Alright, I'm going to try something...

[brownj218]

My plan... I have an '88 4dr LX with 216 000kms (134 000 mi) on it. I love it... but it has tons of rust. So me, my bro, and my buddies came up with a plan. I will post pics 2morrow hopefully, but I just wanted to voice this for now.

The first thing I did today was taking off the plastic trim that is on the sides of the car. I think the car would look so much better without it. So I took off the trim, and started to sand it. Since I have many tools at my disposal.. I am planing on welding some sheet metal over the gap that is now there, and then smoothing it with bondo.

After that, I wanna start cutting out all the other rusted spots and replacing them with sheet metal. Once that is done, I will probably sand the rest of the car myself and then attempt to paint it white.

Now I have had many people telling me that this is a stupid plan. Most people are telling me that the rust will keep on coming back, and the rest are telling me that I will never be able to paint it myself and have it look good.

For the rust, wouldn't it be possible to cut out most of it, and then just spray some POR-15 before priming the rest of the car? I am just being told that no matter what I do, the rust will always come back.

As for the paint job, I can understand why people are breaking my balls about it. However...this is just a plan, so nothing is in stone yet. I don't think it would be that hard to buy a $50 paint gun and just paint in my garage....but i could be wrong. I just figure that this way, I could do the primer, paint coats, and clear coat for less than the price of a Maaco enemal paint job. And painting it white would probably be the easiest to do yourself... because mistakes wouldn't show up as much.

I just need people to let me know if they have any experience with painting their car, and actually if you have one of the cheap Maaco jobs. Because I have also had people tell me that the Maaco jobs aren't that bad. Also let me know if you have cut sheet metal and welded it on your car. I am basically looking for advice, and for people that have experience to give me some do's and dont's. Thanks alot people, and I will start to post some pics hopefully tomorrow.

[MessyHonda]

rust is cancer....you have to stop all of it or it will spread. sounds like you have a good plan...but i would just worry about the rust...and then shaving the door moldings off

[brownj218]

Alright, here are my pics. I read about the $50 paint job, and i figure what the hell, why not try it. One question I have is about the trim. As you can see, I have ripped off the trim on the doors, fenders. I was going to throw them out, and then weld some sheet metal in the gap and smooth it with bondo. But I was just thinking, would that even look good? I am painting the whole car white, so I just wanted to get another opinion. I guess I can still keep them and then just paint them black...or something. I dunno. Anyways, take a look at my ride. I'm going to start cutting out the rust and sanding soon, so I'll post pics. And thanks to messy for your post. I need advice people!

[MessyHonda]

well from looking at the pics the rust does not look too bad. you will still need to patch it up....keep up updated on what you are going to do. since the paint job does not look too bad.

[Civic Accord Honda]

dose not look that bad looks fixabel to me

[brownj218]

Alright. I was talking to my girlfriends dad today, and he suggested riveting the metal on, and then just hammering the rivets on and then putting bondo over top. I think it sounds good, especially since I am way to lazy to set up the mig welder. Any objections?

[89T]

i.
weld it! braize it! but dont rivet it.

[musclecarboy]

the extra time u spend weling it and grinding the metal smooth will mean less time with bondo and will be a better job overall. if u have time to weld everything, do that.

[Crazybird]

wow u call that rust ROFL take a look at my car and then we can talk about rust

[brownj218]

Maybe I did exaggerate the rust a little bit. But I also didn't provide good pictures of the rust. So here they are.





So ya, I'm picking up the sheet metal tomorrow. I still think I'm going to rivet just because I have the rivet gun and compressor ready right now, and it will just be easier. As long as it looks presentable. I think a little misshapen quarter panel looks better than a rusted out quarter panel. I'll post more pics when I get started.

[race12001]

you dont want to rivet it man you will hate it in the end when the bondo cracks cause the rivets move around just tak it here and there until it gets stiff if you dont want to weld the whole thing

[Vanilla Sky]

Man, if you were local, I have a car with good metal that I'd donate to you. I'm going to haul it to the crusher soon since it's expensive to ship sheet metal.

I've seen worse rust than that fixed. It's usually work reserved for "classic" cars, but I've seen what started as piles of rust turn out to be some of the nicest street rods I've ever seen.

[brownj218]

Ok, forget about fixing the rust. I still need input about the trim. As you can see in the 3rd picture in the 3rd post, I have removed the trim. If i welded metal over it and then smoothed it out and painted it white, would it look retarded? Otherwise, I can put the trim back on and paint it white, because I saw another car that has everything painted white, and it looks pretty good. So many decisions

[buttaz1]

if you search it will be found(hmmm it sounded better in my head)
umm to each there own you know? cause the thing is that i like the look but messy or cheess might not you know? take a look at cars that have had it done and see what you think?

[backhatcher]

yea the no trim and shave the holes looks super clean i love it and im doing it to my hatch. welding up the holes isnt to bad, personally id place the metal on the inside of the door skin and weld it from the outside, then bondo the low spots