My long awaited Eagle - A project in the works

[macdude443]

I'm a complete novice to paint, if that wasn't obvious.  With any luck the paint on this thing will last a week before the wind blows it off.

[shaggimo]

When I did the sx/4 doors I stripped the whole door down to bare metal. You don't necessarilly have to do this, you have to feather the chips out. Anywhere there is a chip, sand maybe a 10" diameter, working inward to the chip, you should see layers (basically blending it in). Once you can not feel where the chip was, you're good to go with your high build primer, blocking will take care of the rest.

This pic kinda shows what I mean.

[shaggimo]

Actually here's a better example on a fender

[priya]

Hmm, never heard of using water that long after the conversion process.  Mine say to use it right after the process to remove the excess.  The product from Eastwood I use here takes a good, long time to cure, but the instructions say to topcoat it, or add encapsulator after.

I'd follow whatever instructions are on the product.  Mine said to wait 24 hours to wipe with water.

[macdude443]

Yeah, that's what I read for chips.  Unfortunately these doors have tiny nicks in the metal.  So when I primed over it, you could still see the mark.  Tonight I sanded the problem area a little, then I put a dab of bondo over each mark and sanded it smooth.  No more marks.  I also improved on a serious crease down the length of one door.  The paint shop recommended I use the allmetal over the marks, which I would.. but I already primed them.  I know it'd probably work fine, but something in me said "just use a little bondo".

[macdude443]

Drivers Side door.


I guess this was a dented area. Funny, I can't even remember. No dent now, though!


Someone had tried to saw the door skin in half on the driver's side. This is after Troy welded it and ground it down. (area right above the mirror hole)


Passenger door. There was a giant crease down the center (this is where the un-sanded Bondo is). This photo was taken after I bondo'd and sanded down the marks from stone chips.  Can you tell there was once a small rust pinhole with heavy pitting?  Removed the rust and filled it with AllMetal.



Light, sanded Bondo marks from stone chip repairs.


Drivers side door, primed.


New sunroof.. old sunroof.


Someone tell me if I'm using too much Bondo.  I used AllMetal for the important bare-metal repairs.

[priya]

Someone tell me if I'm using too much Bondo.  I used AllMetal for the important bare-metal repairs.

There were so many dents and dings on my doors I covered the entire surface with bodyfill and then sanded whole door down until the metal just started showing through.

[rohnk]

Macdude,
your body work is looking good to me. I am not an expert on auto body repair but I've done a lot in the past. My dad and his friends would get together a couple of weeks to work on somebody's car and after they prepped the car with sanding/stripping paint and applying bondo, I would go behind them and do the fine sanding and feathering with 220 or higher paper. Your bondo work looks good to me. Just be sure to feather the edges real nice and on the long flat spots, use a striaight piece of 2x4 to wrap your paper around. That will help you stay level and parrellel to the body lines as you shape the bondo. When your done, the bondo should only be an eigth to a sixteeth of an inch thick in most place. Some may be more if there was a major dent on a curve or like the area of your crease. When feeling for smoothness, I usually close my eyes and rub my hand around the area to feel for high or low spots. This way, I don't really know exactly where I am feeling and if I find a high spot, I'll open my eyes and sometimes will not see it.

Two quick tests to perform if you think your bondo is too thick.

#1 - the magnet test. Take a small magnet and wrap it in a shop towel. Use it to se if it will stick to the areas where the bondo surfacing was done. The shop towel will keep the magnet from scratching your work.

#2 - the knock test. Use your knuckle or a small screwdriver and lightly tap on the body and listen to the tone. Hitting metal will sound brighter and more of a tone to it. Hitting bondo will sound like a thud. Whenever I look at cars, those are two tests that I use to check how solid the body is and/or how much work was done.

[macdude443]

Need to order some things to have on hand after the paint is dry...  not sure where to go.

1.)  Marker light seals (front and rear)
2.)  Sport mirror seals

Any ideas?  I bought the door handle seals:  J3743608

[SleepsUnderCars]

kennedy american
american parts depot

some of the links from the nest lead to body gaskets and such, but mainly door seals. been a long time since i have looked for stuff like those.

[macdude443]

Rear end paint reference.
























Oooo.. ahhhh..  sunroof in after finally ordering the right size.




So much for a dome light...



Things still to do:

- PAINT
- Put new bushing and pins in door hinges, since they're off anyway.
- Herculiner the floor
- Carpet
- Clean all trim and interior panels
- Scrub fender flares
- Paint bumpers
- Engine Upgrades

It is acceptable to feel a little overwhelmed at times, right?   

[eagleman]

Yep it sure is! Must of if not all of us have been overwhelmed at one time or another. The main thing is to stay focused and do one thing at a time. At some point it will all come together and all the hours of work and some fustration will fade away replaced with a broad smile and then you can say Hey hon come here and see what I did!!By the way its looking fine!

[rohnk]

Nicely done and the work you do now will pay off later in pleasure. You're doing it right and that always takes a little time. Don't fall into the rush to get done and think you can just redo it later. Take your time, give yourself realistic goals and don't forget to breath!

[priya]

Things still to do:

- PAINT
- Put new bushing and pins in door hinges, since they're off anyway.
- Herculiner the floor
- Carpet
- Clean all trim and interior panels
- Scrub fender flares
- Paint bumpers
- Engine Upgrades

It is acceptable to feel a little overwhelmed at times, right?  

Don't think about the whole job, just focus on the next task in front of you and think about accomplishing that goal.  Just promise yourself you'll keep at it and try to do at least a little regularly and the big picture will take care of itself.  You've come a long way already, being ready (or almost ready) for paint is a major milestone.

[eagle4x4]

nicely done!!!
if ya need to do any more ding/chip repair another method is to use different colored primers... then you can tell how deep you have sanded (learned that while fairing repairs on a boat hull)...