Rust on driver door, repair advice needed.

[sadken 0]

Hi there people.

I own a '96 VR6 Highline in excellent condition apart from the rust on the driver door.

I would like to have a go at repairing it myself but as I am a complete novice to bodywork repair, I thought I would come on here for some advice.

My three questions are as follows:-

1. Is it possible for me to do this job myself.

2. What do I need to buy (Exact specs please, total newbie)

3. What do I need to do exactly?

Many thanks in advance for any help offered.

Pics of rust here:-

[vr6stormt 0]

google a search on diy body work `its not a bad fix good luck with it though...

[sadken 0]

I have scraped away the big bits of rust and am about to embrak on a fix.

Please see pics for the latest rust photo and the equipment I bought to sort it out now.

I could really do with some advice on how exactly I go about it.

I have a fair idea but not completely sure.

Thanks for any help.

[thesharkfactor 0]

really- you are best to take it to a painter/bodyshop.

a small repiar like that will cost under £100. they will paint the whole panel below the plastic trim.

if you DIY it, you'll make an arse of your door with those materials (especially with a metallic{pearl colours. do it right, get it painted..

i sent one of my vr's for paint today- 2 arches, lower fornt wing, rear bumper corner.. will take a couple of days and cost around £200.. noone will ever know it's been done. easy.

[Lukey. 381]

was gonna say youre brave to attempt that with rattle cans, it will look like a fix and the paint wont match, a pro sprayer will fade it right out and youd never know

[sadken 0]

Thanks for the comments above.

So when I spray, is it the paint then the lacquer?

[Nex 17]

Well l cant see the pic, cos l am at work

but l think if you are spraying to bare metal, it goes: Primer (sand a bit so paint gets a good grip) - Paint – Lacquer. if l am wrong l am sure someone will correct me lol

I say good on ya for trying to do it your self mate.

oh and on a side note, try and do it somewhere as dust and dirty free as you can, the last thing you want is to get the paint on and the wind blows and a whole bunch of sh*te gets stuck to it lol.

[aaronmk2 3]

Id take it to a body shop mate it wont be that much of a job for them to do.if u want just touch it in till it gets done to stop it from getting worse.i wouldnt imagine it being to expensive either

[The Monk 50]

I'd practice spraying with a spray can first on something else. Lightly pressing and drawing the spray can across. Don't just point in one position and then continually spray..... Just lightly dust it as it were.

I touched a hell of a lot of stuff up on my old 3 door and no one was any the wiser, I was chuffed.

[bungy 2]

You'll need to take that back to "shiney" metal and treat the rust to stop it coming back. Etch primer would be an idea, then primer and knifing stopper. Feather in the edges, reprime and sand smooth. Dust on some paint nice and thin and before each layer dries, dust on another layer and build up. When fully dry colour sand and then laquer. Or take it to a body shop....lol

[legvw 0]

I'd practice spraying with a spray can first on something else. Lightly pressing and drawing the spray can across. Don't just point in one position and then continually spray..... Just lightly dust it as it were.

I touched a hell of a lot of stuff up on my old 3 door and no one was any the wiser' date=' I was chuffed.

[/quote']

Really? Now now chris! :-*

[sadken 0]

You'll need to take that back to "shiney" metal and treat the rust to stop it coming back. Etch primer would be an idea' date=' then primer and knifing stopper. Feather in the edges, reprime and sand smooth. Dust on some paint nice and thin and before each layer dries, dust on another layer and build up. When fully dry colour sand and then laquer. Or take it to a body shop....lol

[/quote']

Thanks very much for the advice.

One last thing, how many coats of lacquer and how long to wait between coats?

And what is 'colour sand'?

(Excuse lack of knowledge, never done this before!)

[Lukey. 381]

he means sand the colour layer so its uniformly lfat with the rest, ideally you would sand off the laquer when dry too with 2000 or finer, then polish it up with compound, really a machine polisher would be FAR quicker, by hand youd be there all day and night trying to polish out sanding marks.

main rule, dont get keen and/or lazy, take your time and build up only light coats, thick coats will run and youll have to start all over again

[sadken 0]

Thanks for all the pieces of good advice here. I just need one last one!

I got it back to bare metal, treated it for rust, cleaned the area with pre-paint wipes, taped it and primered it (3 coats with 10 mins inbetween to dry)

Tomorrow I am going to paint it. Is it about 15 minutes between coats and 4 coats?

Also, do I then leave overnight before I sand with 1500 (Fine) wet and dry paper (Do I use water or just dry paper?_ and then lacquer it with the same number of coats/drying time?

Many thanks one and all.

[bungy 2]

Do not use water when sanding the primer coat at it is porous and will avsorb the water. You can use water when doing your colour and clear coat. I think the key to applying the paint is to dust on light coats and allow to stat drying and apply the next before it is fully dry so that it bonds.

There are some really good sites on the net explaining the methods in detail. Worth a quick search and read. Detailing sites are good too.