Hello, this is my first post on here.

I have never done anything as far as bodywork & painting go, but I figured that it might be a good idea to learn now that I messed up the passenger side on my 2005 Honda Accord.





I figured that I would just replace the front & rear bumper covers since that seems to be a fairly straightforward process from what I've read, but I'm not quite sure where to go from there as far as fixing front & rear quarter panels as well as painting the whole thing.

 

I personally wouldn't recommend a first timer doing this big of a job Lol. but hey good luck. your local paint shop will tell you everything you need.

I don't think changing the front bumper is necessary since it looks like it's not damaged that bad. but if you're buying aftermarket parts they're fairly cheap so that's up to you. You can buy another fender while you're at it, or fix it the choice is yours.

I'd start by taking off that tail light and rear bumper and start on the rear quarter panel first. get a grinder and grind off all the paint from the section that you want to pull out and apply filler to. Then get a stud welder and a stud puller. Weld studs where you want to pull and use the puller to pull the studs and straighten it out. A nice set of body work hammers would help also to hammer down any high spots.

After pulling it all out get some good body filler ( from your local paint shop not autozone ) Apply where needed then use 40 grit/80 grit to sand it down to where you want it. Remember you don't wait for bondo to get rock hard before you hand, you sand it while it's still somewhat soft and shapeable if that makes any sense haha.

Tape the section off, Lay down a couple coats with some good primer, (ask your local paint shop about this they will tell you everything you need and help you)

After the primer dries get a can of guide coat( It's like black spray paint ) spray the whole section where you primered with it, then get a sanding block with 220 grit and start to block sand the panel until all the black guide coat is gone and the surface is all gray and smooth. After doing that get 500 grit and wetsand the everything and make sure you get all the guide coat off. After that I'd sand the whole panel and any other panels you're painting with 800 grit and get all the gloss off of wherever you're going to paint then go over it with a scotch pad to make it all nice and smooth.

I would also pick up some sealer and spray it over the sections you worked on before applying the base coat. Mask the car off and wipe it down with glass cleaner. The cleaner the surface the better the results. get a decent paint gun at least. spray the sealer over the section you worked on. Wait a few mins and let that dry, after that spray your base, then clear. then you should be done.

In all honesty I wouldn't recommend you doing this as a first timer lol. I think everything I listed is enough to get you through it. If i missed any steps someone else can chime in and help me out. Go to your local paint shop they will give you a lot of tips and advice on what to get and what not to get! Cheers.

 

Thanks for the advice!

I figured that I'd replace both bumpers rather than just the rear bumper since there's a hole in the front bumper due to a chunk of salt from a salt truck hitting it.

As for the other stuff, I wasn't too sure what all I could do myself vs. what I should have a shop do for me, but your instructions, while very clear & helpful, made it pretty clear that I should have a shop do a lot of this for me! I'd feel comfortable replacing the bumpers for sure, and I think I could handle the painting & maybe replacing the fender as well (depends on cost of having someone fix it vs. just me/them replacing it).

 

TLDR

Body work and painting requires a lot of specialized tools. It's a large initial investment.

If you don't have a stud welder / puller, you can use a hammer and dolly.

 

The 1/4 isnt going to be fun, the way its buckled is telling me its streached the metal. Might be able to find a 1/4 panal replacement and cut and weld it back in place, but I will throw down some sanding ideas.

80 grit
Bondo
Sand with 36 (shape and cut fast)grit then 80 grit (for final smoothing)(Hard block)
Glaze
Sand with 180 grit (Hard block, Dura block or the like)
wax and grease remove area to be finished
blow and tac
Seal (allow correct flash time)
2k Surfacer paint
Guide coat (I like dry guide coat)
Sand 400 grit wet
guide coat again
sand 600 grit
Wax and grease remove again
blow and tack
seal again 10% reducer
Base coat with fog coat (metalics are fun to try and match)
blow an tack again
clear coat

Thats a simple write up, there are things missing like scuffing, taping off the car to keep over spray off. This isnt for the faint of heart and should take you about 4 days to a few weeks to compleat. Dont forget your reducers, there is slow, med., and fast depending on the temps. Also remember your flash times for the products, otherwise you could have problems with solivent pop and lifting.

 

I would not recommend doing this yourself if you have no experience. It might be easy to pull the parts off (fenders, bumpers, lights, etc.) but the quarter panel is going to need some good love. Most likely needs to be replaced with a new panel. i would personally have someone get a new quarter panel in and then if your confident enough in your painting skills, paint the other parts that got damaged to save you some money!

 

What??? GTFO

 

+1 on not recommending you do this yourself, but then again, this repair at full price will prob be around 3-4k. Good luck with what you end up deciding to do