heeman10

Hi all I've been modifying my Mk3 Fiesta for about four years now, meaning it now houses a MSD-mapped Zetec Turbo, CTS gearbox, Wilwoods up front, coilovers and other touches. I have no desire to modify the bodywork any further, and so it's about time I gave the body the same treatment the running gear etc has had.

The body has a few subtle dents here and there from the usual car park losers, and about three small patches where rust is trying to bubble. All in all, the body's very good, but it's time to perfect it and have a full respray. My plan is to fill these dents and fill the top recesses in the bumpers, prep the car as much as I could, then give it to a paintshop to spray.

So, my questions:

1. What filler would I need to use on the metal parts of the car? (Doors, rear quarters, door shuts, roof)

2. What filller would I use to fill the bumpers, bearing in mind it'd need some flex?

3. I have a few upwards dents in the FRST bonnet. Would I be best tapping them down with a rounded hammer, then filling the resulting shallow dents?

4. When attacking rust bubbles, would I sand them aggressively down to bare metal, etch prime, then fill if required? Or sand to bare metal and fill immediately?

5. With any rust spots that didn't need filling, would I sand to bare metal and etch prime?

6. Could any primer at all be used if I saw down to bare metal on any part of the car, or would funny primers show through the paint?

I haven't done any bodywork at all yet (bar filling and shaping the fuel tank on my motocrosser when I was about 16!!), but would dearly like to get the finish up to my own standards, THEN give it to a bodyshop, saving on cost too. Any tips/help/suggestions would be very helpful, so thanks for you time

demolition_man

i'm by no means a pro but i've done a fair bit:

1. p38 - i use isopon stuff, brands are much of a muchness

2. i did mine with p40 bridger to fill the most part of the recess then skimmed it with p38

3. yes

4. prime before filling, filler will grab better on primer and filler can cause bare metal to rust

5. yes, etch primer needs to go over all exposed metal.

6. contrary to popular belief the colour of a primer will not affect the colour of the top coat of paint. I was assured of this by a pro sprayer and i have found it to be true.
do however be careful with your types of paint, i.e cellulose and 2 pack paints arent compatible and will react. You may need an isolator such as barcote. - the bodyshop will do that for you though.

Remember to use stopper over your filler to fill in the tiny pin holes and a little tip - don't be scared to use coarse paper to get the bulk of the work done, all of the scratches it creates are easily removed with filler primer and finer sand paper.

my 2p

good luck

GazzaG

s2rstony

pretty much agree with what demo man said but,

being a panel beater and painter i'd say that:

filler adheres to course bare metal better,dont etch first.

filler could only cause rust if mosture is absorbed from leaving it in the open too long before priming. a few hours depending on the weather is fine.

always etch prime any bare metal!!! - after filling

depending on what paint the sprayer will be using the colour of the primer may affect the colour of the base coat. i use water based paint and have to use a value shaded primer, ie white primer with light colours and black primer with dark colours and shades of grey primer for anything inbetween.


apart from that, spot on

other people have different ways of working but thats how i would go about it

enjoy

heeman10

Thanks a bunch for all your input guys, that's exactly what I was hoping for! Top advice, and will no doubt stand me in good stead when it comes to getting going. It's a shame lead filling's the only real way to fill in the roof rails, I'd love to smooth them out What am I looking at to sand with? An add-on for a drill for all the open surfaces, and paper on a block for more detailed stuff (ie sanding down filler)?

Munch

from another Painter & panel beater, thats pretty much bang on as the other two said, need any other help, just PM me or catch me on |MSN & il see what i can do



cheers

Lee

heeman10

Thanks a lot for the offer Lee I've just finished uni, so need to be looking for jobs, and will have no income till I get one. I'm hoping I can do all this between the North Yorks RS day on June 4th and Ford Fair at the beginning of August. Hopefully I'll be able to get my part done in 2-3 weeks, as I can work 12 hour days on it back home. I was managing 16 hour days during the Zetec Turbo conversion, but I realise bodywork can take it out on the muscles in your hands/fingers!! Better start accumulating materials etc so I can get cracking if/when I seize the moment

costina

iTrader: (1)

I would get a dent bloke out to lift dents and tap down any high spots prior to painting (paintless dent removal)

This will cost but you won.t need filler just possibly a file, sand and high build primer,this also saves weight.

less weight = more power

if your paint is not that bad you can have dents done and then have the rusted areas locally painted, and then have the whole car mopped

Get some quotes before you jump in it might save you money!!!!!!!

heeman10

I want all the panels absolutely perfect matey, and I don't see a dent puller getting the panels done to perfection. It'll save money, give a better result and I have no objection to spending time perfecting my car. I don't think saving weight is an issue here, I won't be adding any more than 1kg of filler to the car, that's for sure! They're all (bar two in the roof ) very shallow, will just need a very light skim, but I want that perfection.

Since the car was a lowly 1.8 diesel, the petrol cap area is utterly spotless, as were all the arches before I fitted the kit. The bumpers came from one car, arches from another, and the bonnet from another car still, which had been sprayed I think. All the panels need spraying to get a perfect match (it's good at the moment, but I want it perfect), so localised spraying and mopping won't be good enough, but I appreciate the suggestion I know a lot of people ask for full resprays when the car just needs a good polish, but polishing doesn't resolve mismatched colours!

A bodyshop man I know looked over my car and quoted Ł2k for what I wanted. I'm hoping that if I do all this work myself, and strip the car myself, I'll be looking at under Ł1k. I don't know if that's a reasonable assumption or not..

rs nutta

4. use a grinder on them till you get loads of sparks and a nice flat shining piece of metal then you know the rusts deffo gone

heeman10

Thanks Will be taking everything back to shiny metal..no point doing it half-heartedly only to see it coming back eh?

tim10_10

iTrader: (1)

A sand blaster is a very good way to get rid off rust spots obviously depending on size and can be bought form as little as 30 quid. Then any holes that are made during the process, mig weld up, being careful not to get the panel too hot ,as it will distort, I usually hold a damp cloth around the area, hope this is of sum help.

heeman10

I still can't weld yet, so that's not an option at this point in time. I'll just be persistent with the grinding/sanding. There isn't any rust really, just two bubbly spots about 20p coin size in the driver's door shut

tim10_10

iTrader: (1)

Have a practise then, its not difficult once you mastered the wire speed and voltage needed, so your not blowing holes everywhere its easy. You can grind it down but it will come back quick. Sand blasting keeps at bay longer but the only true way to be rid of it is cut it out and weld sum decent metal back in!

heeman10

Precisely, I don't want my pride and joy to be the first thing I attempt welding on! As I say, it's just light bubbling near the surface so I'm fairly sure I won't need to go right through, just take the surface off and go as deep as possible without going all the way through. I accept what you're saying though

tim10_10

iTrader: (1)

I see what you mean about practising on your own car obviously dont want that to go wrong!

markc

weldings piss get stuckin with it m8ty and ur soon love it
top advice there guys

kik1.6se

I have a question on this subject.

Theres some flacky surface rust underneith the boot of my peugeot (where the spare wheel is), so I'm thinking about taking the surface rust down to the metal and spraying all the underside red so I looks all nice and shiny.

I was thinking about using a zinc primer as the zinc is supposed to help prevent rust. Would this be better than an etch primer, or should i use the etch primer instead?

I'm also putting the standard white painted steel wheels back on, but I need to sandblast and spray them first. Should I use the zinc prinmer of etch primer on these?

Thanks

Kirk

costina

iTrader: (1)

Use etch primer its far better

As i use this on brand new cars everyday


And as for dent removal the guys i work with are excellent, and can lift dents out and yes they are perfect, even the worst dents creases etc can be repaired WITHOUT USING FILLER and only require paint as we cannot use it this would then differ from the specification of the vehicle.

A good panel beater/dent removal expert is the perfect solution in my opinion. But cost would be an issue