Ta dah . . ! My new foglights . . .

A place for us to show off our cars in all their glory. Please keep picture sizes to about 800x600 pixels.
User avatar
Paul296
Over 2k
Posts: 3483
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:39 pm
Location: Newark Nottinghamshire
My Cars: Citroen BX 17 TZD Hurricane
Citroen BX 17 TGD

Ta dah . . ! My new foglights . . .

Post by Paul296 »

. . . and the repair to my rusty rear door shut. :shock:

I replaced my non original (but not entirely inappropriate) foglights today, with some long awaited proper ones (courtesy of KevR) I think they look rather nice and I'll now be able to get a good nights sleep :D Unfortunately the splitter had been drilled to accept the old lights but I managed to get some trim . . . er trimmers from a motor factors that fit very snuggly and look the part (I think)

I also finished the lacquering of my repair to the rear door shut which I've been trying to get done before the bad weather gets here. There's no blistering or bleeding through after a couple of weeks so fingers crossed! Just need to wait a couple more weeks to polish the lacquer and it should look luvlee! Here's my car parked in my spacious and well equipped workshop . . .


Image

. . . my Mums' front lawn! (everyone in her street thinks I'm a car polishin' fool)

Image

Before

Image

After

Just have the other door shut to do now - which isn't nearly as bad
anaconda
BXpert
Posts: 185
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2011 7:50 pm
Location: Chateau du Wirral

Post by anaconda »

Nice job! The lights look like they belong.

The rear door frame bottoms are the only place with any rust on mine, an inch square or so of deepish rust. Im going to need to do the same job. How did you go about the repairs?
1991 BX TGD Saloon
1990 VW T25 Camper. Currently on sabbatical
User avatar
Matt H
1K Away
Posts: 1000
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:02 am
Location: Burton Latimer

Post by Matt H »

The fog lights look perfect! Really can't wait to fit mine 8)
User avatar
Paul296
Over 2k
Posts: 3483
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:39 pm
Location: Newark Nottinghamshire
My Cars: Citroen BX 17 TZD Hurricane
Citroen BX 17 TGD

Post by Paul296 »

'anaconda' said how do you do that etc. . . .

I've had a few 'old bangers' in my time so had a bit of a chance to practise body work/paint repairs and general 'tartin' up', but even if you haven't done any before as long as you're VERY methodical and work slowly I've found you can get pretty good results. But SLOWLY is the key i.e. not moving on to the next stage until the previous stage is as perfect as you can get it.

I jacked up the car, removed the rear wheel and cleaned out the rear wheel arch first (which was pretty clean) then treated it with 'Kurust', painted it with Hammerite and coated it in waxoyl ( belt and braces is good when it comes to rust!)

Then all the rust in the door shut was ground off with a dremel multitool and the hole bridged with car body mesh. The filling was done with Isopon two part car filler fibreglass stuff (they sell it in motor factors). I applied it in successive layers with lots of sanding and refilling until I had as perfect a finish as I could get.

Then I used a high build primer which revealed lots of imperfections in the finish so more filling and sanding until the primer coat I had was good enough to paint. The primer coat was sanded with 400,600 and 800 grit wet and dry (I've found that's as fine as you need to go with primer) then painted.

I got the paint from Halfords who mix it to the paintcode for your car. Because it's metallic I needed a paint coat and a lacquer coat. Do the painting on as warm and windless a day as possible if you havn't got a workshop (I havn't) and apply the paint in lots of very thin layers (I applied about 20 or 30 with 5 minutes or so between each coat) this avoids runs and other paint faults and don't point the aerosol at the area to be painted but paint 'across' it ( I use a bit of mdf to 'limber up' before I paint onto the car.

When you have a perfect paint coat it needs to dry for 24hrs then matted back with 1200 grit (the lacquer won't look really glossy if it's applied to shiny paint) The lacquer is applied in thin layers like the paint but a few more coats. That's it in a nutshell - but a bit easier said than done perhaps. If you screw up as long as you don't panic and start rushing everything can be sanded back and rescued! Here's a couple of pics . . .

Image

All the rust removed and sanded (it was then treated with 'Kurust')

Image

The filling finished (until you prime it and find it's not as good as you thought! - then MORE sanding) I painted the repair with motor oil - to protect it then left it for a couple of weeks to see if the rust returned - my experience is that if it's going to return it does so pretty quickly - usually overnight.

Image

The final primer coat which was sanded into the old paint with 800 grit (if you use a high build primer it will get rid of some imperfections - but don't rely on it) Also, when sanding the primer be very careful on leading edges as you'll quickly sand back to the metal and have to start again!

Image

The paint coat before it was matted back with 1200 grit. I repainted the whole of the rear wheel arch so that the new paint could be keyed into the old paint and it was pretty scratched anyway!

There's loads of good info on car body repairs on the internet (masking off and were you mask off is an art itself) Hope that's useful? Good luck - slowly and methodically is the key!
Last edited by Paul296 on Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
mds141
Over 2k
Posts: 5288
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 1:26 am
Location: Lancaster
x 9

Post by mds141 »

Brilliant job Paul looks really professional. =D>
Mark Smith

Is it just me or is everything shit?

1989 BX GTi 16 valve. Blanc Alpine. Completed the Citroen Classic Challenge Ecosse and 1337 miles without a hitch.
2000 XM VSX 2.1 td Auto. Rouge Magenta.
TGD saloon many years ago.

1990 Swift 'Corniche' 12/2 aka BXClub HQ.
Honda Firestorm. Gone, but not forgotten.
2015 Triumph Tiger Explorer XC.
anaconda
BXpert
Posts: 185
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2011 7:50 pm
Location: Chateau du Wirral

Post by anaconda »

Many thanks Paul. Its a real advantage to hear it 'from the horses mouth'.
1991 BX TGD Saloon
1990 VW T25 Camper. Currently on sabbatical
User avatar
toddao
BXpat
Posts: 2833
Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2007 5:01 pm
Location: The Hegau

Post by toddao »

That's a good job there Paul - you're quite right that patience is a very useful element when doing such things. I did quite a bit of bodywork this last year with varying degrees of success, normally because I was rushing.
Todd


this yellow writing is really hard to read
User avatar
Tim Leech
Over 2k
Posts: 15565
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:12 am
Location: Derbyshire
My Cars: Various
x 141

Post by Tim Leech »

SO much better, well done.
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
User avatar
Paul296
Over 2k
Posts: 3483
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:39 pm
Location: Newark Nottinghamshire
My Cars: Citroen BX 17 TZD Hurricane
Citroen BX 17 TGD

Post by Paul296 »

Thanks chaps. One thing I forgot to say; don't stick your head in the wheel arch if the car is only up on a jack. I used axle stands for that. However gooey you are about your car it's not that gooey about you! Probably teaching my Grandmother to suck eggs - but worth a mention.
User avatar
Tim Leech
Over 2k
Posts: 15565
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:12 am
Location: Derbyshire
My Cars: Various
x 141

Post by Tim Leech »

How did you manage with the lacquer? I need to look at the rear spats/arch mouldings on my TZI as they are rather battered, but thats Alpine White so no laquer required!
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
Kitch
Over 2k
Posts: 6417
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:36 pm
Location: Fareham, Hants
My Cars: Too many to list
x 88
Contact:

Post by Kitch »

Fog lamps look pretty swish, are they the Renault ones?

With that C-pillar, sorry in advance etc, but isn\'t filling over rust holes a bodge? Surely you want to at least spot weld some plating in there first? What\'s the filler supported with, mesh or fibreglass?
One third of a three-spoke BX columnist team for the Citroenian magazine.

CCC BX registrar: The national BX register - click to submit a car!

1983(A) 16TRS (Rouge Valleunga)
1990(H) 16Valve (Rouge Furio)
Mothman

Post by Mothman »

With such a rust hole there, would it fail an MOT?

Andy
Kitch
Over 2k
Posts: 6417
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:36 pm
Location: Fareham, Hants
My Cars: Too many to list
x 88
Contact:

Post by Kitch »

Its a grey area for MOT. Needs to be within 300mm of a major component mounting point (so rear axle front bush mounts) BUT.....I know sometimes if a panel is deemed non-structural and the rot can\'t easily spread they\'re sometimes ok. Initially I reckon it\'d fail though. Mines bubbling round there, so I\'ve got some grinding and welding to do before long. Don\'t think I\'ll resort to taking the whole panel off, but I should think the rot spreads behind the dogleg into the wheel arch too.
One third of a three-spoke BX columnist team for the Citroenian magazine.

CCC BX registrar: The national BX register - click to submit a car!

1983(A) 16TRS (Rouge Valleunga)
1990(H) 16Valve (Rouge Furio)
Mothman

Post by Mothman »

If its a fail with a hole like that and your only pugging it with filler then technically its still a fail? Might look good and all that but who is conning who? Dosnt seem right to me.

Andy
User avatar
Philip Chidlow
Over 2k
Posts: 11594
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:08 pm
Location: Chelmsford, Essex
x 25

Post by Philip Chidlow »

I had a similar issue (although no hole had appeared at the time), a while back and I was told it's not a structural part so I was OK. I had treated the area and painted it but nothing else.
• 1992 Citroen BX TZD Turbo Hurricane
• 2006 Xsara Picasso 1.6 16v
Post Reply