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Wife's Minivan Repair Thread

As some of you know, I posted an earlier thread about my wife's 01 Town & Country minivan and the damage from a minor accident. I removed the interior trim yesterday morning with the intention of just looking to see what access was like and then putting it back together for another day. The first pic below is the damage, the second pic shows the small hole that I have to get a tool in there.
 

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So there I was, with everything apart and I just couldn't resist-- maybe I'll just give that dent a little push. Then I got out my professional body work tools (LOL) and banged out and sanded the dent (per Monmix's body work 101 thread):
 

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Then a quick trip to the auto parts store and I picked up some bondo (Monmix- that's all they had) and some rattle-can primer. I wish I had paid more attention to Monmix's feathering of the primer. Somehow that didn't sink in-- anyway I now have a ridge from primer to old paint that I guess I'll have to smooth out with extra-fine sandpaper and elbow grease.
 

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I was going to ask about those tools... if you already had those tools, you pretty much had an idea of the total damage, no? You apparently have experience in this field.
 






you just saved yourself an bunc of money, and you spent like what? mayber 10-15 bucks on bondo and primer? lol good job man.
 






I was going to ask about those tools... if you already had those tools, you pretty much had an idea of the total damage, no? You apparently have experience in this field.

I have no professional training or experience in auto work. Though I've done some pretty big mechanical projects with the help of this site and others, this is the first time I've ever done body work. I meant "professional body-work tools" as a joke-- I ground the sharp edges off of my pry-bars and I used the handle-end of my breaker-bar together with the hammer you see there to reach in the hole from the inside and bang out the dent. I even found a new use for the long craftsman screwdriver (other than as a prybar that is) :D At one point I even used a 1 1/8 combination wrench to reach in and bang out certain places (with the rounded combination end).

Thanks Blacksheep--- yeah I saved having to spend the $500 deductable, and I'll get to keep a couple hundred of the insurance payment to buy more tools! :cool:
 






Well, now, time to take out the family to eat with the bucks you saved :) Have a good time!
 






I am impressed.

That looks very good.
As soon as I saw the pic of the metal work I knew the end result was going to be decent.

Just one aboservation.
There appears to be a split seem just below the visible area. Meaning the area you see when the cover is on. Make sure you fill that seam with seam sealer or some sort of caulk or something. Rust will haunt your future.

Other than that job well done.
 






I am impressed.

That looks very good.
As soon as I saw the pic of the metal work I knew the end result was going to be decent.

Just following your directions-- so thank you! :thumbsup:

I'll get some sealer for that seam too.

The next challenge will be get the paint so it looks OK. I see that you repainted the whole panel on your X. I don't exactly have a paint booth and a paint guy I can trade-for-trade with, so I'm hoping I can get away with blending in just that area with some rattle can duplicolor-- paint and clear coat. I had to order the right color and when it gets in, I'll practice/test it on the old bumper cover to see how it matches up. Let me know if you think that's destined for failure. It just doesn't seem right to expect good results with rattle can auto paint.
 






well the problem is this.
Blending color fine.
Blending clear is difficult and requires sanding and buffing.
 






lol. if you're worried about matching it, you could always maake the bottom area another color, like:
pontiac_montana.jpg


even if you went to a slightly darker color, you wouldn't have to worry about it being different. just a thought.
 






Blacksheep-- I could just Herculine it and call it good. There's something to be said for a scratch-proof mall mobile, but I probably couldn't get the wife to go along with that.

Monmix-- that makes sense then why a pro will just redo the whole panel. It's probably easier to get the perfection the customer will expect that way. In my case my "customer" will cut me some slack if it isn't perfect. I'm going to try to blend-- I guess the technique would be to feather the color and clear into the old paint, then sand the interface with XXfine sandpaper followed by buffing compound to bring out the shine, make sense?

Any thoughts on the way to do this, what grit sandpaper to use, etc?
 






that techeneque sound spot on.

Let me ask our buffer tomorrow what grits he uses.
 






Monmix-- did you have a chance to ask him?
 






yeah, but I just got on tonight.

2000 grit dry sand. Sand in the direction of the blend.
 






Do you have an auto body supply where you live? They have better quality supplies than the Duplicolor paint in the regular auto parts supply stores. Another option which I saw some people do is to get some aluminum diamond plate material, cut it, and attact it to both rear corners. It gives it a custom appearance, and will cover up the split seam. Make sure that it's primed with some sort of Rustoleum before attaching the diamond plating.
 






yeah, but I just got on tonight.

2000 grit dry sand. Sand in the direction of the blend.

Thanks! I'm surprised it's dry sanding, but will do. The paint should come in tomorrow, so I may get to this over the weekend.

Also, does "in the direction of the blend" mean across the blend line or along it?


Brooklyn-- I'm going to try the Duplicolor rattle can stuff for now. As part of this I do want to learn how to do this kind of small repair, so if it looks too bad I may see if I can get a spray gun at a decent value and use more professional stuff.
 






Ummmm
In the direction of the blend
meaning
in the direction of the blend.
:shifty_ey

If you blend right to left then sand right to left
If you blend up and down, then sand up and down.
 






Ummmm
In the direction of the blend
meaning
in the direction of the blend.
:shifty_ey

If you blend right to left then sand right to left
If you blend up and down, then sand up and down.

Sorry-- I guess I'm able to imagine ambiguities hidden to others :confused:

Thanks for your help-- I understand now.
 



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