I was stupid.... (Pictures)

I was stupid, I was an idiot....I actually thought my car didn't have bondo on it. I also thought it didn't have rust holes. Well, I was wrong on both counts. I always knew there was some rust in the trunk but I didn't know it was this bad. Not until the other day, when I started looking very closely at my quarter panel, and I saw rust bubbles. I'm new to the rust repair game, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, including tools needed and methods, etc.

 

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Here's a pic of my car in its current state, with grabber quarter panel extensions (haven't put the spoiler on yet), grabber hood, and wheelwell moldings.

 

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close up of the rust in rear quarter panel. It almost looks like there are two different kinds of bondo, I'm not really sure what is going on here.

 

Don't you just hate it? Rust that is. Problem with the repair is two fold. Obviously someone just ground the rusted area and bondo'd her up. Then the old moisture got to it. If you live in a dry area and keep the car dry it will last, for awhile. What you really need to do is cut past the affected area, and what I am saying is cut the metal out. You will need to weld in new metal. Lots of work involved. Lots of skill involved. No better way to start out than to just dive in and try it. I would advise you to go to your local library, check out some books on body repair, specifically rust repair. Read, read, read, and after a few days you might just be ready to fix a small area. Then you can decide if you want to move on to bigger areas. Your biggest obstical will be the welding. I would recommend a mig welder for the novice. You could spend about $2000 on tools and then maybe some more money on wiring requirements to upgrade a garage for a welder and you will need some 220v for a good air compressor. The best part about body repair is the finished result. Nothing like kicking back at a car you have done nicely and just looking at it with a cold beer in your hand.

ps oh yeah, I always keep in mind that it is just a piece of machinery, man made it and man can fix it. Cars dont die on the operating table after a foul up. But, I have seen cars burn up when something didnt go right from welding, usually operator error. Burnt cars = impossible to repair.

 

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I have a 220V compressor, 20 gallon tank, 2hp, not quite enough for a sandblaster I don't think. I also have a small mig welder that can weld up to 1/4" steel, flux cored wire. I've welded a decent amount with all types of welders, so I can do the welding part of it. I'm also reading a few body repair books, but they're sadly lacking in the rust repair department. I also agree that this will have to be cut out and a new panel will have to be installed. What sheetmetal should I use and how should I do this? Thanks guys.

 

If you can, convert your welder over to gas. Works much better on thinner metals and much cleaner welds.

 

I would say use a mild carbon steel (formed to shape)
- same material and thickness as the area you're replacing.
As you probably already know, dis-similar materials aren't the
easiest to weld.


Good luck and keep us posted,



Rick

 

Do not use galvanized sheet metal. Just plain old sheet metal, you can even use pieces cut out of other old body parts, like fenders, doors, etc. If buying sheet metal, I would probably use something easy like 16-18 gauge. Using a cutoff wheel, cut beyond the rusted area in an orderly fashion. Try to make it square. Then cut a template out of paper, thin cardboard, 12 pack soda cartons work great. Doing a butt weld would be my preference, but some people are not able to do butt welds, that is why you see so many lap welds. Once you have it all welded and the welds grinded smooth you are ready to bondo it to make it flow into the rest of the panel. Dont forget to prime and paint the inner side of the qtr inside the trunk area, this will help greatly to keep the repair lasting. Go to an autobody supply store and buy you bondo and sandpaper and primers. They can answer tech questions for you.
Dan

 

If you have the time

If you don't have to use the car on a daily basis, do what I did.
First call your local Vo-Tech school and talk to the body shop teacher and ask him if he needs a car for is classies to work on, most do.
If he say yes then take it in to him, show him the bad spots and ask him to have his kids put new metal in to replace the rusty spots.

My car being in VA, I had to have both rear quarters replace, and some other major body work done.
After everything was completed and I went to pick up my freshly painted Maverick (I supplied the paint) my heart jumped with joy when I first saw how beautiful my car had become.

Then when I paid the bill I had a smile on my face that only seeing my ex-wife could've removed, a grand total of $212.58

I now have a paint job on my car that most people would have paid $2000.00 or more, the kids did a excellent job and I couldn't be happier.

Just a thought.

Terry Gates
AKA Bossmav

 

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Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it. That's a good idea Badmav, but I think I want to do it myself. I like working on my cars, I was just hoping I could avoid the whole rust process with this one as it was a california car, but it turns out I couldn't.

If you look at the picture, it looks like there are five different things over the base metal. You have a green coat which Dan says is fiberglass reinforced bondo. Then you have a pink coat of plain ole bondo. Then you have a white coat of some unknown substance, maybe it's a different kind of bondo, I dunno. Then there's a yellow paint layer and a blue paint layer from being repainted. Anyone have any ideas about what that white layer is? The bondo is pretty thick on the quarter panel, I'm thinking maybe it was hit or something and someone just slapped bondo on it, and all the hammering trauma caused it to rust out.

 

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BTW, what is the quickest and best way to remove paint and bondo? I was messing around with wire wheels, scuff pads for a drill, and an orbital sander, but it took far too long. Would you recommend a direct drive pneumatic sander (instead of the wimpy random orbital sander)?

 

the white stuff may be some kind of glazeing putty, to remove the paint and old body puttys i use one of the scuffing pads you put in a drill, the one i use is made by 3m its black in color very course and is very easy to control, grinders are effective as well, but not as easy to control.. but this is one of thoughts things that everyone will have a differnt opinion..

 

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Does anyone know what the white gunk is in the picture? Is it glazing putty or another layer of bondo or what, I'm stumped.

 

The white gunk could very well be a different layer of bodyfiller. The harderners for bondo come in different colors and change the color of the bondo when it's mixed. We use Evercoat and it comes with blue hardener so what we end up with is a light blue mix. Since you already have a small compressor, you might want to think about getting or borrowing a disk grinder. That will remove the paint and clean the panel for replacement metal a whole lot easier than a wire wheel can. Oh, and don't forget goggles. The grinder throws sparks and they are hell on the eyes.

 

Cut a replacement patch panel from a rust free Mav at pick a part or a place like that. Then weld that part in place. saves ya time on making a patch panel of your own and it has all the right curves. Once you have welded it in place and it's ready for paint don't for get to paint the inside area as well. I would also use undercoating to seal it all in and prevent it from getting wet and rusting again.

To cut through the bondo and paint use 36 grit discs on your sander. Lots of dust, but it will get down to bare metal quickly.