You name it I've got it when it comes to body work... any tips on where I should start?? any tips on what I should do? any tips on anything? Preferably wanna do most of the work myself.. so any tips are appreciated....

1994 Accord EX
185KM
Stock (what I was looking for)

 

Basically.. the previous owner didn't take good care of the interior/exterior too well... but amazingly it's in mechanically great condition... so I purchased the vehicle and now I gotta fix up all the dings and scratches... and rust.. and cracks.. and so on... I removed the side sill to peek for rust.. and I ended up poking a hole right through the corner of the door jam.. so it's not missing in case you were wondering..

 

lol, it feels like i'm lookin at my car cept i have an LXi don't think mine is as bad as yours cept for the rust on my rear panels, i have a CRATER like you have on yours. anyway i am no expert at body and paint all i can say is start by cleaning and washing your car, get yourself a buffer and start poliushing her up
good luck

 

Do not take any shortcuts on fixing the rust or they will appear again in a few months.

Rust was the biggest reasons I sold my 95 Accord. Fixed it all painted it pearl white, had new rust spots in 4 months.

I would cut the rust areas out completely and weld in new metal.

 

The car needs a lot of work, is it worth it? Are you trying to make it a showpiece?

 

Showpiece?? hmm.. I don't know about that.. car free of scratches and rust.. definitely... yeah I've been told that welding in new metal is the best possible cure for rust.. but I don't have a welder nor know how to weld.. and taking it to a body shop is definitely going to be waaay too expensive.. a guy on another forum with similar problems said it cost him about $2600 to redo everything... but I don't have the funds to do something like that.. so I was thinking of some "less expensive" ways of curing the cancer..


Modified by MrHazY at 9:42 PM 8/12/2007

 

Basically what I want to do with this car is to have it up and running daily street driving for at least 5 years.. without it looking like a rust bucket.. or falling apart on me.. I don't need a professional 20 layer paint process.. and am not going to be putting it into any shows or racing it at a racetrack.. I just want a comfortable smooth reliable ride with great handling..

my plan so far:

1. Fix rust and scratches
2. Tints
3. Cold air intake or Short ram intake.. ? what's the difference?
4. Lower about an inch (do up suspension)
5. Rims

Any mods that I should be aware of that can increase gas mileage?

Some things I found out yesterday at my mechanic... cuz CEL came on.. going to need to replace my distributor, brake pump.. he quoated me $200 for brake pump and $150 for distributor... said my exhaust will need to be replaced some time next year as there is a significant amount of rust on it as well.. and will start making noises.. and my belts will probably need to be replaced some time in the next 2 years as well..

 

In my experience doing bodywork and paint work for the past 5 years, if you don't do it right, it will come back in a matter of months.

 

Bondo is not your friend.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xynic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Bondo is not your friend.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why is that?

 

If you want it to be rust free, and you don't know how to weld auto sheetmetal, it's going to be expensive anyway you look at it. The reason this is so, is because not many people know how to do quality bodywork these days.

If you can get it all done cheap, like $2000(believe me, thats cheap), there is still a chance that the rust will come back. Not many shops garauntee rust repair.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MrHazY &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Basically what I want to do with this car is to have it up and running daily street driving for at least 5 years.. without it looking like a rust bucket.. or falling apart on me.. I don't need a professional 20 layer paint process.. and am not going to be putting it into any shows or racing it at a racetrack.. I just want a comfortable smooth reliable ride with great handling..

my plan so far:

1. Fix rust and scratches
2. Tints
3. Cold air intake or Short ram intake.. ? what's the difference?
4. Lower about an inch (do up suspension)
5. Rims

Any mods that I should be aware of that can increase gas mileage?

Some things I found out yesterday at my mechanic... cuz CEL came on.. going to need to replace my distributor, brake pump.. he quoated me $200 for brake pump and $150 for distributor... said my exhaust will need to be replaced some time next year as there is a significant amount of rust on it as well.. and will start making noises.. and my belts will probably need to be replaced some time in the next 2 years as well.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

rims will cost you around 900, i mean good rims

tint is cheap so you will be ok.


an intake cold or short, are cheap get an ebay one, to hell with aem

suspension is expensive, well you were kinda vague on what you want to do. i mean if you wanted to replace you struts and springs it could cost you as much as 1000 bucks to as little as 300. anyway the bottom line is if you want to save money do it yourself.

the distributor can be done by yourself just do your research

the exhasut can also be done by yourself, lot easier then the distributor

belt replacing are easy,

as for the rust like i said i have the same issue on my car and i was quoted 1200 for both sides. (was only quote so i could be charged more). still haven't decided on doing it yet.
anyway i bought my accord 3 years ago with 140k, it now has 180k, and i have done a lot of work to it (mostly done by myself) so if you wanna save cash do it yourself but do it because you like working on your car.

good luck