after that you can weld the piece from the donor car there. Hard to find that piece not rusted though.


A deep layer of fiberglass contained puddy and then normal puddy should do a lot as long as the piece is small or doesn't need structural integrity.

Tim Pmed you, dont wanna pass around there # unless they asked me to.
Thanks

POR15

Definetely worth a shot here - it will save you the hassle of having to weld a new piece in. Guys down there in Ontario give rave reviews of it, claiming it is the best thing since sliced bread on rusted undercarriages....

I wouldn't bother trying to fix it yourself. Pay the money and get it done properly.

for whatever reason he has indicated that he is asking for advice how to fix it himself. Properly is such an subjective word that argueing over it is pointless.


What's up ith it Darko?! I have a poppy like this too.
I am waiting for a new place, warmer weather so I can rent a welding machine to see if I can fix it.

I appreciate all the advice. I haven't gotten to work on it yet as its not high on the list of priorities right now, but when the weather warms up a bit I'll get to it.

I think I'll give POR-15 a try. It's not expensive so I've got nothing to lose. I'll give an update later on in the year.

Your pics dont seem to be working Darko.
Ill give you the basic steps for doing rust repair .

1. wash the car to get rid of all the dirt and grease.

2. sandblast the rusted area /or grind if you
cant blast but blasting is better.

3a. cut out the bad metal and make a new patch and weld it in place.

3b. now if you dont have a welder you can cheat and use long strand fiber glass to fill the hole in. Some would use rivets and body metal but I think fiberglass does a better job.

4. if you weld in a patch grind the weld down smooth and spray the area with etching primer

5. use that long strand fiberglass to cover the area. this will be stronger than using just bodyfiller.

6. grind the fiberglass down enough to get the basic shape you want using a 24-36 grit 7in sanding disc on a grinder.

7. bondo time. Fill the remaining area

8. Now depending on where the repair is you can use a board file with 40-80 grit sandpaper to straighten the repair, or use a sanding block of whatever size is best for the area being repaired.
Now you dont have to use a block or board but you cant get a straigtht job with out so its your choice.

9. repeat steps 7 and 8 until you are happy with the shape you want.

10. block sand the area with 120 just to get rid of some of the 40-80 grit scratches. But do not over sand the area or you will have a low spot again.

11.prime the area with a good coat of filler primer.

12 block sand starting with 240-280 and ending with 400-600 wet

13 paint time

14 oil the inside of you repair to try and stop it from rusting again.

Hopefully some of this helps you out. You dont have to follow the steps exactly just a guidline.
You can do a pretty good job with just fiberglass so dont worry about the welder if you want to do it yourself.
Whatever you do oil itwhen its done, it will help you out alot for longevity.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.