[Paul]

Im embarking on the journy to clean up the body of my crx.

Only thing is ive never done anything like this before so i dont want to jump right in empty minded.

My goal is to get it sanded down. Fill in dents. Repair the rust and fill in the spots. then get it primered and ready for my buddy to paint it.

I went out and bought all types of sand paper. Some bondo. rust repair junk.

I just need tips and advice on how to start doing all this. Never worked with bondo in my life thats what im most worried about but i dont think it should be too hard.

here is some pictures of the rust i have to deal with

so i just need some advice tips whatever on how to deal with that rust and how to work with bondo. and paint prep too

 

[ludesrv]

Just know this. Bondo is a body FILLER, not BUILDER. You will need to cut your old rust body panel off, and weld in a new one. In about 3-4 months I will be doing the body on my car. And I was planning on a doing a write up on how I did it. I'm trying the best to take the professional route thru the restoration of my hatch.

 

[rex2nr]

You will definitely need new metal there

Any area that can be filled with Bondo, remember to fill it in light coats. coat it, then sand, coat, sand, until it is smooth. Do not check it with your eyes, you need to use your hands to feel imperfections. Lightly glide your hand flat across the surface, and you will notice high and low spots.

 

[Paul]

well those are the only 2 trouble spots of the car minus a few small dings on the hood. so your saying i cant grind out the obvious rust and fill it in with bondo?

Im trying to do all of the work myself because im not made of money. And i have no idea how to cut off a body pannel and weld in a new one. i assume it would cost a pretty penny to have that done

 

[rex2nr]

You can, but don't expect it to last long.. Thick, un-reinforced Bondo will crack and fall out.

If you can't afford to get the metal replaced, you can grind out the rust and use fiberglass cloth. It's not the proper way, but its better than just using bondo. What you would do is apply cloth soaked in resin to the underside of the panel. Use a few layers, just to build up strength. Then you can fill over the top of it and feather it in. This will last longer, but not forever either.

 

[jfrolang]

Rust will always come back, especially if you just fill the hole. The only way to do it right is to cut out ALL of the infected metal, and weld in new panels.

 

[bil]

Also, if you haven't pulled the lower plastic covers from the rockers and doors, go ahead and do that--things may be worse under there. Might be worth pulling the carpet out to check the inside of the pan while you're at it. I'm just getting started fixing mine, found a couple of holes in the rocker panels, but nothing in the pan. I'll be posting a link to pics in a few days, looking for advice myself.

I think it's worth taking your time and spending some money to get it as good as you can the first time. I'm not an expert by any means, but I can tell you that in my youth I did the scrape/sand/bondo/paint route a few times, and invariably the rust came back right around my repair within a year or so. Always looks worse when it does.....

 

[Paul]

how much do you suppose it would cost to get some new metal welded in there?

i figured i could just grind out all the rust treat it with the stuff i bought and fill it in but i do want this to be done right so i guess thats out of the question now. i just cant spend too much money because i still have to buy an A6 to drop in the car as well.

also for all the trim pieces around the exterior of the car. Could i just paint those semi flat black to restore the color because my trim pieces are a bit faded.

My rear bumper is pushed in a little bit on both sides. Would i be able to take it off and straighten it out or would a new bumper be needed?

thanks for all the help guys

 

[rex2nr]

Cost of welding in new panels... I really have no clue. Call around to some shops, or stop in and get an estimate to just drop in metal.

You can get some trim paint from your auto parts strore, Duplicolor makes it, or you can use Krylon Fusion in semigloss black for the trim.

what model CRX do you have again?

 

[bil]

how much do you suppose it would cost to get some new metal welded in there?

i figured i could just grind out all the rust treat it with the stuff i bought and fill it in but i do want this to be done right so i guess thats out of the question now. i just cant spend too much money because i still have to buy an A6 to drop in the car as well.

I think the cost would vary widely depending on whether you wanted it to look nice or just hold the car together until you can get to it. I'm in a similar boat but about to throw money at the body (since I'm happy with the stock engine), for pics see:
http://www.cs.unc.edu/~hays/crx/
(advice welcome)

It sounds like you want to start playing with the engine--you might consider just trying to stop the rust where it is or slow it down enough to buy enough time to build the budget and figure out what to do. That way you get a drivable unit sooner. But I'm not you.

 

[Paul]

well i can get a complete D16A6 with tranny from a friend of mine for 500. And thats not too much higher than what it would cost me to replace the clutch on the HF motor. So ill have a much better motor and a new clutch

im really not concerned with building the motor i just want a running crx that looks nice.

the car is an 89HF btw.

im really not too sure about replacing the metal. I honestly barly have the money for the motor alone. I have alot of other bills and things to pay off before i can even start on spending anymore money on my car. Thats why i was hoping i could take the things i have now and do what i can with it.

 

[rex2nr]

well just weigh out the though of having the car look good for a little while, (year or 2 depending on how well you can get the rust) or putting the money you are going to spend now away to use towards "proper" body work later.

 

[ludesrv]

Paul, a proper homemade paint job is 50 man hour and about 1000$ of material (from nothing to full paint with clearcoat). Aslong as you can get a free welder, a free HVLP spray gun and compressor you won't have any issues except making time to work on it. If you wanna wait till I'm done mine, a full write up will get done only for this website, as I will more then likely start charging to paint peoples cars if I get the finish I want (aiming for the 3000$ look). My car's rust is way worse. Full rockers, quarter, roof clip, hood and door rust all need to get fixed. Already got half my panels .