Do-it-yourself car redecoration

In detail: do-it-yourself car redecoration from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

Timely body repair and, if necessary, painting the car can significantly extend the life of the vehicle. After all, the body is the most expensive element of the car, so the owner must periodically inspect not only the upper and side parts of the car, but also look under the bottom and under the hood.

The sooner the car owner discovers body problems and proceeds to solve them, the cheaper it costs him to repair. The most harmless chip reveals the metal, which becomes defenseless against corrosion. And now, after a year, rust destroys the integrity of the metal element, forming a through hole.

In modern cars, manufacturers use different materials in the manufacture of body parts. The most popular materials are:

Accordingly, when operating a car, each of them has certain problems that can be classified into several groups:

Car body repair requires not only a lot of tools, special devices, but also good skills in each type of work. A rare master bodyworker can boast of high qualifications in welding, straightening, filling and painting at the same time.

All body repairs can be divided into the following types:

Eliminating minor damage to the body can be repaired not only in the workshop, but also in your garage. Especially when the owner of the car is concerned about preventing corrosive processes.

The negative impact of scratches, chips and other minor damage to the protective paint layer can be leveled with your own hands. This will require materials such as:

Video (click to play).

sandpaper,
putty,
solvent 646,
primer and paint.

The motorist needs to be patient and not rush things. Fresh damage is enough to clean from dust and dirt, and then wipe with a cloth soaked in solvent. After the surface has dried, a layer of primer is applied using a thin brush or foam pad. And after the primer has completely dried, paint is applied. If the paint is well matched, then the painted over scratch or chip will not stand out.

The appearance of traces of corrosion requires preliminary mechanical treatment. Sandpaper is suitable for this, or even better, sandblasting. The fine nozzle of a sandblasting gun allows you to clean surfaces of any surface and shape. The cleaned metal is degreased with a solvent, and then the repair area is leveled with a putty. Grinding should be done after the material has completely hardened.

It is not always possible to level the surface in one layer. Therefore, the putty can be reapplied after sanding and degreasing. As soon as the condition of the repair site satisfies the master, it remains to perform priming and painting.

Most car manufacturers treat the underside of the car with special mastics. They are able to successfully fight corrosion for more than a dozen years (see how better to process the bottom). It is important that the integrity of the protective layer is not compromised.

However, when driving on country roads, meadows and forest roads, the underbody of the vehicle can be damaged. And if you do not protect the bare metal in a timely manner, then a year later, through holes will appear in the floor of the machine. It is not difficult to repair the protective layer of the bottom, but it is not very convenient. Be sure to use goggles or protective masks to protect your eyes from abrasive and paint material.

In addition to sandpaper, solvent and primer, it is necessary to additionally purchase bitumen mastic.

The damaged areas of the bottom are cleaned of dirt and rust. After that, residues of dust and greasy stains are removed with the help of a solvent. The metal is first primed, and after drying it is treated with mastic.

In every car body there are many places where it is not possible for a motorist to get there. Among them, the most vulnerable are:

the inner surfaces of the side members,
niches for doors and trunk lids,
thresholds.

To prevent the formation of foci of corrosion, you should do a preventive treatment with a protective agent such as "Movil". It is best to use a compressor and a gun with a special nozzle. The spray gun has an elongated “barrel” with a nozzle through which a protective material is sprayed inside the niche of the body element. In some cases, you can use traditional grease fittings and automotive syringes.

Before processing, thick mastic is diluted in a suitable solvent or heated in a water bath. When using protective components in cylinders, you only need to shake its contents and use the appropriate nozzle. Read more and watch a video about car anti-corrosion treatment.

New technologies are currently being used to deal with dents. They allow you to level the surface of the body element without resorting to filling and painting (see detailed material on removing dents without painting). Such restoration is possible only when the paint and varnish layer is intact. In the presence of chips and delamination in the dent, you will have to resort to traditional operations.

And so, first of all, it is necessary to try to reduce the depth and area of the concave section. For this purpose, a metered force must be applied on the inside of the body element using a suitable tool. This can be a pry bar, screwdriver, hammer handle, etc. To avoid scratching the body from the inside, use rubber tips. A piece of rubber is attached to the tool with electrical tape or a piece of string.

When it is possible to even out the concavity as much as possible, you should proceed to surface cleaning, filling, priming and painting.

When a car body needs complex repairs, you will inevitably have to turn to professionals. Indeed, in addition to special skills, overhaul of the body requires specific equipment and devices.

Often, welding is not enough to solve body problems. And if you can make a patch on a spar even with a home-made welding machine, then on thin body elements, work must be done with a semiautomatic device in an environment of carbon dioxide.

Correction of the configuration of some body parts is possible if there is a slipway in the garage. The use of a hammer, sledgehammer and crowbar will not allow you to accurately restore the geometry of the body, and subsequently this will cause increased wear of tires and suspension parts.

There are a number of factors to consider before choosing a body repair method. Motorists can fix minor damage to the body with their own hands. If overhaul of the body is required, as well as when the motorist puts forward high demands on the appearance of his beloved car, it is better to turn to trusted bodywork masters.

Damage to the body not only spoils the appearance of the "iron horse", each of them becomes a potential source of corrosion and, over time, reduces the strength of the body.
For this reason, body repairs are carried out immediately after damage has been identified. If you are planning to do car restoration yourself - this article is for you. In it we will look at the basics of body repair, vehicle diagnostics and damage classification.In a garage, it is impossible to carry out complex work, therefore, minor body repair and painting will be covered in more detail: the materials and tools used, in what sequence they are performed the work.

Vehicle damage inspection
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Damage to the car body is conventionally divided into emergency (non-operational) and operational. Accidents occur mainly as a result of road accidents. The dimensions of non-operational damage vary from a deep dent or break in the body metal to a superficial scratch. Most often, in an accident, the front part of the body is damaged, in second place is the rear part.

Damage caused by the use of the vehicle is caused by various factors. The most common cause is body metal corrosion. Changes in temperature, humidity, chemical compounds used to treat roads from ice, UV radiation, crushed stone and gravel, oil products and even industrial air pollution - all these factors cause damage to the paintwork, the development of oxidative processes and the appearance of rust. Moreover, corrosion often occurs in areas of the body where it is difficult to immediately detect: closed sinuses, pockets, welds, etc. As a result of corrosion, the metal oxidizes, rust appears on the surface, the strength of body parts decreases, the paint and varnish coating peels off.

Often, operational damage occurs as a result of loads on the body during operation of the car: from vibrations of the engine and chassis, unevenness of the road, the cargo being transported. Metal fatigue leads to deformations and cracks.

Deformation of the car body in the back

Another factor in the occurrence of damage is the driver's negligence. A blow on the curb when the doors are opened carelessly, or dents due to a careless exit from the garage leave marks on the paintwork.

There are three types of car body repair:

Complex body repair of a car, which is carried out with deep dents, metal breaks and body deformations. Such works include straightening, welding, restoration of geometry, straightening of large and medium-sized dents. To carry out these works, you need special equipment and relevant work experience with the performer. If you do not have the necessary skills, entrust such body work to the workshop masters.
Local or minor body repair consists of removing chips, scratches, shallow dents and corroded areas.
Painting and polishing - a set of works to restore the paintwork of a car. They are performed after the completion of most of the repair work.

Small body repairs and painting with your own hands are within the power of an ordinary car owner, you can do them yourself.

Before doing minor body repairs with your own hands, carefully inspect the body and assess its condition. Diagnostics is carried out in several stages.

The first stage is to assess the state of the paintwork. Examine the machine carefully for any chips or scratches on the surface, also pay attention to the uniformity of the color, the presence of streaks or stains. It is better to inspect a car not in a closed room, but in sunlight, since surface defects are clearly manifested under such lighting.

The second step is to check the geometry of the body. Large distortions are visible even to the naked eye. To detect small deformations in car services, special equipment is used that is inaccessible to an ordinary car enthusiast. But according to some signs, a violation of the body geometry is also detected in a garage. First measure or visually inspect the symmetrical clearances on each side of the body - they should be the same. Distortions are indicated by the trunk lids, bonnet and interior doors. The trunk and bonnet must open and close with the same force on each side, and the gaps between the body and the lids must be the same on the right and left.The same applies to the right and left interior doors.

The third stage is checking the welds and fasteners. These places are subject to increased stress during operation. Vibrations when driving a car will cause cracks and corrosion in the welded joints, so carefully inspect the paintwork in these areas.

If, upon inspection, dents, chips, traces of corrosion or small cracks are found, feel free to start car body repair with your own hands.

There is no specific list of consumables and tools during repairs, since each damage requires an individual approach. Let's consider the most common:

There are several methods for eliminating irregularities, the most popular is leveling with polymer resin and fiberglass.
Before starting work, remove the paintwork from the place of damage. To do this, use sandpaper with varying degrees of grain or "grinder" with special attachments.
After eliminating the defect, the repaired surface is painted in most cases. For painting, prepare a putty, primer, paint and varnish for the car, as well as tools for working with these materials: spatulas and a spray gun.
In the process of minor repairs, you will need a degreaser (white spirit, acetone, alcohol) and napkins or rags to apply it.

DIY scratch removal

Auto body repair and painting are often done together. Therefore, the performance of the work can be conditionally divided into the following stages:

Car preparation.
Removing unevenness or corrosion.
Painting and polishing.

Do-it-yourself body repair begins with cleaning the surface of the car. For this, the car is washed with a special agent and dried. This procedure will protect the work area from dust and allow you to accurately assess the extent and nature of damage.

To do the body repair yourself, the paintwork is removed from the damaged area to the metal. This can be done using sandpaper or a sander with special attachments. Before starting repair work, the surface is once again cleaned of dust and degreased.

Do-it-yourself car body repair is due to surface irregularities or corrosion. Body repair technology differs depending on the reasons for its implementation.

Fast repair of minor damage to the body allows you to eliminate shallow dents and chips. If the paintwork of the car is not damaged, special tools are used when eliminating small irregularities: clamps, slipways and others. These tools are multifunctional, for example, a do-it-yourself bodywork clamp will allow you to perform a number of works: pulling, straightening and straightening.

Troubleshooting vehicle body problems

To repair medium-sized dents or through holes, you will need glass cloth and polyurethane or epoxy. A patch of the required size is cut out of fiberglass, applied to the place of damage and resin is applied on top. The polymer solidifies quickly, so it is prepared in small batches and used immediately. The next patch is applied on top of each layer of resin. The procedure is repeated until the surface is leveled. After the polymer layer completely hides the defect, the surface is sanded with sandpaper and prepared for painting.

Advice! To eliminate damage to the body, an aluminum body repair mesh is also used. It is used in the same way as glass fabric: patches of the appropriate size are cut out and each layer is coated with a putty solution.

Do-it-yourself body repair, the reason for which was corrosion, includes the mandatory cleaning of rust and surface treatment with an anti-corrosion compound. The rust layer is removed with a wire brush, sandpaper, grinder or special chemicals.

Bodies made of aluminum have many advantages: they are corrosion resistant, lightweight and have a long service life. But repairing an aluminum body often creates problems for car enthusiasts. For repairs, the same tools are used as for steel parts, but the technology for working with this soft metal has its own characteristics. In addition, aluminum parts are only amenable to argon welding, so in some cases they are cheaper to replace than to repair.

Service station workers use new technologies for body repair, in which the paintwork is not damaged. And do-it-yourself bodywork is often accompanied by painting and polishing the damaged area. Painting, which completes minor car repairs, is usually done by the transition method or "spot". With this method of painting, the border between the old and new paintwork is blurred and not striking.

Do not think that minor body repairs and painting are not as important as complex bodywork. Judge for yourself, if the car owner does not really follow him, then over time, unrepaired small scratches and chips can lead to corrosion and subsequent destruction of the car body.

In the photo there is a car after minor body repair and painting

Most often, local (minor) body repairs must be performed in the following situations:

destruction of car paintwork;
places of the body damaged by corrosion;
various chips, scratches, dents on the case.

Even if you have never been involved in an accident, there may be minor damage to the body of your car. It is easiest to notice them during the day in sunny weather. They are formed from impacts of small stones, gravel on the body of the machine, as well as from the impact of sand when driving. Small body repairs and painting will help you cope with these minor damage to the body.

Small body repairs and painting at the service station can save time. You no longer need to leave the car in the workshop for several days. To eliminate minor damage to the body, 1-3 hours is enough. At the same time, the painting of the car will be perfect, and the place of repair is completely invisible. No part replacement required.
Local repair can cut the cost of car body restoration by half. Such savings are possible due to a decrease in material costs, because only the damaged area is subject to repair, and not the entire part or body. In addition, the salary of the master also allows you to save money, because he does not need to dismantle the part and put it in place.
With this type of repair, it is possible to preserve the existing paintwork of the car body as much as possible.
Since minor body repairs and painting do not require dismantling of body parts, all factory seals and adjustments are preserved, and therefore, the guarantees of dealerships.
This type of repair work can be applied to both metal body parts and plastic elements, for example, to bumper parts.
After minor repairs of the body and painting it, you can get a warranty from the master for these works.

To understand all the advantages of local repairs in comparison with traditional repairs, you can study the comparative table of cost estimates for both types of work:

Prices are indicated taking into account the work on the restoration of the paintwork, the selection of colors, as well as the price of the materials necessary for this.

Let's see what is included in the range of services for minor body repair and painting:

This category includes preventive measures that are appropriate in the absence of deep damage to the body that affects the paintwork.
Local coloring of dents and scratches, but not the whole part. These measures are applied if there are scratches and chips on the car body that reach the primer layer.
Aligning shallow dents without painting the body.This service can be applied to cars that have small dents without chips or cracks in the paintwork.

It should be added that minor body repair and painting is not an economical option for bodywork and not a compromise option. This is a complex of necessary restoration work that will help return the car body to its previous visual appeal. Next, we'll take a closer look at each of the minor body repair services.

Perhaps the most advanced local body repair technology is the removal of dents without painting. The essence of the method is that special lever tools, various mechanical devices, vacuum-glue devices are used to straighten the dent. Thus, the car body is leveled without dismantling the part and painting, typical for traditional straightening. This allows you to significantly reduce and reduce the cost of the entire cycle of work.

To remove minor damage to the body paintwork and rust, it is more advisable to apply local painting, rather than dismantle and repaint the part completely. To smooth the transition between the new coating on the repaired area and the existing body paint, an overlapping method is used. Thus, after the repair, a clear boundary is not visualized in the area of the repair site. By the way, the color on the repaired area is selected on the computer, so it exactly matches the original.

Minor body repairs and painting are unthinkable without the cosmetic procedures necessary to restore and protect the paintwork of the car. To restore the protective properties of the lacquer coating of a car, abrasive polishing and protective treatment are used. In the course of such events, not only the color and gloss of the paintwork is restored, but also its protective properties.

For minor body repair and painting in our country, the following prices apply:

front or rear fender: minor repairs and painting - 2500 rubles;
hood: local repair and painting - 9500 rubles;
side door: minor repairs and painting - 3500 rubles;
tailgate doors: minor repairs and painting - 3000 rubles;
trunk lid: local repair and painting - 2500 rubles.

By the way, minor body repairs are easy to do with your own hands, it is only important to purchase the necessary tools and materials.

Hello dear motorists! One fine sunny morning, having cast a glance at your car, you suddenly notice that the paintwork is not at all in the perfect condition it was some time ago.This is especially true for the front of the car. Chips on the bonnet and bumper, scratches on the front fenders or doors. And even small dents, which are especially clearly visible in bright daylight. These are natural defects that arise as a result of movement, independent of your driving skill. Small stones, crushed stone from passing cars, branches when going into the forest for a picnic - these are the causes of defects in the paintwork.Even if you are not very worried about the appearance of the car, its aesthetics, we still recommend that you repair chips, scratches, dents on the body with your own hands. Why on your own? The reason is simple. You will spend a little time and money on redecorating the body, but eliminate the root cause of the appearance and spread of rust in the future at the place of the chip or scratch. How to remove rust is described in detail in this article.Again, the economic side of the matter - if you contact the service, then most likely you will be offered to repair scratches and chips on the body over the entire part. For example, a completely hood or fender. So banknotes are unlikely to save enough.Having found a chip, dent or scratch on the body, we begin the repair with a thorough troubleshooting of the place. If the dent on the body does not clearly damage the paintwork, then do not touch it.If you see cracks from the epicenter of the dent, then we repair the dent on the body according to the same principle as repairing chips and scratches.Repair of dents on the car body, if they are small and without damage to the paintwork, is carried out with a special non-professional device. The principle of its operation is simple: the suction cup necessary for the area is glued with hot glue, after the glue has hardened, the stop from the kit is put on the suction cup and we pull the dent out.Troubleshooting. Determine the depth of damage to the paintwork. Here we pay attention to how deep the chip or scratch is. The material for repairs that you need depends on this.In case of damage to the top layer of varnish and paint, the repair of a chip and a scratch on the body will cost "little blood". A cosmetic pencil or polish of the appropriate color will be enough. Both car pencil and polish are designed to repair shallow chips and scratches on the body.By the way, when choosing paint colors for redecorating chips and scratches in the body, use the instructions for your car, the so-called. "Manual". However, do not forget that different manufacturers may use different paint markings. For accuracy of selection, they usually take a flap from the gas tank to the store.If the chip or scratch has a great depth or area, then you will need a primer and putty, in addition to paint. Although, here we are no longer talking about repairing a scratch or chip on the body, but about partial painting of a body part.

Painting... Before applying paint to the repair site, cover the surrounding surface of the body part with film or paper and masking tape. Apply paint from a spray can in accordance with the instructions. If you use a "pencil" to repair a scratch or chip, then apply paint in two or three layers. Do not immediately remove the resulting influx. Let the paint dry.

Image - Redecorating a car with your own hands

After repairing a chip or scratch in the body and complete drying of the paint, polish the body at the place of repair. Given that the damage area is small, the body can be polished without the use of equipment, i.e. manually.

If you have too large a scratch area on the car body, repairs will most likely need to be done on the entire body part. Here already one "pencil" is indispensable.

In the same way, the repair of plastic parts is carried out with the only difference that the means for plastic surfaces are used.

The car body (as a result of aging, road accidents, careless operation) sometimes requires repair. It can be done with the help of specialists, or without them. The latter option, however, is possible only in cases where the geometry is not violated, and the damage to the part is not so critical as to require its unambiguous replacement. But they are not uncommon.

Most often, car owners carry out body work with their own hands in relation to small scratches formed during the operation of the car (on tree branches, from hitting small stones, etc.).

Indeed, in most cases, such scratches do not even touch the paint, but simply damage the upper protective coating of the car - varnish, which is easier than ever to restore: buy a special set at a car shop, consisting of a putty marker filled with varnish and a napkin for preliminary degreasing superficiality, and use it in the right place.

By the way, this option is also possible if the scratches are still deep and damaged the paint. Then the purchased restoration kit must also contain a putty marker with paint in the color of the car. You will find instructions for working with the kit in its packaging. Well, in short: we degrease, apply paint, apply varnish.

The body of the car can get dents without damage to the paintwork in the event of minor accidents, as well as from blows by third-party objects due to inaccurate operation. Image - Redecorating a car with your own hands

Such defects can be corrected with the help of a special tool for restoring this kind of damage: it consists of various hooks and levers, which are designed to get into the internal cavities of the car and gently push out dents from there.

Another option for fixing large dents is the physics-based method. For it you need a hair dryer and a gas cylinder with a surface-cooling gas. The principle is as follows: the place of the dent is heated with a construction hairdryer, after which it is sharply cooled by gas from the cylinder, due to the sharp temperature drop, the metal begins to stretch sharply and restores its original shape.

If the corrosion was so aggressive that through holes were formed, then such places must be restored by soldering or welding with patches. In this case, the inner surface of a part with such a patch must also be processed and protected from corrosion, for more details in the article do-it-yourself car body welding.

Tip: it is best to seal small holes with a powerful soldering iron and tin solder, since this method overheats the metal less (as opposed to welding).

In addition, it is strongly discouraged to seal through holes with a filler applied to the fiberglass. This type of repair is popular, but it has a very serious drawback: most often the putty is not protected from the inside by anything, therefore, due to its hygroscopicity, it is saturated with moisture over time, which can ultimately lead to peeling of paint from the front side.

Finally, the repair of body parts damaged by corrosion is carried out according to the principles described in the previous paragraph.

Every car enthusiast wants his car to look perfect.By the appearance of the car, you can immediately understand how carefully the owner treats it. It's always nice if the car looks like it came off the assembly line.But no matter how you monitor the condition of your car, over time, small scratches, dents or other defects will appear on its body. Over time, these scratches can grow into big trouble, chipping polish or rust. To prevent this from happening, we will try to eliminate small troubles with our own hands. This will not only save you money at the service station, but also significantly increase the service life of the machine.One of the most prone to scratching areas is the front of the body: doors, fenders, bumper and hood. The reason is small stones flying out from under the wheels, unsuccessful parking, poor car wash.If you find a scratch or chip on the car, you must carefully inspect the place of damage. If the damage is not significant and has affected the top coat of paint, then minor body repairs can be carried out. For this we use a cosmetic pencil or polish. One of the best remedies for removing scratches is Fix it Pro, made in America, but the NEW TON restoration pencil will also work.The principle of operation of a pencil is simple, it contains a colorless varnish, when applied to a scratch, it fills all its cavities and hardens under the influence of sunlight. Before applying varnish, the surface should be treated with alcohol or solvent. After hardening, the place must be treated with polish and wiped with a rag. Also, minor scratches can be removed with polish, for this the place needs to be degreased, wiped dry, then apply polish on a rag and wipe. If necessary, the procedure is repeated.