Body work/Paint...ugh.

All right, so i've decided as im strapped for cash and need to do this anyways since it is most likely a pretty cheap part of my project. I need to sand all the paint off of my car as half of it doesn't match..lol. I also have some dents to take care of, and bondo. Should I buy my own sanding gear and do it myself or pay a shop to sandblast it? I wish I had pics of all the damage. It has a deep crease on the back, top, left side above the back side window, I don't know how I would bang that out or if I should just bondo it. I also need directions for sanding and using bondo correctly, sealing, etc. Good paint for just some black matte, sand grains to use, paper or block, wet, etc. Thank you guys! I know this is a lot of information!

try to bang out any dents you can, try to use a little bondo as necessary........the more you use the harder it is to make it look good

Take it to a shop, you'll just fuck it up worse.

Take it to a shop, you'll just fuck it up worse.Thanks for the vote of confidence. lol

lol, i have some friends of mine that know how to do body work, so i'd bring the car to their house, spend the night, and i'll do all the prep work while they help fixing the rust and paint it afterwards. This would cost me bout 150-200 bux just to buy the supplies etc. I'm not really sure i'd be able to stay there and do the car myself, especially since it'll take 3 or 4 days to do it properly...

There's a shop around here called econo auto body and paint, something like that. I went and got it quoted, around 500 bux to do the paint job, fixing the rust etc. However, there is rust behind one of the taillights, and i know for that price they won't fix the rust behind there, since you don't even see it. Should i even worry about the rust behind the taillights? Or should i try to fix that part myself? I'm not really sure what to do. I'm sure if i brought it to another shop, they quote me at least a grand or 2. I brought it to one of the nice shops, and it was about 3 grand, more than i paid for the car.

But anywho, to go with your post (and ur topic so i dont hijack ur thread lol), take it to a few shops around your city and go quote hunting, and if you get something in your price range then go for it. But if you cant afford it now, save your money, because even if doing it urself costs less, if you mess up and hafta do it over again, for the time and work involved it woulda been easier to let someone who alrdy has the tools, etc, to do it.

I see your point, I didn't know it was that expensive. I have no rust, just a shitload of little dents..which is why im worried about cost. I basically need a while passenger side door, I don't even know if it's worth trying to repair it. Thanks for the suggestion, I will start calling around.

yeah, the reason the other shop was more expensive is because they did more of the work, like replacing some of the moldings, etc. However, the cheaper paint job had a 3 or 4 year warranty on it, so it should last at least that long. But it you're planning to make a showcar out of it or keep it longer than 5 years, save up your money and get a quality paintjob that will last a while. Wish i knew how to do bodywork lol

yeah, the reason the other shop was more expensive is because they did more of the work, like replacing some of the moldings, etc. However, the cheaper paint job had a 3 or 4 year warranty on it, so it should last at least that long. But it you're planning to make a showcar out of it or keep it longer than 5 years, save up your money and get a quality paintjob that will last a while. Wish i knew how to do bodywork lol
So the $500 included a basic paint job? That's very nice! So basically is was a detail and paint job? What all was included?

If you do it yourself, just TAKE YOUR TIME! Be ready for a lengthy time consuming process.......... I underestimated the time i thought it would take and im still workin on it, also is this your daily driver?

If you do it yourself, just TAKE YOUR TIME! Be ready for a lengthy time consuming process.......... I underestimated the time i thought it would take and im still workin on it, also is this your daily driver? Yes, it's my first car and my daily driver. heh..

where do u people live!! $500 for rust and paint?!!!! damn around here that costs about $1500. that's it i'm movin!!

Heh, I have alot of confidence in you, its just I do body work/paint for a living so I see the shitty stuff people do sometimes. I recomend you buy the book Pro Paint & Body by HPBooks and read the chapters on body work. You can more than likely do the body work yourself if you take your time, then take it and have it professionally painted.


By the way does everyone else find those fucking ads annoying? I'm about ready to leave this forum because of all the ads.

Heh, I have alot of confidence in you, its just I do body work/paint for a living so I see the shitty stuff people do sometimes. I recomend you buy the book Pro Paint & Body by HPBooks and read the chapters on body work. You can more than likely do the body work yourself if you take your time, then take it and have it professionally painted.


By the way does everyone else find those fucking ads annoying? I'm about ready to leave this forum because of all the ads. Yeah..that ad's are a little out of control..too bad bandwidth is so spendy. Thanks for the vote of confidence and the book idea, that sounds like a very good idea. I will have to go look at that, maybe Barnes & Noble? :)

I know it sells at Books A Millions, I'm sure if barnes and noble doenst stock it they can get it. Amazon.com sells it for about $5 cheeper, but you have to pay shipping.

I know it sells at Books A Millions, I'm sure if barnes and noble doenst stock it they can get it. Amazon.com sells it for about $5 cheeper, but you have to pay shipping. Nice! Thanks man, I will check amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1557883947/qid=1100559963/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-9738630-0240700?v=glance&s=books

Heres the link, This one of the best books I know that shows body work, as well as general painting techniques. Its strait forward and easy to understand with lots of pictures.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1557883947/qid=1100559963/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-9738630-0240700?v=glance&s=books

Heres the link, This one of the best books I know that shows body work, as well as general painting techniques. Its strait forward and easy to understand with lots of pictures. Excellent. Thanks again man!
Considering how much body work I have to do on this thing I may be pretty good after all this..

Holy fuck those related links are out of controL!

Well just to let you know from personal experience, I got a CRX like 3 months ago and i had the same question that you did. I got quotes between 400 to 700 at diffrent body paint shops. I then went on my own because of what everyone said "doing your own work is alot cheaper then paying for it". So I did both the sanding down by hand and the chemichal paint stripper. I got half a gallon for 20 bucks of paintstripper plus the sanding papers (it was a set of 6 diffrent kind) for 15 bucks too. Then i bought a gallon of grey primer for 30 bucks by this small mexican car shop. As for the labor hours it took me 2 weekends to have the car sanded down and paint completely removed and 1 weekend to put the primer on it. As for the color of the car i got a quote from a respectable good quality shop for 200 to do the paint job just bring in my CRX.

$20 Half a gallon Paint Stripper (this is enough for a hole CRX)
$15 sanding paper's (to sand down the little tight spots)
$30 Gallon of primer
$200 paint job at shop
-----------------------
$265 Total

my advice go get the stuff and do it yourself, it was my first time doing this and it turned out great and way cheaper then i expected, its not rocket science. compared to paying 600 - 800 you save like 400 for other stuff.

sorry about the double post but i forgot to mention the body work isnt hard either, just buy sanding paper for removing rust, then use bondo its like a form of sticky puddy, so work with it at a good fast pase you dont want to let it harden while working with it. If you mess up dont worrie sand it down and add more bondo to get it right. I got the rust sanding disc for 5 bucks and a medium size little bucket of bondo for 5 bucks also. I bought this at autozone, good luck

If you mess up dont worrie sand it down and add more bondo


http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/images/smilies/puke.gif

Well just to let you know from personal experience, I got a CRX like 3 months ago and i had the same question that you did. I got quotes between 400 to 700 at diffrent body paint shops. I then went on my own because of what everyone said "doing your own work is alot cheaper then paying for it". So I did both the sanding down by hand and the chemichal paint stripper. I got half a gallon for 20 bucks of paintstripper plus the sanding papers (it was a set of 6 diffrent kind) for 15 bucks too. Then i bought a gallon of grey primer for 30 bucks by this small mexican car shop. As for the labor hours it took me 2 weekends to have the car sanded down and paint completely removed and 1 weekend to put the primer on it. As for the color of the car i got a quote from a respectable good quality shop for 200 to do the paint job just bring in my CRX.

$20 Half a gallon Paint Stripper (this is enough for a hole CRX)
$15 sanding paper's (to sand down the little tight spots)
$30 Gallon of primer
$200 paint job at shop
-----------------------
$265 Total

my advice go get the stuff and do it yourself, it was my first time doing this and it turned out great and way cheaper then i expected, its not rocket science. compared to paying 600 - 800 you save like 400 for other stuff. Hey thanks for the info, I think im going to do it on my own. Unless I can find my old mechanic..

I was thinkin about fixing my car up and all but after my accident I just want to save my money for a truck and then buy an EK hatch later on. This car went through hell with me and now I feel sorry for it.

I would just flat black your car unless you want a NICE paint job. BC flat black looks good IMO

I wouldnt flat black it till you get it runnin a lil faster, a flat black car is a big neon flag that says "My cars fast, why dont you come rev on me", my car is half black primer and i get plenty of race happy people, its always nice to be able to back it up.....thats my opinion, but you gotta do what you gotta do right. Youll get enough of that guff driving a honda........but i do like flat black! im eventually gonna do it to my car...............

I may do my car flat black... still not sure yet. There's this dude that lives down the road that's been hooking up his crx. I offered him my car when it was messed up but he couldn't afford it (thank goodness for that). Anyway, he painted his car flat black from burgundy and it doesn't look too bad except for the big gaudy 17s and the chrome door/rocker panels. But I can still waste his little d15 when he revs on me. LMAO :lol2:

I may do my car flat black... still not sure yet. There's this dude that lives down the road that's been hooking up his crx. I offered him my car when it was messed up but he couldn't afford it (thank goodness for that). Anyway, he painted his car flat black from burgundy and it doesn't look too bad except for the big gaudy 17s and the chrome door/rocker panels. But I can still waste his little d15 when he revs on me. LMAO :lol2: I like flat black also, heard it is cheap to get it professionally done also. But that won't be for awhile..I have another $500 I need to drop into it first..maybe a bit more.