[MARTINSR]

"Do it right or go home", that is most certainly not this pro! I can take short cuts with the best of them, as well as do main arena prestigious car show kinda work. My concern here is the old question "To what end". What are the odds of success? Be it me, or someone who has never touched a piece of sand paper in their life, often those odds are the same in the end.

I am all for doing anything you want to dive into this incredible hobby or industry. I have spent a ton of my own time writing articles and answering questions because I REALLY want to help those who are just dabbling in this work to do better, to demystify, to help in anyway to get some guy who has never done it to do it and be proud. I am all for that, in a big way. But I also have to do my warnings so as those same people don't bite off their tongue in the process.

This is just one of those warnings. That is all I will say on the subject.

Brian

[jsm1847]

Brian, I'm sure your short cuts wouldn't have you bondo ing over rust. I guess unless your customer wanted it. That's my point. You (and me for that matter) will do things the right way, or we usually won't do it. Just pointing out that he CAN do that if he wants, then paint and blend. It wasn't meant as an insult. I know you always give great advice, even to me ")

[MARTINSR]

Well my point is, I WILL take some short cuts, this wouldn't be one. Not because I wouldn't fill that rust with bondo, but because it wouldn't last so I would be wasting my time. I WILL take a short cut, if it doesn't look that great, that is my business, you know what I mean? If I want to look at a big brush touched chip in the door of my car instead of fixing it right that is up to me, it's my car. But I wouldn't take the time to fill the rust in the door of my car with bondo and paint it because it would be wasted time, it would fail way too soon for my liking. If it would last years, I may just think about it, but by the odds it wouldn't, it wouldn't last but a few months before it started failing. That is simply not a good enough end result for my hard work be it a short cut or not. I have done some awful funky stuff on my own cars, if nothing else as a test bed.

Heck, in my Rambler it had a floor on the drivers side that looked like a sieve. A large area under the clutch and brake pedals was pretty funky like a friggin window screen. I sand blasted it, epoxy primed it with a brush and covered it with fiberglass cloth and resin then epoxy primed over that. That was certainly hack compared to the right way, but I figured in this old car (not like it's a show car) AND as a little test bed (and I am keeping an eye on it) I figured what the heck, I wouldn't have to mask the inside for painting, I wouldn't have to worry about welding in there with all the upholstery and carpet. I did a heck of a short cut, but with the educated guesstimate that it would last a long time and I still believe it will.

So there are times when you can do a quickie, it CAN work out well. I just don't think the benefits will out weigh the work, time and money to do this Saab anywhere less than right. And the thing about this is, I am not even sure it's worth it to do it right! If the whole car is full of rust, drive it and enjoy it and forgetaboutit.

Brian

[MARTINSR]

Oops, I said some more didn't I.

Brian

[deadbodyman]

Originally Posted by kaw550

I wouldnt necessarly consider myself a "cheapass".
It is our fouth car and as I mentioned in the first post, it is a summer toy.
I have the tools (although my paint gun is from HF) and a little experience but i know my limitations. Fading in silver is more than likely beyond my expertise.

If i could get a paint match out if a can it would remove a lot of variables. Thats what i was questioning.

We still have room in the budget to have it repaired but i was hoping to have it done for $500 to $1000.

I was hoping you didnt take it that way ,it wasnt directed at you or anyone else for that matter but I did hit the quote button and was trying to address a few questions by you and a few other people without hitting the qoute button for every every ones question...plus address a bunch of people form the past at the same time were that way so they knew we're not here for those kinds ...
Rule # 2....the cost ..
..If your doing this because you love that dang car NEVER include ANY of the hours of labor it takes in the total cost of completion....and whatever you figure the parts and materials will be......triple it .you'll be pretty close (if you do your homework)..AND...have a secret hotrod accont your wife dosent know about .and when your she asks how much you spent on that part that came UPS deduct 2/3's and be prepared for the fallout....
If its her car and shes all in dont worry about it but women like that and ones that actually help are an urban legon as far as I know...
Secret Hotrod account ,thats the ticket...

[studeelover]

I think he should be encouraged to try the repair. If it isn't as good as most of you can do it, he can try again.

The value of a 2003 in my area........perfect to learn on.

[deadbodyman]

Originally Posted by kaw550

Here are a couple of pictures. There are a couple of small bubbles at 12:00 and a larger section at 3:00 (that extends under the gray plastic trim)

I posted before The pics showed up,sorry...
Kaw ,That aint so bad and your on the right track dont worry about blending the paint....pinstripe it and get some chroma base or some other good paint if you can afford it (better color match) If not,Omini PLUS (PPG) is pretty good with a match and its about 30-40.00 a quart for silver(waaaaay cheaper than chroma base)... maybe a pint of paint and some reducer .and a quart of clear maybe some omini Quick clear with a fast hardner at 50.00 (drys fast ,less trash) if you've painted before and have a gun you must have a compressor so your way ahead of a first timer that thinks everything is easy and we just rip people off ...
I use Oshho to remove rust its much better than rust mort and costs about 15-20.00 a quart and you wont even use an 1/8th of of it...

[deadbodyman]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

"Do it right or go home", that is most certainly not this pro! I can take short cuts with the best of them, as well as do main arena prestigious car show kinda work. My concern here is the old question "To what end". What are the odds of success? Be it me, or someone who has never touched a piece of sand paper in their life, often those odds are the same in the end.

I am all for doing anything you want to dive into this incredible hobby or industry. I have spent a ton of my own time writing articles and answering questions because I REALLY want to help those who are just dabbling in this work to do better, to demystify, to help in anyway to get some guy who has never done it to do it and be proud. I am all for that, in a big way. But I also have to do my warnings so as those same people don't bite off their tongue in the process.

This is just one of those warnings. That is all I will say on the subject.

Brian

same here,just not with rattle cans if you cant afford the proper equipment even entry level ,starting with the compressor then dont start I've been there and see that stuff on the road everyday ....BUT that IS how I started out ...I couldnt afford a compressor at 14 so I built one ...something else I knew nothing about ....Just trying to save a few guys all the heartache of seeing your hard work go to crao because they didnt know any better ...I still build my own compressors and never bought a new one in my 35yrs of doing this work...I made so many mistakes I actually know what I'm doingand can rebuild any compressor even a worm drive....Its not because I'm the original cheepass but I just gotta know how things work....It all comes at a cost ,being like that and theres no reason anybody else needs to go through all that with this computor at your finger tips ...wait till I show you my gun washer I'm building for twenty bucks ...even I'm impressed with how well it works and I'm not even done yet....You gotta have a compressor though ....

[Irelands child]

Your info shows that you are from Mass. It's a rust belt state!!! The Mass Tpk as well as Interstates 95. 295 and 495 turn WHITE after a single snowflake has fallen. The non-interstate highways and roads are worse - plus it is always there 24/7/365 embedded in the road materials. You have seen, as noted earlier, the tip of the iceberg with other places on that car starting to succumb to rot. If you really like the car, want to keep it for years, then it needs to have a full, including the undersides, checked for advanced rot. Then decide if it's worth a full rehab or, just go enjoy yourself with a fun car.

To respond to your original question - ANY rattle can silver will never be a good choice. The original has faded, the shiny new paint will stick out like that proverbial sore thumb and even worse the the rusty spots. Then to make it even worse, the European paints have been attacked by the ecology people in CE and the European Union - and is IMHO, a 'poor' paint to begin with.