Appearance, Paint & Body Work
User avatar
By civicnation93
#59616 Hey everyone, well as some of ya may remember I started a pretty heinous rust repair project a while back, well finally got some time to work on it so started making the templates today..well, i have a few questions out there for ya body repair experts..

Image

Image

Image

Image

These are all passenger side (i'm sure you noticed that already). The question i have is what would be the best approach to fixin up the inner fender rust? My original thoughts were to just cut all the rusted shit out and weld in some sheet metal pieces etc. But how ...detailed do these have to be ? Like.. must I worry about all the specific bends and what not? Especially in the very rear near the tail lights..

Image

Image

And before you ask teal, the rocker panels arent to shabby, not even close to yours hehe..im happy as hell that their in good(ish) condition.

Image

Here is a another fantastic spot in the trunk...already made the template for that and have some sheet metal standing by already for it..this repair shouldnt be to hard. Has anyone seen it in this spot? The opposite side is good there, no rust.

Image

Image

Driver Side

Image

Image

Making the templates.

Anyways, let me know what ya guys think would be a proper/effective away to repair those inner panels..pretty much only thing im waiting on :p Thanks in advance!
User avatar
By teal_dx
#59625 you have the right idea... the inner fenders don't have to look pretty, just do the job. I'd try to get them close as you can but no way you'll get them perfect. Grind & use a rust inhibitor on the areas that you can. When you're all done, just be sure that you fill the gap between the inner fender and exterior panel with automotive sealer. :thumb:

I have never seen rust in that part of the trunk before either :shock:

props to you for taking on this project. I think even I would have not attempted it lol. At least your rocker panels are good, that's a huge time saver.
Also instead of making your own templates, you can buy replacement panels for just the areas that rust out for pretty cheap. There's places in the US and canada that sell them, but I'm not sure if you can get them in Japan.

a trade off for all those JDM goodies you can get :hehe:
User avatar
By civicnation93
#59778 Hehe thanks for the reply teal :) I knew you'd at least be interested in this. Yeah its a pretty extensive project but something that I've already put sweat, blood and tears into ya know? This girl is gonna stay with me until the ends of damn time!! As for the replacement qp's (I already have them) ordered em off of a rustrepair.com or somethin like that...its just the fact of replacing the inner fenders that were waitin on...

Chose to go with the templates for a sure wire way to not fuck this up...i couldve def gone w/o making the outter fender templates but i was bored and killin time hehe..

I just really wish someone on here would have some kind of pics of the work they did to the inner fenders...Cause i know for a fact that other members have had to deal with this bullshit before >< Anywho, any more replies are greatly appreciated, me and my bro are a bit in-experienced in the body department so any suggestions/info etc. are highly valued :D Thanks again gents
By mage182
#59779 I've worked on similar rust on two hatches with friends. Not as bad as yours though. They just needed little patches to the inners. If you just keep at it and do the best you can you'll be fine. Get a bunch of metal from other Honda panels or a local metal shop and just go at it. Take your time and don't be afraid to mess up. Metalwork especially in areas like this is an art. But if you spend long enough on it they should come out close to perfect.

My question since working on those cars has always been, how do you keep them from rusting again? I've been told the rust occurs due to lack of ventilation inside the cabin of the car. I've also read that its due to inadequate undercoating in the rear wheel wells that over time wears off and allows water in. I periodically grind down the bondo on my hatch, apply a liberal coating of Por 15 to any new rust and then reapply bondo with a little paint over it. Hopefully someday someone will come up with a way to keep them from rusting after replacement. Then I'll do my hatch.

Best of luck though. You are braver than most. Post plenty of pics so we can see the progress.
User avatar
By civicnation93
#59780 Well mage...heh...I see your from NY :P Im originally from upstate NY and unfortunately this poor girl spent a few winters in the hands of my aunt...sooo...if you know upstate area...they LOVE dumping salt/dirt etc all over the roads...and it just adds up...smokes the fuck out of the honda body :( As for what you do, thats a fantastic idea lol...constantly keep it up to date and in good condition so you'll never have to worry bout this crap heh.

I'm in Central Texas now and the weather is amazing so i dont think i'll be doing much rust repair on her after this time its fixed up...good ideas tho, think we'll just take it a little at a time, got most of the metal shaping tools we need so far so...we'll get it soon i hope :D And definitely, i will keep the pics rollin!