DIY Bodywork/Spraying

[Shilakadaddy 0]

Is there anyone on here that is a sprayer, runs a company, or just knows what to do etc? I'm looking for a bit of advice on the steps involved in doing your own bodyshop work...

 

My car was broken into a week or so ago, making a mess of the passenger door, just below the handle. Instead of just taking this in to a bodyshop to get done, I've decided to have a go at doing the repairs myself (and if all goes well, could do other things too).

 

So far I've pulled the dented panel to a smaller dent, and then filled this dent with fibreglass.

 

I've sanded this down and got the original shape back.

 

Next I was going to fill the remaining marks with body filler, sand this down (not sure how fine I should go down to with regard to the sandpaper?) going down the grades, then paint with some paint bought in a spray can from halfords.

I'm guessing this will provide only a temporary fix for the problem, and that ideally I would use the proper 2 mix paint and a paint gun, spraying the whole door to get the right finish...

 

Can anyone tell me what exactly the different stages are in doing work such as this to a car. Take for example delocking and dehandling the corrado, what would all the different stages be for this process if I were to take the car into a professional bodyshop to get done? Just the bodywork side, I'll worry about solenoids and such like later :)

 

Cheers for any help/advice

 

Chris

[dazzyvr6 0]

the key to a good finish is all down to preparation,spraying is actually easy with a bit of practice,it the preping which is the hard part,start with something like 80grit then work down to 1800 grit,just take your time,use plenty of water when using the finer sandpapers,using your hand as a guide and looking down the panel to see if you can see any imperfection

[coolrado 0]

also try and do it somewhere protected from the wind preferably inside some where with ventilation, it also stops insects landing on the fresh paint (i dont know why but fresh paint is like a magnet to midges and greenfly) :mad:

[dazzyvr6 0]

for spraying equipment and general garage tools check out http://www.frost.co.uk

[Storm 0]

Thats an estate agent.

[Supercharged 2]

Thats an estate agent.

 

:D :lol:

[Bobby 0]

are u skim filling the dents in the door with body filler and using fibreglass for the damage below the handle? Is you car red, and whats the colour code, flash red? also are you planning on spraying the whole door with a spraycan or are you going to try blend the paint in mate? also what primer are you using, as most spray can primers are way too thin, you really need primer filler to cover over the repairs as this prevent the repairs showing up,as the fibreglass sinks slightly after a while,trust me. oh yeah and when sanding down the body filler start with something a bit finer than 80 as you should have only applied a bit more filler on than required so you can flat it back, using too rough a grade wil leave scratches that will show up unless you use fairly thick primer filler. i you need any more info just ask. have you got any pics of the damage?

You could be better of sourcing a another door

[Shilakadaddy 0]

Bobby:

 

Filled the main dent and damaged area with fibreglass, and then went over that with filler (2 kinds - one thick stuff and one thinner... not sure if the thinner stuff was a good idea tho)

 

Car is Tornado Red (LY3D) turns out theres 5 variations of this colour code! but managed to get the right one from VW

 

Just patching up at the moment so only spraying the repaired area and trying to blend it in

 

Wasn't sure about primer - what should I be using? I'm guessing from just sanding you can't get it perfect therefore you need something a bit thicker to cover up the tiny imperfections... or are there other reasons for using primer?

 

So far for the sanding I've used 240 to sand down the bulk, and then progressed to 600 then to 1500 - do I need to go any further? Can't feel any imperfections with my finger, but I'm sure if I were to spray now with just the spray can it would show up....

 

Picture of the damage:

 

pic thumbnailed-vr6storm

 

^ if that didn't work, then theres a picture on this thread:

 

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11459

 

If this doesn't work then I'll probably take it into the bodyshop to get done. I really want to know how to do this sort of thing myself tho, it would save me so much money and i'm really enjoying it :)

 

Thanks for all the help guys :D

 

Chris

[Storm Monkey 0]

Somone gave me a tip once about getting a good surface. When you think you have sanded enough, put a thin layer of paint over (the car colour over a different coloured primer shows up best), and gently sand it down again. The paint will stay in any small defects, and make them stand out so you know where to sand more. I have no idea if this is a good practice, but it does show up the smallest of scratches.

 

Phil