salaamq

So here is my project. I bought it back in December. It's a 93 del sol S, 5 speed, 150,000 miles. My plan is to clean up the body and paint the whole thing. I'm not going ricey, my plan is to keep it mostly stock. I got a set of the original rims, I'll put those on as soon as I get the tires.

salaamq

So I finally got myself to do some body work today. I got an offer from a friend who works at a body shop. He will paint the car for me at a really good price as long as I have it all ready to go and buy the paint. I'm still debating weather I'll go milano red or samba green. I'm thinking if I keep it red, maybe I'll put some racing stripes down it? Just an idea.

I pulled off the door sills, and found just a little rust on the driver's side rocker panel where it attaches to the quarter panel. That is the easy fix.

On the passenger side, it was filled with bondo. I thought it was just the bottom half. Turns out, the majority of the panel is full of it. Alot of the metal is still good. There were holes drilled in the bottom half also. It makes me think that it took a hit before, and it was just fixed up in somebody's garage.

Anyways, after beating all the bondo out with a hammer, I had a pretty big dent. So I pulled out the interior and beat the majority of it out. The goal here is to get it as straight as possible so the whole thing isn't loaded with bondo like it was before. I still have more straightening to do, and alot more bondo to get out, that stuff is on there good. I'll be working on it.

The rusted metal will all be cut out, and I'll make patch panels. You can see the line where I'll cut on the bad panel. I need to work on the wheel wells also. Keep in mind this is my first time doing body work, so help me out a little here.

I was told that I could use panel bond to put those patches in. My paint guy told me it would work better because the metal tends to rust again around the bead. Not sure if I should go ahead and weld it or use the panel bond. Whatever would hold up more. I have access to a few welders if I need them.

The bumper had a hole in it, and it was all cracked. By the time I would cut all that out, I would have a pretty big hole. I really don't think patching it with some of that 3m stuff would hold. I ended up pulling it off. I'll be ordering a new one soon.

The rest of the body is just small dents. I'll make a trip to the autobody supply place soon and get some sandpaper and body filler, and get to work on those.

So thats how it sits now. It'll be a while before I do any more to this, I have a busy few weeks ahead of me. Don't worry, I'll get back on it soon. Make any suggestions

Edit: Sorry the pictures came out so big and stretched everything so big. I didn't resize them after I took them off of my iPhone. I'll keep that in mind next time

salaamq

Found this pic on mac_24_seven's build. Is this milano red?

hybrid24

i honestly wouldint be hitting it with a hammer and i wouldn't put stripes but keep it red or look at diifferent colors that honda has used

donmeca2020

that red delsol with the honda fit stocks, is NamorTypeRs del, i believe thats the stock milano red color, he had it repainted though.

yea i'd stay clear of the racing stripes, other then that looks to be a nice build. SUBSCRIBED!!! keep us informed

salaamq

Yeah I'm kind of regretting using the hammer, but after removing the bondo it still would have needed beaten out some anyway. It had quite a bit in there. Most likely this car took a hit sometime along the line. It was alot easier than chiseling all the filler out, but I still have some more stuck on there pretty good.

I'm still debating about painting Milano red or Samba green.

I might do a d16z6 swap sometime in the near future if I strip the bay for green paint. The b7 just isn't cutting it for me. For about $400 I can have a little more power and keep about the same mpg, Plus later if I decide to build it for turbo I can actually find parts for it

I'll try to work on the dent some more this week. In the mean time I'm trying to find someone with a welder so I can put in a patch. Still not sure if I should use panel bond or just weld it. I'm not fully convinced on panel bond yet.

salaamq

New bumper came in today It was a pita to put on. It took alot of pushing and shoving to get it to like up with the threads on the top. It seemed like it was hitting the brackets that connect it to the aux. lights. There are gaps around the bottom of the headlights too; I'm not sure how I would fix these. Although old bumper was the same way, more evidence that this car was wrecked. No more hole in the bumper! The stealership wanted $350, I got the same thing from ebay for $70. Pics coming soon.

I talked to the paint shop yesterday, for samba green in PPG shopline with primer, paint, reducer, clear, and hardner it came out to about $600. For deltron it was about 1100. Add a little more for red.

I think the car will end up red, not green. It is too much work to get the bay and jams redone. That is still a long ways away though.

My plan is to get over to the supply shop tomorrow and pick up some body filler and panel bond. I also have to find some sheet metal. I would like to get the patch panels fitted this weekend. See you all then!

salaamq

I did some more work to the panel today. I also picked up some evercoat so I can get to work on some of the dents. It's getting dark now, I'll get pics soon.

Should I paint it green, what all would have to be removed besides the engine and transmission?

I might be changing the transmission on my cousins accord, so there may be a how to coming your way.

crueric

good work man! When you are looking to buy a car that looks great on the outside around the typical honda rust areas just take a small magnet with and gently touch it on the quarters etc. If it doesn't stick then you might just have a 1/8 inch or more bondo just waiting to be opened up... haha

Keep up the resto captain!

salaamq

More coming tomorrow!

salaamq

Sorry I took so long guys, I've been working on getting everything done as far as school goes. Anyway, I have cut the quarter panels so I can make patch panels for them. Wow, looks can be deceiving. There was way more rust than I could originally see. Keep that in mind everyone. My goal is to have that all done by the end of next week. Here's a couple pics I snapped real quick.

salaamq

Got the metal, more body filler, and the lord fusor panel adhesive today. More coming soon

salaamq

Ok, so I've been working on the del Sol on and off for the past week or so. I have my patch panels all made and glued on the car. The back sides were coated with a rust protection/primer after the glue set. Soon to come is body filler. I was going to work on it today but it's been raining. I wasn't sure if humidity would be an issue or not; I'll do my best to start tomorrow.
The goal is to have the car all painted up and finished as far as the body goes by the end of the summer. We'll see if I can meet that or not. Anyway, enough rambling, here's some pictures





The guy at the supply store said I would need the larger tube. It ended up that the smaller one would have just cut it. I suppose I know of plenty of cars that I could fix...



I had the tire off to flatten out the lip around the wheel arch. It's all bubbled. Sumitomo HTR A/S P01's coming soon.



These drum brakes are a joke! Once they're in need of replacement, I want to swap them to discs.



It's a Chevy! Lol



That's it for now. I'll be off to see my cousin for a while next week, but I'll get as much as I can done and posted up here before that.

hybrid24

i wouldnt of revited it , should of welded it into place

salaamq

No rivets, I had self tapping screws holding it in place while the glue dried. No access to a welder.

ef9carly

ya, the self tapping screws are just as bad an idea as if you would have used rivets...

salaamq

Why is that? My paint guy, and my cousin who is also a body guy both told me it is better to glue these things in and only weld structural parts on a car. The tube of glue itself said if clamps weren't an option, use self tappers. No access to a welder that can weld something that thin either. I don't see what is wrong?

It looks like rain today and tomorrow I'm busy most of the day. I'll keep looking for a good day to start with the filler.

There's a samba green del sol I've been eyeing lately. Looks stock, paint is mostly good, lots of rust to fix, and it needs a front bumper. The back part of the hood is also sitting a little high on one side and so is the headlight. Not sure how that would be fixed. I left a business card the other day, we will see if they are interested in selling it.

hybrid24

no ones ******* you but were giving opinions, welding it in is the better way , i dont know what kind of body guys they are but when doing resto on a car you care about you use the least amount filler ,rivets ,screws,glue, etc or else its just gonna rot out again ... just trying to steer you in a good direction

hybrid24

and if you need a welder harborfreight has a welder for 99 and you could probably use a 25% off coupon from any car magazine... i would take off what you did and start over

salaamq

$99?!?! If I had seen that before....
I was told the glue would outlast the metal.
I don't think those panels are coming out unfortunately, I would never hear the end of it.
The sun is out today, so I'm using it at my advantage to find dents and circle them. Not enough time for filler today, I'll try for tomorrow on that.

salaamq

Quick question. Would the lightweight filler I'll be using for everything else hold up on the rear bumper, or do I need to buy some epoxy stuff? My main concern is cracking if the bumper ever lives up to its name and gets bumped.
Hoping to strip the hood and go for filler in the morning.
No reply from the guy with the green car, I'll be keeping the red one.

salaamq

Sorry about the triple post.
I guess we can say that I fail at body filler.
Not sure if I mixed too much or what happened, but I have alot of (way larger than pinholes) to fix. Maybe I put it on too thick?

salaamq

Update:
I'm out of town, be back soon to finish the car.

Eight09

iTrader: (5)

...How did that happen?

j13

iTrader: (2)

That is so much body filler...you'll have to use a body filler cheese grader or a grinder on that mess. Good luck man, you can do it

Edit: by looking at that filler, it really looks like you know how to put frosting on a cake