Rust removal

[TheSnigg]

Peace!

I am about to begin the body restoration process of my ex coupe. The rear quarter panels are rusted pretty bad. Bad enough that with enough pressure the fender lining lip will just break away. I have not removed the paint and I am holding my breath because I feel like it's going to be extensive. I am probably going to take it to a body shop to get it done because I am not a welder nor a body work person. I have made it by being a decent wrench but my skills stop there lol.

With that said where can I get some coupe panels to bring and have welded in?
Or should the body shop be able to source that for me?
Also what is a good price for just a rust removal and dent fixing?

I am going to autoflex the car once all the body work is done. I figure under $1000 is what I'm shooting for.

[AhYesCB7]

A body shop should be able to source some patch panels for you if the rust is that extensive. If it isnt too bad they should be able to make some too. Depends on how far in the rust has eaten the inner structure thats going to determine how expensive its going to be in the end.

What is autoflex?

[AccordWarrior]

Peace!

I am about to begin the body restoration process of my ex coupe. The rear quarter panels are rusted pretty bad. Bad enough that with enough pressure the fender lining lip will just break away. I have not removed the paint and I am holding my breath because I feel like it's going to be extensive. I am probably going to take it to a body shop to get it done because I am not a welder nor a body work person. I have made it by being a decent wrench but my skills stop there lol.

With that said where can I get some coupe panels to bring and have welded in?
Or should the body shop be able to source that for me?
Also what is a good price for just a rust removal and dent fixing?

I am going to autoflex the car once all the body work is done. I figure under $1000 is what I'm shooting for.

I paid $2,500 in labor back in 2005 to have my quarters replaced. If I remember back it was something like $35 / hr for labor.

They do not make coupe repair panels. However, members (oneoffaccord comes to mind) have modified the sedan panels to fit.

The inner panels are no longer available (they weren't even in 2005) and your body shop will need to fab something up. Chances are if you've got significant rust on the outer panels, you'll need work on the inner panels.

[deevergote]

Patches won't likely work. Rust often returns along the weld points. I've experienced this twice, both on the same panel. The best option is to fully replace the panels, and to do so before the rust spreads too far. What you can see is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Rust is probably spreading just as badly behind the panel.

Most replacement panels are also not of comparable quality to the OEM panels. The metal is thinner. If you can, find some OEM panels that were cut from a truly rust-free car. Hell, if you can get your hands on a rust-free CB7 that was in a front-end collision, you'll be in good shape (salvage the side you don't need, if you only need one, and someone will certainly pay good money for it!) OEM metal is by far the best way to go.

If any professional tells you there's any way other than welding in new panels, run. Many shops will see an old Honda like this and assume you want the cheapest, quickest fix possible for your "worthless" car.
Of course, as AccordWarrior mentioned, having it done properly is NOT cheap. His final result was fantastic, but the final cost of it probably came close to the resale value of the car itself at the time. Now, the average CB is worth even less.

[TheSnigg]

Patches won't likely work. Rust often returns along the weld points. I've experienced this twice, both on the same panel. The best option is to fully replace the panels, and to do so before the rust spreads too far. What you can see is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Rust is probably spreading just as badly behind the panel.

Most replacement panels are also not of comparable quality to the OEM panels. The metal is thinner. If you can, find some OEM panels that were cut from a truly rust-free car. Hell, if you can get your hands on a rust-free CB7 that was in a front-end collision, you'll be in good shape (salvage the side you don't need, if you only need one, and someone will certainly pay good money for it!) OEM metal is by far the best way to go.

If any professional tells you there's any way other than welding in new panels, run. Many shops will see an old Honda like this and assume you want the cheapest, quickest fix possible for your "worthless" car.
Of course, as AccordWarrior mentioned, having it done properly is NOT cheap. His final result was fantastic, but the final cost of it probably came close to the resale value of the car itself at the time. Now, the average CB is worth even less.

Cool. I have preliminary reached out to a few shops and they said to bring it in to get a quote.

So my best bet right now is to source a rust free CB7. I will prob start reaching out so some salvage yards in the south. I recently purchased a good rear caliper from NC. Mine was rusted so bad the piston was pitted and the cylinder wall was rusted as well. My CB7 is originally from PA (snow salt central).

Another option I was considering was cutting panels out @ the pick and pull. How would I do this best? Drill out spot welds or could I cut only a portion I will need with an electric saw?

[TheSnigg]

I paid $2,500 in labor back in 2005 to have my quarters replaced. If I remember back it was something like $35 / hr for labor.

They do not make coupe repair panels. However, members (oneoffaccord comes to mind) have modified the sedan panels to fit.

The inner panels are no longer available (they weren't even in 2005) and your body shop will need to fab something up. Chances are if you've got significant rust on the outer panels, you'll need work on the inner panels.

Yea man yours was super clean. Anything close to that and I will be happy. The 2500$ included fab for the inner panels as well? I would like to get under that if possible but it might not be possible. I will have to post updates on this process.

[TheSnigg]

A body shop should be able to source some patch panels for you if the rust is that extensive. If it isnt too bad they should be able to make some too. Depends on how far in the rust has eaten the inner structure thats going to determine how expensive its going to be in the end.

What is autoflex?

Autoflex is a peelable OEM quality paint system. Much better than DIP with a gloss top coat option it usually requires profession application, can be buffed and waxed, and lasts as long as you want.

If you google it you should be able to find some info and vids of the quality.

[AccordWarrior]

Cool. I have preliminary reached out to a few shops and they said to bring it in to get a quote.

So my best bet right now is to source a rust free CB7. I will prob start reaching out so some salvage yards in the south. I recently purchased a good rear caliper from NC. Mine was rusted so bad the piston was pitted and the cylinder wall was rusted as well. My CB7 is originally from PA (snow salt central).

Another option I was considering was cutting panels out @ the pick and pull. How would I do this best? Drill out spot welds or could I cut only a portion I will need with an electric saw?

If you get all the spot welds and do a solid cut across the C pillar you can have a seamless repair done. I had rust free OEM panels cut at the spot welds which made the repair easier for the body shop to a point. They had to manually weld everything on, but it still worked really well.

Yea man yours was super clean. Anything close to that and I will be happy. The 2500$ included fab for the inner panels as well? I would like to get under that if possible but it might not be possible. I will have to post updates on this process.

Yes, that price included everything except the panels themselves, the 92-93 trunk I swapped in with 92-93 red/clear tail lights and OEM replica spoiler. I was into it for about $3,000 total.

Don't forget that price was 12 years ago at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if that price is now closer to 3,000-3,200. However, I had a completely rust free car. That price included painting the back half of the car as well as the back doors, although the painter didn't blend my car, just painted the back doors. Honestly though, for what it was, I loved it.

Like Deev mentioned, body shops are going to be reluctant to take the project on due to the age of the car and the complexity of the repair. The shop actually didn't want to do the work for me and tried to turn me away. His initial quote was $2,800 and he reduced it by $300 because I completely stripped the car down for him.

I actually originally decided after that quote to not repair the car and buy something different, but some drama happened at home so I kept it. Once I had made the decision to sell it, even though I kept it and repaired it, the love was never quite the same.

Make sure you're dead set on doing the repairs before you pull the trigger and do the repairs and best of luck if you move forward.

[Fleetw00d]

This will give you an idea of what is involved: http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=180806

Your only option for full quarters and inner wheel housings these days is likely to be from a rust free shell.

[Raf99]

Ya, don't make the mistake I did. Went to a body shop, they said they would fix it right. Filled it with 80lbs of body fill and called it a day. Even the wheel wells are not level. So either tell them what you want or ask how they are going to do it. Ask for pictures of the progress or stop by the shop to check up.

[cb7 calling]

https://wilmington.craigslist.org/cto/6184325647.html
There is what you are looking for. Although I would recommend going to the south, buy a clean cb, skip all the body work, drive it and save money in the end. There are at least three steals within two hours of me most of the time. I'm from Ohio and have used hundreds of cans of wd fixing what are comparative rust buckets. Less rust on the body less rust everywhere.

[deevergote]

Unless you have significant emotional attachment to your current car, that's probably the best option. You could get an entire rust-free car in your driveway for less than a quality repair and repaint will likely cost. Not that I'm opposed to keeping one more CB7 alive... but you have to weigh your options. You could pay $3500 for a full repair (inflating AW's price a bit for good measure), or you could pay $3000 for a clean, rust-free CB7 in good running condition. Swap over your good parts, part out the rest (or keep things on hand for emergency replacements). Parting out the remaining bits will get you a good chunk of your money back.

Swap the interior of your car over to the new car, and it'll smell like your old car. Sounds silly... but the way a car smells is tied to your feelings of comfort in it. If it smells like home, it'll BE home.

[GTRON]

Just to be a troll, here's how the not-recommended route turned out for me.





Lot's of work, but no more rust. I cut out all of the rust, and remade everything with fiberglass cloth, and bondo. It just has white primer on it at the moment, till I do paint/plasti dip in the future. Still looks a heck of lot better than rust. Not the recommended route, it put me back $200 and a lot of time. Good for if you have more time than money.

[deevergote]

There's a very good chance that will rot out underneath your repair. Likely to the point where it cannot be salvaged. It's been tried many times. The result is always the same. There is no luck or skill involved. The outcome is inevitable.

[GTRON]

There's a very good chance that will rot out underneath your repair. Likely to the point where it cannot be salvaged. It's been tried many times. The result is always the same. There is no luck or skill involved. The outcome is inevitable.

I hope not! Worst case scenario, I go find a rust-free one.

I am going to make sure to inspect the repair area so If there is any rotting away underneath, I would catch it soon at least..