Filler n paint

[dieselnutjob]

So, I reversed my 607 into a concrete pillar and damaged the rear quarter.

 

Next week I'll be visiting my welding/body work guy to see how straight we can get it, but for sure it's going to need some filler on it, and I'll be doing filling/painting myself.

 

In seems normal to only apply filler to bare metal, but on the other hand if you can paint bare metal you can paint it with etch primer which etches zinc into the top surface of the steel which seems like a good thing.

 

I bet everyone here would fill onto bare metal and then paint, is there anyone who thinks you can etch prime, prime, rough up and then fill?

 

I read that modern filler will actually stick to paint okay so it might be that the old way is not the only way.

 

This article seems very useful

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/body-filler.htm

 

opinions?

[Father Ted]

i have put filler on paint before. I didnt know you were not supposed to. It looked ok afterwards. Lasted ok too.

[trigger]

I was a body shop guy for about 4-5 years, As long as the surface has a good key then it's fine to fill over the paintwork with filler, When doing home DIY i always do the filler work first then just etch prime over it and then use normal primer on top before flatting back with 800 wet & dry before painting.

[retrogeezer]

yeh, as Trigger says, it's fine to fill over paint as long as you key up the area first with something like P180 grit sandpaper.

 

Use a flat sanding block (with the paper) over the area so you can see the low spots in the dent properly then key up the 'dent' by hand.

 

Take a pic of the dent and post it up.

[dieselnutjob]

it's a bit more than a dent

 

the rear wing has pushed forwards above the boot floor and caused the panel to bend the wrong way above the wheel arch

the boot floor has a tiny amount of movement, and the structural bits haven't moved at all

also the slam panel below the boot lid hasn't moved either

the gap between the wing and door is also not affected

 

luckily there are no closed box sections and we can easily get to the inside of the panel

the creasing around the light cluster is bad though

 

my bodywork guy seems to be confident about it, and one of the doors needed spraying anyway. He says he can pull/push it out and straighten the panel for less than my insurance excess so I'm going to give him a chance to do it

[trigger]

Blimey!, How fast was you going when you backed up into it?!, That does't look like one of the easiest repairs to do, especially as it's popped out around the wheel arch.

[Owain-328i]

That there is an insurance write off id say!

[M'coli]

Is this the one you dinged the front of last year?

[Pete-M]

I think you've killed that, Phil. Sorry.

 

Having said that, the Autoshite way is to tie it to a tree, try and pull the worst of it out, bung a load of filler in it, can of silver wheel paint and it'll be right.

[dieselnutjob]

Is this the one you dinged the front of last year?

yes

luckily that only cost me a suspension arm and a wheel straightening

and before that it got badly keyed

I didn't damage any of my previous six cars spanning something like 17 years

if I was superstitious I would say that this car was unlucky, but I don't see how a hunk of metal and plastic can be unlucky so I must just be turning into a crap driver

 

I think you've killed that, Phil. Sorry.

Isn't there something wrong with car design when backing into a post writes a car off? I can't have been doing more than 10 miles per hour.

 

My first instinct was that it would need a new rear quarter, but once I got all the trim out of the boot I could see that it is basically just panel damage. We shall see.

[Station]

I'd get a new rear quarter, filling that in would be a waste of time, and it looks new enough to warrant getting it done in some cheaper bodyshop.

[Pillock]

Does look a bit of a mess to be honest. I'm all for spending a few quid trying to fix panel damage myself - I've got a 50/50 success ratio - but with the crease all the way to the arch I suspect it's a bit out of the league of a couple of rattlecans and a sunday afternoon. The crease suggests you've lost some length in the panel somewhere and it'll be very hard to get it looking right.

[cort16]

I think you'll need to pull it. You'll not knock it out with just hardcore hammer action. Because it's rippled in two places I recon it could be a mare.

I'd price up a new rear quarter as said above as you're gonna need to paint it anyway.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I reckon i'd try to stitch in a s/h rear quarter, bet you could get one chopped out for £75 or summert then just replace the rippled bit. bit of arsing about but you'll never get that looking nice with hammers and wob. If theres a dodgy bit of town with a few gaffers repairing write-offs in railway arches etc i would take it down there and see what suggestions they come up with, in my experience those places often contain extraordinarily high levels of skill despite appearances.

[dieselnutjob]

the guy I'm taking it to has the gear for pushing/pulling bent car bodies, I won't be doing it myself

I'll take the day off and take the bumper and wheel arch liner off for him, and watch and see how he does it

if it looks crap then the same guy has the skills to weld in bits cut off of a scrap car

 

I will have to paint it myself though

 

probably I'll practice on the wife's 806 first

 

should have a used compressor next week as well as all of my cars are metallic so I need to learn how to spray properly

 

my 607 is one of the earliest ones made, so not worth much. for the same reason it's on flat rate tax rather than emissions based which is one of the reasons I got it

[retrogeezer]

I'd get a new rear quarter, filling that in would be a waste of time, and it looks new enough to warrant getting it done in some cheaper bodyshop.

 

 

trouble with that is you still need to use filler where you join it up the pillar and in the door shust/sill area so you are just making yourself a whole load more work/cost and still filling anyway.

 

It needs pulling (or pushing from inside the boot) to get the crease out on the wheel arch, ideally on a jig but it can be done with the smaller hydraulic tools that bodyshops and hopefully your fella have.

 

Good luck!

[dieselnutjob]

I think you've killed that, Phil. Sorry.

 

Having said that, the Autoshite way is to tie it to a tree, try and pull the worst of it out, bung a load of filler in it, can of silver wheel paint and it'll be right.

 

£200 of panel beating and can of grey primer get me to this point

 

 

At this point there is no filler on it at all. Not bad eh?

Hats off to Brooklands Welding in Welwyn Garden City.

He had to heat up the metal above the wheel arch to get rid of that kink.

 

I also got a 2HP compressor for £50 and a light cluster for £45. Need to get a thin layer of filler on it and paint it up.

[Pete-M]

They've done well there with the shape. Impressed.

[scruff]

That geezer knows what he's doing... nice!!

[M'coli]

Wow - that's really good! Skillz, ur panl beetr haz them.

[HillmanImp]

Thats brilliant. Top job. Did you know this guy before? I need to find some people with skills like this for when i crash my more modern cars (not that I have any at the mo). I am happy welding in a bit of mishapen metal and some wob to make it the right shape on the rest of my cars.

[dieselnutjob]

He's been welding up the 604 for a few years. He mentioned that he could do other aspects of bodywork so I thought I'd see.

Only thing is that I think he doesn't have a license to spray I guess due to the environment rules. I'll get round that by spraying it myself.

[Danblez]

That is amazing. I am properley in awe of people who can manipulate metal like that. Marcel's body shop on American Hotrod spring to mind, I love watching them in action.

[cort16]

Mega Skillz there. £200 well spent by the looks of it.

[Shep Shepherd]

That's an impressive piece of work there

[Mr_Bo11ox]

SRSLY impressive!!! Get him to come on here and tell us how he did it.

[M'coli]

He'll never tell you how he did it, that's the secrets of his bread and butter he'd be giving away!

[dieselnutjob]

i watched him do it

[Vin]

That is very impressive