As means of an introduction, I'm posting my first total car paint project. The subject car is a 1992 Acura Integra LS. It was purchased by me in 1996 with ~37K and I am the second owner. The car now has ~240K miles on her and has been basically sitting for the past 3 1/2 years. My daughter is about to turn 16 and has had eyes on the car "since she can remember seeing." While probably not the most rational choice, I have decided to resurrect the car. As incentive, I'm hoping for it to be a bonding experience with my daughter.

Below are some pictures I took today in how it sits. The paint is faded and there are only some mostly minor dings and dents. There is what appears to be a few spots of surface rust (fingers crossed). The only areas that appear to possibly need rust patches are the rockers in front of the wheel wells. I have posted some pictures below so you can see how the car looks now and some of the trouble spots.

I'm still working through the steps and process I'll take. Any feedback and suggestions are welcome!

I will be working on the car in stages. First up will be removal of all trim and a thorough cleaning of the car.

After cleaning, my my first priority will be to remove, repair, and treat all of the rust spots. My current plan is to sand down the rust spots to bare metal. Afterwards, the rust spots will be treated with Naval Jelly to remove the rust. Since there are no other signs of paint failure, I'm thinking about keeping the original paint intact (with a light sanding) and spraying primer over the treated rust spots and scuffed paint.

Some questions:
1) Should I sandblast the rust areas with a spot blaster also before treatment?
2) Is it wise to not strip the car down to bare metal?
3) What type of primer should I use over the rust areas? Epoxy or 2K build primer? Can either go over the existing paint or do I need to strip?

For reference, here are some examples of the "trouble spots" that need special treatment:

I'm hoping I can get some input of my process to address the trouble-spots and get the car ready for final primer and paint (base+clear). I have put some bold and ?? around areas that I'm not particularly sure of.

As a little more background, I'm performing most of the work at a local technical school as part of an auto body class. This gives me access to a large space, tools and paint booth as well as help from a certified instructor. The car needs to remain drive-able as I have about 3 hours to work on it per week and need to take the car home between classes. For these reason, I'm thinking the best approach is to use an epoxy primer to protect the car as I work through the stages of repair.

Body issues needing special attention:

* Surface rust on rear quarters and passenger door - Inspection shows no rust through to inside
* Heavier rust through on left rear rocker / inner fender well and small patches where body molding clips into rear quarter
* Checked, faded paint, and clear coat failure on roof and hood
* Minor door dings and dents in body
* Front bumper scraped in corner and rear bumper cracking above license plate

Planned Process
General Prep
1. Remove anything that won't get painted or will trap dirt that could run into paint
* Remove moldings, trim, emblems, mirrors, door handles and other doodads from the car that wont be painted. Door handles, mirrors, lights and bumpers to be removed temporarily while cleaning and reinstalled afterwards to allow street legal travel between home & shop.

2. Thoroughly pre-clean the car
* Use Dawn dish soap (blue kind) and hot water. Pay special attention to wheel wells, gaps between panels, cowls, door jambs or anyplace dirt can hide. Rinse well and dry (blow out out all of the nooks & crannies with a leaf blower or compressed air)

3. Wipe the entire car down with wax and grease remover.
* Using a solvent sprayer, spray down panel with wax and grease remover and wipe it up with a fresh shop top towel. Wipe in one direction to move a lift dirt while not contaminated the previously wiped area.
* Follow-up with spraying car with glass cleaner or Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. This removes contaminants such as finger prints, bugs, and certain oils.

Panel repair and prep - Quarter panels, doors and fenders (areas not being stripped to bare metal) - One panel /area at a time

1. Remove and treat surface rust
* Sand the entire surface rusted area with a DA sander fitted with 80 grit paper. Don't worry about sanding off the rust entirely, just get the majority of the heavy rust and make the panel somewhat smooth.
* Spot blast the rust spots using black beauty or 80 grit glass. Be careful to not overheat/overwork area.
* Treat the area with naval jelly or phosphoric acid spray (Ospho, Prep & Etch). Work on a small area and apply naval jelly or phosphoric acid spray. Make sure to wear rubber/nitryl gloves! Scub with red 3M pad. Use pick/scratch awl to work product into pits. It is important to keep the area wet at all times. Do not allow the naval jelly to dry. A few shots of water from the squirt bottle will help to activate the acid and may aid in quicker results. Depending on the severity of the rust, you should start seeing shiny metal within a few minutes. You may have to rinse the area and re-apply the naval jelly several times to get it all, but it WILL remove the rust eventually. Note that acid must be neutralized properly. When you're finished working an area or you need a break, wipe off the excess naval jelly with a paper towel, squirt a health dose of the warm soapy water on the work area and immediately dry it thoroughly. This will neutralize the acid and leave a bluish colored film on the metal. If acid has dried, it needs to be re-wetted with itself (spray / apply more acid) and let set one-two minutes. With a clean rag and water, wipe off like washing the car and then dry. Wire wheel / sand off any black stuff and reapply jelly. Repeat until rust is gone.

* Repair any pin holes. Poke the remaining pits with a scratch awl to make sure there are no pin holes. If there are, then weld them up with a MIG and grind smooth.

* Prep area for for primer. Sandblast and/or sand with 80 grit DA. Blow off panel. Clean with wax & grease remover. Let the solvents flash (dry) for at least 20-30 minutes before priming or painting any panel! Solvent pop or other adhesion issues can occur if proper flash time is not followed.

* Prime rust spot with epoxy primer. Brush on epoxy primer with foam brush to protect spot while other work is being performed (assuming panel isn't fully ready for priming yet)

2. Patch rust-throughs
* Cut-out rusted through areas back to clean metal.
* Shape new metal to repair area
* Clean, sand, clean & back prime new metal and back of old metal with "weldable primer"
* Weld in new panel
* Grind down weld bead
* Prep area for for primer. Sand with 80 grit DA. Blow off panel. Clean with wax & grease remover. Let the solvents flash (dry) for at least 20-30 minutes before priming or painting any panel! Solvent pop or other adhesion issues can occur if proper flash time is not followed.
* Prime repair area with epoxy primer. Brush on epoxy primer with foam brush to protect spot while other work is being performed (assuming panel isn't fully ready for priming yet)

3. Fix dents & dings
* Sand the damaged area with a DA sander fitted with 80 grit paper down to bare metal.
* Work out dent with hammer and dolly
* Re-sand with 80 girt?
* Fill area with body filler
* Block sand smooth to panel starting with 80-grit and finishing with ???-grit
* Add final thin layer of body filler and extend past repair to blend into panel.
* Fill any pinholes with spot putty
* Prime repair area with epoxy primer if rest of panel isn't ready for primer yet. Blow off panel. Clean with wax & grease remover. Let the solvents flash (dry) for at least 20-30 minutes before priming or painting any panel! Solvent pop or other adhesion issues can occur if proper flash time is not followed. Brush on epoxy primer with foam brush to protect spot while other work is being performed (assuming panel isn't fully ready for priming yet)

4. Prime panel/area for protection while remainder of car is being worked on (IS THIS EVEN NECESSARY OR SHOULD I SKIP AND JUST SPOT PRIME AND USE HIGH BUILD WHEN THE REST OF THE CAR IS READY?)
* Block sand existing paint with 180-grit or 3m red scuff pad for difficult areas
* Blow off panel
* Clean with wax & grease remover. Let the solvents flash (dry) for at least 20-30 minutes before priming or painting any panel! Solvent pop or other adhesion issues can occur if proper flash time is not followed.
* Tape and mask off adjacent panels
* Spray with 2 coats of epoxy primer

Panel repair and prep - Hood & roof (areas being stripped to bare metal) - One panel /area at a time
1. Fix dents & dings
* Sand the damaged area with a DA sander fitted with 80 grit paper down to bare metal.
* Work out dent with hammer and dolly
* Re-sand with 80 grit?
* Fill area with body filler
* Block sand smooth to panel starting with 80-grit and finishing with ???-grit
* Add final thin layer of body filler and extend past repair to blend into panel.
* Fill any pinholes with spot putty
* Prime repair area with epoxy primer if rest of panel isn't ready for primer yet. Blow off panel. Clean with wax & grease remover. Let the solvents flash (dry) for at least 20-30 minutes before priming or painting any panel! Solvent pop or other adhesion issues can occur if proper flash time is not followed. Brush on epoxy primer with foam brush to protect spot while other work is being performed (assuming panel isn't fully ready for priming yet)

2. Strip panel of paint
* Sand down to bare metal using a DA sander fitted with 80 grit paper

3. Prime panel/area for protection while remainder of car is being worked on
* Blow off panel
* Clean with wax & grease remover. Let the solvents flash (dry) for at least 20-30 minutes before priming or painting any panel! Solvent pop or other adhesion issues can occur if proper flash time is not followed.
* Tape and mask off adjacent panels
* Spray with 2 coats of epoxy primer

I spent a little more time with the car last night at autobody class. I removed some more trim and hit the "trouble spots" with a wire wheel to get a better idea of what needs to be done.

The rust spots behind where the quarter panel molding goes are going to be a bit of a pain to patch due to the contours of the area. Fortunately, the shop has some Civic fenders that have a similar style clip and profile that I can cutout and should be able to be welded into a couple of the holes. The challenging one will be the left side. The rust goes into the pointed area and that could be a challenge to fabricate. The instructor noticed that the profile is similar to the front fenders (just opposite side), so I'm going to see if that will work to sacrifice for a patch.





I knew there was an area in the right rear that had been repaired before I bought it. Someone pulled out the dent with a slide hammer, but used filler in the holes rather than welding. Needless to say, the filler failed. I started to take some of the repair back, but it looks like I'm going to be chasing a good layer of putty. I'll be stripping this back further next week to hopefully bang the metal into better shape and minimize the amount of putty I need.



The biggest issue is the left rear rocker in front of the wheel. It's pretty eaten up, so I'm going to have to replace at least part of the rocker and inner fender.

Glad to see another Integra being restored! I'm doing the same thing with mine, I'll be watching to see how this turns out!

I see you are making progress.
That rocker panel will prove to be a bit more challenging since you will need to open it up and see how bad the rust is on the inside.

'68 Coronet R/T wrote:I see you are making progress.
That rocker panel will prove to be a bit more challenging since you will need to open it up and see how bad the rust is on the inside.

(Un) Fortunately the hole is big enough to peak in and the rust appears to not extend too far. I'm hoping about a 8-12" long patch panel will take care of it. My struggle right is finding patches nearby as I prefer not to fabricate due to the more complex curves and rough texturing on the panel. I also need to think through how to protect the inside of the rocker once everything is welded shut.

I think I found some donor cars down in Tennessee. I'm hoping they have been spared from the ravages of salt and may take a drive...

So I have been starting to shop around materials. Holy . I expected prices to be high for base (especially red), but wow. I was quoted about $1000 for a gallon of DBC or PPG global. Omni was about 1/3 the price at ~$330. I should be able to get a class discount of that but wow!

Another supplier quoted ~$400 for Valspar Automotive. He was also recommending their RubberSeal Medallion primer & clear (gallon kits - epoxy $125, urethane $91, clear $180). I couldn't find much info on Medallion products however.

I haven't heard too much good about Omni nor Valspar. It seems like a lot of people like Wanda as a value paint. Unfortunately, the nearest distributor is ~100 miles away. It's not too bad as I'm in the area fairly frequently. It just makes me a little less easy in case something goes wrong (not that most distributors will care much about a diy'r).

Looking good!