body work

I started doing some major body work today and was wandering if anyone on here has ever attempted to repair a rust hole with bondo and a mesh screen. Kinda worried how it will turn out but the spot it is in will be covered by a body kit one day so I guess it's not that important how it looks. Has anyone ever tried to fabricate a DIY bodykit on a 4th gen? That is about the only way I'll get the styling I'm looking for so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'll post some pics when I get the camera out to the garage and take some. Also, if anyone has some artistic skillz, I could use some ideas on how the kit could look. Thanx all.

first off if its on your fender and its rusting i suggest weld it but if your covering up and the car probably wont ladt longer than another 5 -6 years i would just say screw it and go with the mesh and then filler body kit and make sure u mix the right amount of hardener or crackkk.and what kind of body kit.

I wouldn't do the mesh and filler on that rust, you need to grind back several inches until you get to good, clean metal, cut out around the rust at the clean metal, and weld in a patch panel, do a bunch of little bitty tack welds, all the way around it, do the corners first, and then go from there, never do two next to each other back to back, then you will want to get some acid etch from your local auto parts store/auto paint store, you can get a small bottle probably, brush it onto the bare metal, after grinding the welds down, I'd put 2 or 3 thin coats on the metal to make sure it was good, inside too, as in behind where you put the patch in, then I would do the filler and then paint, it doesn't matter if your covering it, within 6 months the rust will show through, covered or not with a kit, and your paint will be ruined, doing it this way, as stated above is the only way to get it to last, assuming you want it to last, but, if its on a part that will unbolt IE a fender, I'd just go to the salvage yard, and pull one myself, thats what I plan to do, but I also have alot of patching to do on my 87, hope that helps you

Thanx for the info. It's on the drivers side quarter panel behind the wheel so I'm thinkin I'll just cut it out and cover it with the body kit. BTW, the look I'm going for is the Posert style kit but I have to make it from scratch so it will be awhile. Maybe some fender flares blended in with the rest of the body too. I got most of the rust cleaned up with the wire wheel but there are holes and I really don't wanna f*ck with the wire mesh. BTW BONDO IS A BITCH!!!!! lol I had to get that out.
Another Q. Anyone know what a silver base coat w/ black pearl over it would look like? I'm wanting a platinum type color but don't know quite what colors to use. Thanx again!!!

that seems like a normal place for through and through body rust, I have to basicly get entire quarters for my 87 because of how far gone they are, I even have to replace part of the unibody underneath because the pinch welds rusted through and fell off, you coul probably hit the local junk yard, and get the metal from another celica to make your patch panels, I wouldn't leave it open to the elements, I'm putting supra quarters on mine to change up the styling a little bit

yea you should weld off the rust , if its deep cut it out and tack a new piece of metal on, then grind off the welds so its smooth

remember bondo is only used to fix minor imperfections, its not meant to actualyl create things

remember bondo is only used to fix minor imperfections, its not meant to actualyl create things


I wouldn't say that, I've seen 3D flames created with bondo... wouldn't want it on a car, but it has been done

...why...

lol in anycase, bondo is adhesive, but it can be broken off very easily if you use big gobs of it, if you use small layers then its totally fine to use, but im saying if your trying to like make an entier piece of body with it

Thanx for the info guys. OK I got another Q.
I need to know the steps in prepping, priming, and painting. My primer job looks like shit so it needs redone so any ideas? Thanx again!

BTW does anyone know how to remove the trim around the windows and hatch? I dont wanna scratch it up or paint it but I can't figure out how to get the shit off there lol.

sand your primer down with some 320 grit sandpaper, and feather it out so you have an inch of undercoating(filler or what have you) showing, then start by priming your edges/jams, then starting at the top of the car, work your way down doing a 50% overlap, do 1 side of the car at a time, start in the middle of the hood and work your way out, same goes for the roof, if you can pull a panel off, do it and spray it seperately, much easier that way

as far as the trim goes, I would just tape it, get some 1/4" fine line tape go on the trim all the way around it then cover it with your normal tape, burnish(press) it down good, you don't want it to bleed

remember bondo is only used to fix minor imperfections, its not meant to actualyl create things

R U Serious??? I was gonna make a whole wide body kit out of it. *Crying Eyes out* My heart is broken!!!

lol, I've seen 3d flames made from it, but as far as going to fix things do not use more then 1/32 of an inch thick the thinner the better as it will be less chance of it flaking out, thick enough and a light tap will chip it out