Bodywork

[spanner_monkey]

Hi. Is there anyone on here handy with body repairs and painting? My gti has bubbling paint in one corner above the windscreen and a few other minor bits of paintwork that I would like sorting. I dont realy want to do it myself because I want a decent job doing but I would rather not go to too much expence seen as how the car only cost me £900.

 

Chan anyone help out?

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[shawdreamer]

Hi. Is there anyone on here handy with body repairs and painting? My gti has bubbling paint in one corner above the windscreen and a few other minor bits of paintwork that I would like sorting. I dont realy want to do it myself because I want a decent job doing but I would rather not go to too much expence seen as how the car only cost me £900.

 

Chan anyone help out?

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

 

afraid if its on the windscreens edge your looking at removing the windscreen and carefully treating the issue followed by paint.

 

chances are the rust beneath the bubbles will be also beneath the windsceen lip and seal meaning that without a proper job the bubbles will just come back with avengence and eventually hole your windscreen edge

[spanner_monkey]

I know it has the potential to get expencive but to be honest it doesnt look too bad at the min. I would realy like to get it sorted though before it gets any worse.

 

If nobody on here can help me out then perhapse someone can recomend a bodyshop near doncaster that could sort me out.

[demented]

This post maybe of interest:

 

http://forum.rover-coupe.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14472

 

I wrote this a while back when I owned a Rover Coupe, although my Coupe was rust free and in excellent condition.

The Administrator of the Coupe Forum turned my post into a sticky, so I guess that means it will always appear at the top of the forum.

 

Although the post was written with a Rover Coupe repair in mind, the fundamentals of DIY body repair remain the same.

 

 

 

Just as shawdreamer mentioned, if the corrosion is around the windscreen, its more than likely under and behind the seal, so the rust will always re-appear.

 

That said, you could tackle the corrosion and make decent repair, however, the rust will more than likely re-appear in 2/3 months time or maybe longer if your lucky, this is due to the fact that the rust under the seal and behind the windscreen was not completely removed.

[demented]

Sorry above link did not work....password was require

 

 

Rust on wheel arches

 

Post by demented » Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:58 am

Hi,

 

Rust on the wheel arches can be repaired without the need to weld in a new section.

 

Whether a new sectionis to be welded in or not, all the rust would have to be removed to prevent the new section rusting too. Also, you would have to do so much polishing off, just to shape the welds for it not to be noticed when painted.

 

Another method is to remove all traces of rust and indent the edges of area to be repaired, weld in a new section, then disguised with body filler.

 

 

In my opinion, the best way forward, would be to remove all traces of rust, from the front and the back of the damaged area right down to bare metal. As there could still be minute traces of rust, depends how thorough you have been with preparing the surface, apply a metal treatment product, one that supposedly turns rust into sound metal and allow to dry.

 

Depending how much metal has been removed, you would either need to used a GRP filler, to give structure and strength and then apply a standard body filler and shape with abrasive paper to the original contours of the bodywork. To achieve this, a great deal of skill and patience is required.

 

If GRP is not required, just build up with body filler and shape.

 

Once the body filler has been shaped and flatted using 150g then 100g aluminium oxide abrasive paper, using a 600g wet and dry abrasive paper, soaked in and with lots of water, with a drop of washing up liquid added, flat to a super smooth surface, then you are ready to apply a paint primer.

 

Check which primer is recommended to be use with the top coat. I tend to use grey filler primer regardless of the colour of top coat.

 

Skill and patience is also required when painting.

 

Remove all trim and items that can easily be removed, and mask off the area that you don't want paint on, leaving a good 15 cm's of none masked area around the repair.

 

Remember to rust treat the back of the repaired area too, prime and paint then apply a good under body sealant, one that dries hard and rubbery but does not remain sticky when touched, once dry.

 

Now approx 25cm's all around the repair, used a technique called back-masking.

This is when the masking tape is stuck down, but edge's closest too and all around the repair area is lifted, as not to leave a thick edge of primer paint when dry around the repair, the result, is soft feathered edge of primer.

 

Once the back-masking is done, mask of the remaining area as normal.

 

Now paint, starting at the top, spray at a distance of say 20cm., Remember the closer you are to the area being painted the the quicker you move, thus, the further away the slower, this is to allow for the paint to build up evenly.

 

Spray from side to side in even and smooth strokes, one stroke slightly over lapping the previous stroke as you work your way down. You want to achieve a gradual build up of paint by applying five dust coats, one coat at a time, allowing 5 to 10 mins, between each coat for paint to dry.

 

After the final coat, leave to dry, for at least a few hours then remove the back-masking tape, and the 15cm of masked off area around your repair. Thus, you are left with a 15 cm area all around the initial repair that is not masked out and areas beyond the 15 cm remained masked off.

 

The primer will require flatting with a 600g wet and dry abrasive paper, soaked in and with lots of water with a drop of washing up liquid added.

 

Once a smooth surface has been achieved and the area is cleaned and dry, again, you need to build up the top coat paint with a series of five dust coat.

 

Remember to re masked any areas where the masking got wet due to the wet flatting of the primer prior to painting.

 

 

ONLY, spray as described earlier, at approx 25-50 cm's all around the primed area, at a distance of 20 cm. You want to achieve a faded feathered edge all around your repair.

 

DO NOT, spray up to the edge of masking tape or up to the areas which you have masked out, as you will end up making the repair far bigger than it is, and you will never get an even colour match with adjoining panels.

 

Once paint has dried, give it a good few hours to do so then remove ALL the making and flat down with a 1200g wet and dry abrasive paper, soaked in and with lots of water with a drop of washing up liquid added. Flat the repaired area and all around with light pressure, until a smooth and even but dull appearances has been achieved.

 

Once all the dirty flatting water and residue has been removed and the area cleaned (just with clean water) and dried, whether your car is metallic /lacquered or not, apply a smooth rubbing compound to te repaired area. I normally and have done for many years used standard T Cut, however, recently the Ammonia within the T Cut caused a freshly painted surface to discolour slightly. It is stated on the T Cut container to never use on a freshly painted surface, this I have often ignored.

 

Halfords sell a cheap rubbing compound (£5), which is more than sufficient.

 

Apply the rubbing compound to a clean damp cloth and polish with light pressure, until you see a deep lustrous shine appear. Also polish the remainder and adjoining body panel to achieve a similar shine and finish.

 

You car will more than likely have a clear coat lacquer applied has standard, regardless of it being metallic or not.

 

To identified whether a lacquer is required, using a clean cloth with rubbing compound applied, polish an area of your car which you know has never been re painted, then look to see if the colour of your car appears on the cloth. If the cloth is the same colour has your car, lacquer IS NOT required.

 

If the cloth is full of dirt and rubbing compound residue, and NO colour, then a lacquer may be required.

 

If you choose to lacquer, prior to applying, it is recommended that the area that you have sprayed with your top coat is flatted, using a wet 1200g wet and dry abrasive paper, remember, soaked in and with lots of water and a drop of washing up liquid added, until a dull appearance is achieved.

 

 

Then apply three to four even coat of lacquer with a similar technique as described earlier, only this time, apply your first and second coats as a dust coat, allowing 2 to 3 mins to dry in between coats, then two slightly heavier coat, allowing 5 mins to dry in between coats.

 

Allow the lacquer to dry for a few hour or over night and then polish the entire panel lightly with the rubbing compound.

If the polished finished is not the required texture, you may need to flat the lacquer with 1200g wet and dry paper, (remember soaked in water), until smooth, then polish again with rubbing compound.

 

In my opinion, I believe, rather that flatting down the painted area with 1200g wet and dry to achieve a dull appearance prior to applying lacquer, polish with the rubbing compound as I describe earlier to achieve a deep lustrous shine, then apply the lacquer, as described.

 

Over the years, I have applied lacquer like this, on many occasions and it has never caused any problems.

 

I use and artist Air Brush to achieve the desired result and the fine detail, I find the spray/rattle cans available spray to wide an area resulting in a much bigger repair than may be necessary.

 

Low cost Air Brush kit are available from:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/categ ... ir-brushes

from as little as £10.

A double trigger variant, which is more suited, are £24 plus the cost of propellant, which can be purchased elsewhere for £8 for 750ml at model shops etc.

 

A gravity fed, double trigger Air Brush is a much better model to go for.

 

As for removing Rust, if the repair is the small areas of rust forming on the wings around wheel arches, as is accustomed to Rover Coupe's, I used a mini Drill and accessories, such as miniature grinding wheels, this keeps the repaired area as small as possible.

 

The techniques described above can be used on any size repair, but as you can image, the bigger the are to be repaired, the bigger the tools are and the quicker the job will be completed.

 

I hope this may answer your question, a little long winded I know, but what are owner forums for?