Random Body Work Project

[mbernardo]

Behind my front and rear wheel well body molding were lumps of what appeared to be rusting quarter panels. So I decided to take them moldings off to have a look and this was what I found. So I am on my way to carry out a fun project in body work.

Rear Wheel Well - I've started to sand it down


Front Wheel Well

[fueler]

holy rust!! Good luck!

[mbernardo]

I watched a few youtube videos on body work then went to the local Canadian Tire and bought some tools & materials: sanding block, assorted sandpaper from 180 to 2000, assorted drill-mounted steel brushes, Bondo, masking tape, repair tape, polishing compound, polishing pads, and a random orbital. Total cost: $130. Local body shop was going to charge me $600. Gonna find out if the savings are worth it.

My paint color is only available in touch up size at Canadian Tire so I had to order a can and clear coat from Paint Circuit (Victoria Park/McNicol in Scarborough) and it will be ready for pickup tomorrow. Cost: $47. Running total: $177.

So tonight I started masking and sanding. I started with the steel brush and worked my way up to the 600 grit sand paper. Then I added some body fillers and sanded some more. For the hole in the front, I had to use the repair tape then filled it with body filler. Below are the results.

Rear


Front - when I sanded it, the rust spot caved in. I had to use repair tape.

[01silvapathy]

May as well take out all the mounts for the flares too and fill them with bondo then paint the entire front fender and just leave the flares off. If you put them back on its just going to rust again

[oasisx]

wow looks really good so far.

[Qxxx4]

My q has a small bubble on the drivers side front fender, its driving me nuts, nobody notices but Im sure it will be noticeable in a year...id love to get mine repaired...you make it look easy! keep us updated its looking great so far

[mbernardo]

It is chilly and rainy today. I picked up the paint and clear coat but it's not really ideal for doing any paint work because my garage is now moist. I'll move my heater into the garage. I have done some more sanding, glazing and primer on the front. I plan on drilling a hole for the mounting clip and have drawn arrows from different directions to identify it's original location.

[mbernardo]

This weekend, I tried to finish off the body work by applying the paint and clear coat. I screwed up the clear coat on the front so I had to remove the clear coat and paint using acetone ($4) then repainted it. Here are the results:

Rear


Front

[Densetsu]

Interested to see the results after the tape is off.

The touch-up paint I used just looked "wrong" (probably because it's metallic) and no matter how I tried to feather it, in my eyes it just stood out. Whenever I asked people if they noticed anything funny, nobody ever did until I pointed it out... but I knew it was there. So it just ate away at me.

[Pathman2001]

had mine done by a pro pulling all the plastic from the vehicle and the rear bumber exposed 10 years of pittsburgh winters at least 15 ilbs of dirt and some rust to go with the pile of dirt. sandblast chemical strips all bad mettle removed and patched with hi tech polymers and sealers should get me 10 more years before it becomes a rust bucket

[GRNMACHINE]

Nice Bodywork!! Can you send the link or describe in more detail how you filled that rust hole. And I too am interested in seeing what it looks like with the tape off. Tried a repair like this on another vehicle and it came out looking absolutely horrendous. Clearly I had no idea what I was doing and it showed.