zero Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 ... I yelled as my best friend backed up his father's miata, door open, in his driveway until it made contact with the achilles heel of my car. The end of the drivers side rear quarter, around the taillight, on my car, is made of a careful balance of foam, rust and bondo. The previous owner, obviously forseeing such a situation, decided that breakaway panels were the best way to protect the occupants. After realizing the error he made, my friend slowly pulled the miata forward, revealing a small scratch on the inside of the door. My car, however, has a new vent; easy access incase I decide to test how rich my car is running by inhaling the exhaust...from the drivers seat. Pics to come. I hate to do it, but I need this car to drive to work so I can't do all the rust replacement that I wanted to do right now. It looks like, I am going to have to do a bondo respackle just to get the car air and water tight so I can drive it around. I really hate doing shoddy work, but I simply dont have the time right now. Ahhhhh I want a new, clean shell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 If its just a 8th" deep or deep but the affected area is really small, bondo is fine. To combat the bondo from aborbing moisture and causing rust, I use phospheric acid mixed with it. It will clean the surface from surface rust and if moisture is aborbed it will not cause it to rust. The acid will stop eating the metal once it reaches a certain pH balance, so you don't have to worry about it eating through. But the acid will eat at the paint though, so if the paints not gone don't worry about it. The acid will actually cause the bondo to cure faster, so use less harden, and work quickly. You can always try to "pop" it out, but it will still leave some evidence of a dent, so you would still need to use body filler to clean it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted July 27, 2006 Author Share Posted July 27, 2006 It's not as bad as it could have been, definately. It just puts me in an awkward spot where I have to do bad repairs. Here are some pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Your friend may have done you a favor...you definitely need to cut that all out before it gets worse underneath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted July 27, 2006 Author Share Posted July 27, 2006 I know. I knew it was there as well, I just can't afford the downtime right now as this is my daily driver and I work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted July 27, 2006 Author Share Posted July 27, 2006 Done, for now. Had to get it clean so i can go to work and be able to drive in the rain this weekend. I'm either gonna get a new shell or cut and replace the whole quarter within the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 if that happend on a simple door ding then it needs to go. from your last pic that should hold for now. try fabbing a replacment piece out of 18 ga. and cut and replace when you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted July 27, 2006 Author Share Posted July 27, 2006 eh its a bit more than a door ding, he pretty well backed into the corner of the car. The inner door frame, pretty strong stuff, struck the fender at maybe 4mph, and stopped the miata. Again, I know I need to replace the metal there, but I just can't do it right now. Looks decent enough and should keep further water out of the area long enough for me to fix it later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbleguinea Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 yeah, that looks like some nasty rust! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusPuppis Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Just a little aside.. Body filler will absorb moisture, most spray can primers do not block or stop moisture in any way, so it'll get wet pretty easily. Enough moisture in the bondo will not only rust the metal but cause the filler to crack and fail (we had a problem with this on a Mazda truck we did at school). I know your repairs are only temporary and I dont know what paint you used, but it looked like a spray can primer. Just wanted to warn ya, you may want to get an enamal or something water proof to spray over the repair to further waterproof it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted July 28, 2006 Author Share Posted July 28, 2006 Nah, its not primer, its bumper flat enamel over satin rustoleum, should be moderately waterproof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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