As in my previous guide
http://www.clubcalibra.com/index.php?topic=2257.0this is all about getting ready for winter.
In this case though its about preparing the outside of your calibra for the winter months, as nothing will kill the bodywork quicker than salted roads and bare metal.
Fortunately my Calibra's in pretty fine fettle, but even so you should regularly inspect the bodywork for potential problems.
After such an inspection i spotted this,
Actually i knew it was there but for the sake of artistic licence lets pretend that i didn't.
After a quick dig with my thumb nail the extent of the problem becomes known.
Now obviously the dreaded tin worm has taken a hold here and by the end of the winter months the body work could well be perforated which would result in a more involved and costly repair.
So, the idea is to remove the rust and repair the effected paintwork without all the rubbing down, filling and spraying which normally makes a repaired area 3 times the size by the time you've finished.
Please note that this sort of repair (unless your really good) is not suitable for large areas and visible panels like wing tops and bonnets etc, this guide is to help you protect your car's bodywork so that you can get it professionally restored at a later date, having said that, areas such as this where most of the damage is out of site will be fine as a perfect finish is not required.
You will need the following
For those with poor eyesight that would be a multitool (if you have one with a flexible shaft so much the better) with sander and wire brush attachments, a good quality filler primer (a good primer will contain an inhibitor or you can use a separate rust inhibitor if needed), obviously some paint to match your existing colour, and a fine paint brush, oh and some brake cleaner (and if its cold and your doing this outside, a hair dryer or hot air gun).
Carefully remove the paint and rust within the effected area and very slightly beyond, take your time and make sure you remove all the rusty metal (if you don't it will come back to haunt you) without damaging any of the surrounding bodywork.
Here is the effected area cleared of rust and ready for the wire
After working the repair with the wire brush attachment you will be left with bright shiney metal completely free of rust and contaminants.
Now to start building up the paint on the repair, spray some primer into the cap that it came with (works as well as anything else) and leave it for a minute so that the propelant evaporates, this will leave you with a thick yet still fluid paint, carefully apply the primer making sure you do not go over the edge of the repair.
Give it some time to dry and if needed, some help with a hair dryer or heat gun, not to close to the paintwork though or it will burn.
repeat the proccess until you have built up the repair so it is just below the level of the surrounding paintwork.
At this point if you need to, you can carefully sand any high spots to give a smooth finish if the repair is in a highly visible area, however bare in mind we are relying on the top coat to give the final finish so dont be to fussy.
Once your happy with the primer stage proceed with applying the top coat, as with the primer, spray some paint in the lid and once ready use the brush to slowly build the paint up in stages till its just proud of the original
paintwork.
Once your happy with the finish leave it for a few hours to let the paint cure slightly then gently rub the repaired area and the surrounding bodywork with Tcut, this will blend in and level the repaired area to the existing paintwork ( its a bit like french polishing only more manly
), again once your happy with the repair leave it to harden and then give it a good polish , job done.
Unfortunately as you can see it started to rain before i could finish the job but you can see the paint is starting to blend in with the original paintwork and the repair is pretty much there on the visible part of the wheel arch.
I hope you find this guide usefull and remember its only good for small areas and stone chips and its impossible to completely blend in metalic paint, but it will protect the paintwork and if done correctly will restore the look of, and protect your Calibra.
S
UPDATE 30/11/06
Finally got some reasonable weather so i finished the repair, you can still see the repair but you have to look pretty hard, this was a pretty large repair and as i said only a professional spray will restore the paintwork 100%.
