Mikaila Conway
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I already have the VCG lol. Fronts been done too. Rear one is just a 6 hour job compared to 30 minuets like the front. I need some other gaskets and stuff possibly. Assuming I don’t break anything in the process.
Antenna isn’t terribly important. I’m not sure if it is the motor or the mast. I took it out to try and fix it. Motor is lying in my room some where. Mast is stuck up inside one of the rear pillars. Unfortunately cars seem picky about antenna placement.
Brakes are not so simple. IDK what their problem is, except they obviously hate me. Rotors, pads, calipers, brake hoses, master cylinder are all good, only the calipers are original. Brakes work great ATM, but are terrible when temperature falls below -5F. Half of the stuff I’ve replaced to fix the problem has had no effect. My brake pedal itself has pressure, as in it comes up all the way when you take your foot off it. Best way I can describe it is when it gets cold resistance in the petal drops. It will go pretty much to the floor before the car responds. If you pump it resistance will move up higher and car will brake better. 2 minuets later resistance will be back on the floor. It only happens when its really cold out which is the difficult part about it. Its like pressure isn’t maintained in the lines for some reason. I don’t loose brake fluid though =/. I did managed to stay out of the ditch this year. Fun MN/WI winters.
Windshield needs replacing, big crack in the first layer.
Good news is I might of found a door. I found a parts car at least. Its the right color. I’m just waiting on more pictures and prices. Rear Driver’s side door is the one I need if its OK, along with the antenna for starters. http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/pts/2307024242.html
Yes I realize that. We have ALL the tools except for the paint gun and proper canned paint BTW. I am trying to find a gun to borrow though. I didn’t know what the body hammers or slide hammer were called till now. I used the body hammers, which I referred to as an anvil before, to remove the dent when this door got hit years ago. There are only a couple, not a huge selection. Never used or seen a slide hammer used before, but I’m pretty sure I found one :lol:. Just need to find a paint gun laying around now. I will also try to find a door, but unless its the same exact color, in GOOD shape, and really cheap I don’t see me getting one. I hope to check out a few junkyards for other parts I need. However $150 is a lot more then I want to spend to fix this. I’m a college student and don’t have that kinda cash to throw for a non-vital door just because mine doesn’t look 100% unfortunately.
I was able to wash my car including the engine for the first time since the snow melted. So I am quiet happy with it ATM. I checked everything I KNOW of that needs attention this summer. Any work I do has to be in late May or mid June. Classes end then I am hopefully moving to an apartment within 3 weeks. I turn 21 during this time too. Best case scenario is I get everything fixed before I move. Otherwise, I will have to spend a weekend at home sometime during the summer, since is my father’s tools and garage I need to use and some pretty in depth work needs to be done on the car =(. More important then my door ATM, rubber exhaust hangers since the ones I put in 5 months ago are about to drop my newish muffler. The rear valve cover gasket is leaking, so I have oil getting into #6 cylinder spark plug well along with lots of other places is not suppose to be. That gasket is ofc buried under my exhaust manifold for starters. Brake system needs to be check thoroughly before winter. Equally important to the door ATM is the issue of the ducktape covering the hole where my antenna is suppose to be, the tiny bit of rust on front fender and bottom inside of driver’s door, and cracked windshield =(.
So if you guys think it is a waste of time, effort, and money to try and repair the door myself cheaply. Then please suggest how best to stop it from getting worse then it currently is. Then I will simply do my best to maintain it until I can afford to repair or replace it.
I do not feel my door is shot. It works fine. Until I take the filler off I won’t know how much of the door it covers. When i took it apart the other day though there were no obvious dents on the inside that appeared covered up. That filler/repair was done around 8 years ago. I’m not too fond of the idea of trying to find a new door. This color of my car does not seem too popular. I can look though. I don’t feel like it would be too cheap to replace the entire door. Also a junkyard door is likely to have problems of its own :unsure: .
I know rattle cans are not suggested. From my experiences with the canned stuff the color coat stays on really good. As I said though the clear coat is defiantly not good. From what I have been reading I will probably try a 2K spray can clear coat this time. Unless I can find a gun to borrow cans are all I have to work with. There is a air compressor I can use, just no guns. We have no welder which was the reason for the pop rivets. I thought I got the thing on there really tight. I could of gotten it welded though, it was just too far out of my way at the time :unsure: .
I won’t pay to take the car in. My car has a ton more minor damage/growing problems then just those two spots. Given its current value, mileage, and how much longer I intend to own it. It’s not worth it for me. Its not something I can easily afford either. I wouldn’t of put all the time into the last repair if having someone else do it was in my budget.
Yep you are all right it is filler lol :blush:. No idea if it covers any more area then what is cracked. The best I can assume is most of it is cracked. I won’t take it too a shop. This kind of damage is a lot different then my last one. Last one was rust and was on the rear fender by this door. I basically cut a chunk out of my car, bought a piece of galvanized metal. Shaped a new piece attached it to my car w/ pop rivets. Then the normal bondo, sanding, then aerosol spray painting(primer/color/clear). The door should be much easier with the body work then my last one. However the painting on the other hand…. I will probably just repaint the whole door. Unless anyone knows some great articles on blending. I read about it/watched some videos online before trying my first repair and did by best, which was fine for that area on my car. Door though is much more line of sight :unsure:. There is that crack up top, then lower down some other damage from when a car backed into me that I sealed with paint but never properly fixed. I need a different clear coat, but not too sure how that will effect the base coat color. I need to find something that lasts but comes in a spray can.
When I did my first repair to this car, the paint already on the fender was layered primer, color, primer, color, clear. If I end up painting the whole door do I just do the same thing? sand off clear coat and prime on top of color?
[IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b313/Mikaila31/P1190785.jpg[/IMG]
These are from my first attempt at body repair. Basically the area I cut out and when I was finished. This was actually done last summer, I’m terrible with time lol. There is one crack in it already :unsure:.
[IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b313/Mikaila31/P1170091.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b313/Mikaila31/P1170124.jpg[/IMG]
So if it was filler would you expect it to be rough or noticeable on the other side? I know 100% the lower half of that door is metal. I can’t see the upper half of the outer door panel very easy when I take it apart, but I will definitely be able to reach up there.
If it is filler how do I fix it? My 1st attempt at body work looked decent when I was first done. I know I didn’t do much of it properly… it looked good for the first two years. There is definitely a crack in the bondo. And the “I guess” cheap clear coat is coming off :unsure: .
No it does not have plastic body panels lol.
When I knock on it, it sounds like metal. This car has been in a accident before, long ago, hence the repainting. This exact same door was hit 4 years ago in a more recent accident. That put a big dent in it which we where able to work out most of the way… with a anvil. There is definitely damage still from that where you can tell the panel is metal about a foot below this crack. I can’t get a screw driver in it or under it. I probably could if I tried harder but I’m worried it will make the crack run. Edges are hard and they don’t chip easy. Its pretty cold out ATM though, might have better luck tomorrow when its warmer. I can tell you its magnetic, which probably means nothing…lol. However I can get it to flex a bit right at the corners of the T. Anyway this is bothering me a lot now, I swear its metal!:lol: I’m familiar with my doors, so I will pull off the interior door panel tomorrow and see if I can figure out what is going on on the other side. I’m still believing its metal and cracked all the way through… though you all have made me less confident then before. lol
Here is another picture with flash.
[IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b313/Mikaila31/P1190778.jpg[/IMG]
Unfortunately its not… We have owned this car since it drove out of the dealer. That door is original, its metal and its cracked… as I said everything must of been on my side… I’m not that strong. Temps were in the negatives when this happened. I could be wrong, but I’m almost certain its metal.