Who knows what about auto body repair?

[jmendez29]

A few weeks ago I got into a literal fender bender. It was at a 4 way intersection, I had the right of way and ended up at a complete stop, and she still drove right into me. Says she never even saw me. If you want more details I can provide them, but they don't really add much to my question.

Anyway, it was obviously a pretty slow speed collision. Hood, fender, and headlight bucket. The bumper has some of her paint rubbed off on it. It's the car I bought earlier this year as a commuter car. I bought it cheap so I wouldn't worry about full coverage insurance. So now I'm left to fix it myself.

I already replaced the headlight so that's no longer an issue. Now I'm left with the hood and fender. I have the replacement pieces, but they are showing a little bit of surface rust. Mostly in just a few paint chips, but the fender is showing along the wheel well lip. The paint matches my car, in color and condition so I'd be inclined to just put it on, but I don't want this thing to rot out on me if I don't fix it. So how do I fix it? I don't want to spend a bunch of money but I'm obviously going to need to paint it. I'm sure I'll need to grind or blast the rust away. But then what? Etching primer? Epoxy primer? And as for paint, I'm assuming auto quality paint, but are the rattle can varieties worth anything?

I've heard plenty of success stories on the Internet with such products, but when I visited an auto body forum, I got scared away from rattle cans pretty quick. So far I'm into this for under $300 worth of used parts. I'd like to keep the rest of my expenditure to less than $100 so repair shops are out of the question. What are my options here?

 

[Homercidal]

It's hard to get a nice match with rattle cans. That said, it might be the best option in your case where there is some age on the paint job already. if there is rust, you will need to sand it off or treat with some kind of rust remover.

Then I think an etching primer or seal primer, then depending on how smooth it is at that point you can spray with sanding primer before applying the color and finally the clear.

You may want to mask the area, depending on where the rust really is, and if you have overspray you can usually remove it with some light rubbing compound. jus tmake sure the paint is fully cured before you use it.

I think not perfectly matching a paint job is still preferable to letting the rust eat away at your body panels. Bubbles and flakes and holes are not nice to look at. It's much better to treat it as much as possible as soon as possible, otherwise it will only get worse and worse.

 

[illinoisbrassman]

Pictures might help.

Your big problem this time of year is going to be the temperature, unless you have someplace heated to do the work. When you get to higher end paint (auto type) paint and primer have be compatible.

I have never had great luck with rattle can auto paint. However I do know people who have used "color match" for small spots with ok success.

You might want to ask around at a couple smaller shops and see how much they want to fix it for you. Since the parts are off, if the work is minimal, you might be surprised how cheap they can do the job. From your description, around here you could get that done for $100 or less.

 

[jmendez29]

It's hard to get a nice match with rattle cans. That said, it might be the best option in your case where there is some age on the paint job already. if there is rust, you will need to sand it off or treat with some kind of rust remover.

Then I think an etching primer or seal primer, then depending on how smooth it is at that point you can spray with sanding primer before applying the color and finally the clear.

You may want to mask the area, depending on where the rust really is, and if you have overspray you can usually remove it with some light rubbing compound. jus tmake sure the paint is fully cured before you use it.

I think not perfectly matching a paint job is still preferable to letting the rust eat away at your body panels. Bubbles and flakes and holes are not nice to look at. It's much better to treat it as much as possible as soon as possible, otherwise it will only get worse and worse.

This is kind of what I'm thinking. Again, I didn't spend a lot on the car, but that doesn't mean I don't care what it looks like. I'm not going to invest thousands of dollars to have a bitchin ride, but I don't want it to look like it's been neglected. Thanks for the input. This will likely be my direction.

 

[Dopeybrew]

How bad is the rust? Is it just light surface rust or is it a full on hole?
Has the paint bubbled away from the spot?

If the rust isn't too bad, Id sand the area around to bare metal(including the rust spot) hit the rusty area with some rust inhibitor(like a POR-15 http://www.eastwood.com/paints/rust-solutions/treatment.html), put a THIN coat of filler, prime and paint. You should be able to get a rattle can color matched to the color of the car, there should be a paint code on the cars info stickers(usually the one on the door).

 

[unionrdr]

I agree that if it's just surface rust, sand it off. But here I prefer what Pete does at Southwest Rod & Custom. He's on YouTube with DIY Auto school to teach all this stuff. He would spray the car or part with epoxy. Then fill, sand primer, sand & paint. DIY auto school shows all this stuff. Pete's been doing it for 25-30 years & knows his stuff. I've had a lot of luck custom painting with aftermarket rattle cans with the "fanspray" valves. They give the same spray pattern as the guns do.

 

[jmendez29]

I agree that if it's just surface rust, sand it off. But here I prefer what Pete does at Southwest Rod & Custom. He's on YouTube with DIY Auto school to teach all this stuff. He would spray the car or part with epoxy. Then fill, sand primer, sand & paint. DIY auto school shows all this stuff. Pete's been doing it for 25-30 years & knows his stuff. I've had a lot of luck custom painting with aftermarket rattle cans with the "fanspray" valves. They give the same spray pattern as the guns do.

Wow. My buddy Pete is hilarious. That guy is a talker. I had to watch about six videos until I finally got around to what I was really looking for for answers. But some good stuff though. He definitely knows what works, but I don't really care for his rants on everyone being lazy.

So, rattle cans. I've painted plenty of things with them. Not typically something that the finish needs to be so exacting as auto body. In my experience, at some point there's a good chance that they will start spitting and sputtering little gobs of paint instead of a good clean spray. Now, I understand that these are off the shelf cans like rustoleum and whatnot, but is there a preferred source that you use? Maybe something you'd stay away from?

 

[unionrdr]

I painted my '65 Mustang in my teens with this brand of custom paints that had fan spray valves. Like custom car paint, but I forget the brand. They were better quality rattle cans. The fan spray valve is important to getting a good smooth job. & using them about the same as a spray gun. That time, I think the brand was Tempo. They had metal flakes & other factory performance car colors of the day, like school bus yellow & grabber orange. Also, the filler I use is from USC, in a big fat tooth paste-like tube. It has shredded Kevlar, carbon fiber & fiberglass in it. Once cured, it is really tough stuff. I used it to fill the outside areas where I'd chopped & sectioned a FG rear bumper cover to smooth it out again.

 

[Dopeybrew]

Wow. My buddy Pete is hilarious. That guy is a talker. I had to watch about six videos until I finally got around to what I was really looking for for answers. But some good stuff though. He definitely knows what works, but I don't really care for his rants on everyone being lazy.

So, rattle cans. I've painted plenty of things with them. Not typically something that the finish needs to be so exacting as auto body. In my experience, at some point there's a good chance that they will start spitting and sputtering little gobs of paint instead of a good clean spray. Now, I understand that these are off the shelf cans like rustoleum and whatnot, but is there a preferred source that you use? Maybe something you'd stay away from?

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/

Is the company I got mine from with the minor repairs for my car.

 

[Airplanedoc]

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/

Is the company I got mine from with the minor repairs for my car.

One thing to remember, is that paint matches the original color of the car, not the X years of fade and weather color.