Automobile Door Damage Advice Needed

More of an art than a science - discuss metalworking and welding here.



Settled In
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 4:06 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 5:43 pm
While this is a metal forum, newer metal workers and those who are not painters might want to see several body/paint steps between metal rough finishing and surface materials finishing prior to full panel painting. Finally, that their metal working can yield a good, completed project.
Attachments
103_1552.JPG
top left: Next step after the guide dust was a skim layer of filler applied after the metal shrinking done in previous step. More specific, filler was applied over 2K urethane primer which was sprayed over etch primer. Filler over primer can be a big no-no and I was warned by timbo but the tech sheets say it was do-able using minimal cure times: 3 hrs Urethane/ 30 min Etch, recoat. Notice the hard paint edge I found upon feather sanding; the filler was lifting. See urethane cure time imo under “Finished Product” below.
bottom left: canvas drop cloth makes a good dust curtain.
bottom right: Mess-up turned into opportunity. Lifting filler was all removed; the bright areas are high spots. Decision was to fine tune and metal shrink all the way—no filler—using the earlier discussed techniques.
103_1444.JPG
The area after spotting with 2K HS Urethane over etch primer. Due to time, no photos of the finish sanded product were taken. The handle/tumbler came out: e-clip on tumbler pull to the left as seen looking at the tumbler. Then, pull the big, mostly hidden U-clip, on the tumbler...down.
103_1553.JPG
To prevent the chance of rust on the inside of the door skins the shrinkage-worked spots were sanded with 180, etch primed, 2k urethane primed and finally, hardener clearcoated.
103_1503.JPG
Painting was hired out to a body shop. No further bodywork was needed. Door handles and molding were also delivered prepped for paint. You may have to shop for a shop willing (and helpful) to paint behind your work.
103_1497.JPG
Notice the slight dip in front door repair area at molding. The area was a compromise, by not using filler on it. The car has 167K miles and a perfect restore was not projected.



Settled In
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 4:06 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:03 pm
FINISHED PRODUCT
End result was a really nice improvement considering all original components are still in place. Other than window molding clips and a fabbed, front, door linkage pin, no new or used replacement parts were installed.
Attachments
103_1500.JPG
One disappointment in the paint was several, small, shrinkage spots from primer touch-ups I did close to the final painting window. I believe the need to cure 5-10 days--factoring heat/humidity--for (1.) etch and urethane combination (2.) urethane alone, before top coating. I base this on trouble I ran into. For those late into the topic, the original intent was to work with epoxy primer.

This paint part of the job was basically a re-spray, which is arguably harder and far more annoying to finish out than a bare metal surface. That aside, it was a rewarding project.

User avatar

Top Contributor
Posts: 3110
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:52 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:23 pm
Glad it turned out so good.
Glaze putty is what I like on cured/sanded primer and paint.
Glad you posted the finished product!! :rockon:
Never argue with an idiot, he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.



No Turning Back
Posts: 977
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2011 3:58 pm
PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:04 am
Thats a great success story. Nice job! Very inspiring.
Previous

Return to Welding & Metal Fab

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 37 guests