Bodywork and effects on paint

[bakerhillpins]

Looking at bunch of cars these days and in one case the paint work looks pretty good but there is some interior bodywork that I think would need done. So I am wondering if one can get away with bodywork without damaging the existing paint on a car?

Can you get away with blasting the roof without damaging the exterior paint or vinyl top?
Can you repair (cut out and replace) the outer wheel house without damaging the paint on the rear quarter? Wouldn't trying to weld the two back together result in damage?
I would think with proper prep you could blast the floors with out risking exterior paint.

[Silver R/T]

Got any pictures of outside of the car. If inside looks that rusty I bet outside doesn't look that good and probably has rust under paint.

[bakerhillpins]

Here is a pic of the quarter. The car was stored for several years after the body work.

[Silver R/T]

seems like they just slapped a nice paint job on it but never fixed inner rust problem. I'd use rust conversion coating on the inside panels ie Rust mort, por15, etc. and then epoxy on top of it and you can paint over it.

[PatrickPeeters]

What are you planning to do with it?

If you keep it and wanna have it untill your old and grey,
Now is the time to do it the right way (car seems not completely assembled).
It's going to slap you in your face in a couple of years, if you go for the quick fix.

[bakerhillpins]

What are you planning to do with it?

If you keep it and wanna have it untill your old and grey,
Now is the time to do it the right way (car seems not completely assembled).
It's going to slap you in your face in a couple of years, if you go for the quick fix.

I don't have any plans to sell the Charger I end up buying. It will be a keeper.  I agree that I would like it done correctly the first time. So in this particular case its precisely why I am asking about the risks of doing such work.

[The70RT]

What are you planning to do with it?

If you keep it and wanna have it untill your old and grey,
Now is the time to do it the right way (car seems not completely assembled).
It's going to slap you in your face in a couple of years, if you go for the quick fix.

I don't have any plans to sell the Charger I end up buying. It will be a keeper.  I agree that I would like it done correctly the first time. So in this particular case its precisely why I am asking about the risks of doing such work.

As nice as the paint looks I would just put something over the rust and as long as you don't get it wet much maybe it will hold out for a while or even longer. If not it will be hard to fix it without reworking the quarter. It would be hard to rework the inner wheel well with the quarter on. You could open a can of worms if you started messing with it. I guess it depends on how much time and money you want to spend on it though.

[ktneifert09]

The floor doesn't look that bad to me.  Use a ball peen hammer and a grinder and check to see if you have holes.  Even if you do, you can order a half panel and cut out what you need to replace.  I agree with the other poster, starting to mess with inner or especially outer wheelwells will definitely impact the fit of your quarter panel.  I'd also be REALLY sure there wasn't rust under that paint on the outside.  It's almost bad that the paintjob is that good because you can't see what you've got and it's tempting to not mess with the paint in order to look.  Depending on what you are trying to do, maybe you can get away with driving it for a while and then commit to a full restore at some future date.  Gives you time to save money too!  Good luck

[bakerhillpins]

I agree with the other poster, starting to mess with inner or especially outer wheelwells will definitely impact the fit of your quarter panel.

So what do you all think? Is it (the seam between the outer wheelhouse and the quarter) something that could be left alone or would you want it corrected? Its that way all the way around. It would seem that if left alone it would catch water and crap (my car would not be a garage queen) and end up causing problems in the short term with more rust.

I'd also be REALLY sure there wasn't rust under that paint on the outside.  It's almost bad that the paintjob is that good because you can't see what you've got and it's tempting to not mess with the paint in order to look.  Depending on what you are trying to do, maybe you can get away with driving it for a while and then commit to a full restore at some future date.  Gives you time to save money too!  Good luck

Can't tell if there is rust under unless you pull the paint. On the good side its been on the car for something like 7 yrs so if there was going to be any bubbling I would have expected it to rear its head by now. If I am going to do a full restore I want to do it now rather than after I put it together. Doing things twice is irritating.

[The70RT]

I agree with the other poster, starting to mess with inner or especially outer wheelwells will definitely impact the fit of your quarter panel.

So what do you all think? Is it (the seam between the outer wheelhouse and the quarter) something that could be left alone or would you want it corrected? Its that way all the way around. It would seem that if left alone it would catch water and crap (my car would not be a garage queen) and end up causing problems in the short term with more rust.

I'd also be REALLY sure there wasn't rust under that paint on the outside.  It's almost bad that the paintjob is that good because you can't see what you've got and it's tempting to not mess with the paint in order to look.  Depending on what you are trying to do, maybe you can get away with driving it for a while and then commit to a full restore at some future date.  Gives you time to save money too!  Good luck

Can't tell if there is rust under unless you pull the paint. On the good side its been on the car for something like 7 yrs so if there was going to be any bubbling I would have expected it to rear its head by now. If I am going to do a full restore I want to do it now rather than after I put it together. Doing things twice is irritating.

The only way to do a full wheel house is to remove the quarter, even if you cut and patch you will be painting the quarter again since welding will damage the paint. So it looks like you got a big decision to make.

[bakerhillpins]

Thanks everyone! Looks like I will just have to keep looking. 

[b5blue]

Maybe a product like "Rust Bullet" brushed and rolled on mostly? They recommend NOT removing all the rust as their stuff reacts with the rusty surface.

[The70RT]

Maybe a product like "Rust Bullet" brushed and rolled on mostly? They recommend NOT removing all the rust as their stuff reacts with the rusty surface.

Do that then maybe fill in any crevices with under coating to keep out any moisture.