DIY bottom repair

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

It is the bottom in the car that wears out faster than other body elements, due to the fact that it is constantly exposed to aggressive influences from the environment. Various mechanical damages do not pass unnoticed. Using various methods of preventing the development of corrosion, you can try to protect the car body from it, but other types of damage will still manifest themselves someday. The main reason that influences the development of the poor condition of the body is poor-quality road surface. A car that is more than a dozen years old will sooner or later require do-it-yourself underbody repair. We will learn about all kinds of methods that can be carried out without welding.

Image - DIY bottom repair

Sooner or later, the bottom will have to be repaired.

It should be noted right away that all the operations that are carried out with the car body without using welding methods are called unprofessional by experts, in other words, "garage". This is due primarily to the fact that they do not represent the result of any innovative idea implemented in action, most often the properties of the materials or other substances used in the work serve as the basis for independent work.

Such repair of the underside of the car does not have any specific technology that would be checked by the corresponding qualified people or special organizations, it is not burdened by norms and standards. The idea of ​​self-repairing the body, most likely, came to experienced car owners who had ingenuity and were adapted to specific domestic conditions. It is worth noting that in no European country a self-respecting citizen will engage in such actions, moreover, such an idea will not even occur to him. Abroad, damaged body parts are not repaired, a damaged or old car is simply replaced with a new one. The methods of car repair described below allow for the most part to eliminate or hide the through damage to the upper parts of the body or the bottom of the car.

Video (click to play).

Starting the repair of the underbody of a car, you should take into account some requirements and basic rules by which almost all bodywork is carried out:

  • you must have a grinder with you, with its help it will be possible to cut out a rusted area or expand a damaged area;
  • the section of the body or bottom, which will be repaired by hand, is pre-cleaned of all unnecessary things, in particular, of old paint, lumps of dirt or rust;
  • the prepared place must be degreased and treated with anticorrosive;
  • the hole with the "patch" must be given a primary look, that is, at the end of the repair work, a surface with the original configuration should be formed. Painting putty for cars can be a great helper in this matter;
  • as a result, the repaired body must be prepared for painting.

Masters at car services most often thicken the paint and tell the owner of the car that a rotten bottom requires long painstaking work, the cost of many materials. It is from this that such a high price is formed. At the same time, they try to prevent the owner from being examined or show problem areas in low light. In this case, ordinary dirt can be mistaken for an oxidized rotten metal, which you just touch and it will crumble. With the help of such little tricks, the colors are thickened, which allows to inflate the price.

If the car owner wants to save money, he needs to do a preliminary inspection of the bottom on his own.For this you will need:

  • Lift, observation pit, overpass.
  • Good lighting: a torch or a carrier with a powerful lamp.
  • Hammer.

With the help of a hammer, it is necessary to tap all suspicious areas of the bottom and determine the degree of their damage, in order to approximately know the amount of required materials.

If all of the above is not at hand or there is simply not enough time for a thorough inspection, then a special mirror will come to the rescue for inspecting the underside of the car. It will allow you to assess in general terms the condition of the metal and get an approximate idea of ​​the scope of work. But the situation will become fully clear only after a thorough examination.

The welding process itself is simple, everyone can master it in the shortest possible time. Sometimes it takes longer to connect and set up equipment. The easiest way to over-weld the underside of a car is with a semi-automatic welding machine. But often such repairs are simply impossible without the involvement of gas welding. Best of all, when these two units are used, they complement each other and enhance the quality of underbody repairs.

As the saying goes: "If you want to do something well, do it yourself." Car underbody repair is no exception. To implement it, you will need the following equipment:

  • Semi-automatic welding machine.
  • Gas welding.
  • Conventional metal or electric scissors.
  • Bulgarian (angle grinder).
  • Hammers of various sizes and configurations.
  • Good lighting.

You also need to stock up on the following materials:

  • Oxygen and calcium carbide (for gas welding).
  • Carbon dioxide and copper wire (for semi-automatic welding machine).
  • Grinding and cutting wheels for metal grinders.
  • Metal for patches.

To repair the underside of a car with your own hands went without problems, you need to choose the metal of the optimal thickness. Its recommended thickness varies from 1 to 2 mm. But here the qualifications of the one who will carry out the welding work should be taken into account. When working with thinner metal, it is necessary to strictly observe the temperature requirements during welding. Which, in turn, depends on the debugging of the equipment and the quality of consumables.

Thicker metal is more difficult to process, but at the same time it is more difficult to damage and spoil it. Therefore, before purchasing consumables, you need to really assess your qualifications as a welder.

Now you can start preparatory work. There is nothing difficult in this, and it will not be difficult to do them with your own hands. You just need to clean all problem areas of the bottom from rust. This can be done in two ways.

With the help of a grinder. In this case, it is necessary to use both cutting and grinding wheels. During work, be sure to follow all safety rules. It is better to clean hard-to-reach places from rust by gas welding.

Read also:  DIY Hefest oven repair

After hitting rusty metal and corrosion, the edges of the surface to which the patches will be attached must be well cleaned. It is advisable to do this work with a grinder. Now you can cut out patches from metal and start welding. Cutting metal is best done with hand or electric metal shears. This will allow you to make your workpieces to the exact size and keep the edges straight. Cutting metal, especially thin metal, by welding requires high qualifications.