(I got it) Fender Removal and Repair!

[daswulfkralle]

well, I guess this is the correct place to post this exciting project of mine.

 

to start, its a 1996 Cutlass Supreme SL, 3100, 4T60-E.

 

I attend the Rochester Institute of Technology, in Rochester, NY, and at the beginning of the year, this happened to me :

 

 

a little bit after that, I went to a salvage yard, and picked up a new mirror for $27 (a steal imo) and replaced that within 3 days. Now though, is time to do the real job, and get my fender and door looking like new.

 

 

Day 1:

 

my goal for day 1 was just to get the fender removed and well, thanks to rust and spot welds, it did take all afternoon.

 

pics!

 

just getting started

 

in the other thread, whomever it is with the twincharged cutlass said i didnt need to take off the hood, but since it's in my parents garage, I did anyway.

 

so annoying, bolts were everywhere, on the top, on the botton, had to open the door to get to one.... ugh

 

this bracket was a piece. it was spot welded together, and so, instead of removing a bunch more parts from the engine bay, i said screw it, and drilled out the welds.

 

finally, success! note all the rust, which ive had to combat many times before.....

 

now i can get to work hammering out this dent, and making the fender look all pretty again

 

now, i started with some simple hammering to get the large dent out, and this was the result

 

 

then of course, i found out that my dad has yet to get himself a ball peen hammer, so that was as far as i got.

 

Tomorrow is the fun day, I'll have more pics of hammering the fender, sanding and bondo, and hopefully, sanding to get a coat of primer on. We'll see you then!

[jmoore4294]

That's not an LQ1 dood!

 

Good progress though. How did the mirror come off? Someone hit it for you?

[daswulfkralle]

i didnt write lq1 >.> <.< i obv wrote LH0.... (wow, i was totally thinking about something else....)

 

and yes, somebody hit me during move-in week, so i have a sneaking suspicion that, since there was no note or anything, it was somebody with a big ole truck pulling a trailer, and didnt even notice that they hit me. which sucks, cause, i still have no actual idea who and what did it.

[jeremy]

i didnt write lq1 >.> <.< i obv wrote LH0....

 

to start, its a 1996 Cutlass Supreme SL, LQ1, 4T60-E.

 

 

Why not just put on a j/y fender instead of hammering that one?

[mediabandit]

i didnt write lq1 >.> <.< i obv wrote LH0.... (wow, i was totally thinking about something else....)

 

and yes, somebody hit me during move-in week, so i have a sneaking suspicion that, since there was no note or anything, it was somebody with a big ole truck pulling a trailer, and didnt even notice that they hit me. which sucks, cause, i still have no actual idea who and what did it.

 

well, I guess this is the correct place to post this exciting project of mine.

 

to start, its a 1996 Cutlass Supreme SL, LQ1, 4T60-E.

 

 

[daswulfkralle]

fixt. lol, apologies again. I am a tard.

 

I even settled to writing 3100, since, LH0 is wrong too. lol. different year range, Lh0 stopped being put in CS's in 93... sooo third time is a charm, and I am going to go with L82. final answer

[Venom]

Well I responded to your other thread there about the removal before I realized you started a new one after you figured it out LOL. Yes the fender is a PIA to remove, but I went with a replacement since its quicker and easier then trying to fix that one. As far as that bracket goes, you have to move aside some wiring and computer (in my case, 95 CS) to remove the bolts that hold that bracket onto the car, and the whole bracket comes off with the fender. But the way you did it is just fine also.

[Hairdo12]

How much bondo and glaze experience do you have? I don't understand why you just don't get a jy fender. It will cost just as much as the bondo, glaze, sandpaper and not to mention the time and aggrivation it would save. Unless you are an expereince body man, I doubt that fender will look good and you will be disapointed. Cough up the $35 for a fender and save yourself days of aggrivation. There are about four two door CS at M&M here in Buffalo and they only ask $29 for a fender.

[GP1138]

Cough up the $35 for a fender and save yourself days of aggrivation.

 

x2. I don't think that fender is going to look good again, and they're cheap and plentiful enough that an hour or so in a junkyard would be more beneficial than the labor you're going to have to do to that dented one.

[19Cutlass94]

get a junkyard fender. Even one from keystone is cheap and all you have to do is paint it

[daswulfkralle]

i'll just post this quote, from one of my other forums: "you can give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. But if you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for life." thats what this is about, its not about getting it done quickly and easily, its about the experience, and the pride of work.

[xtremerevolution]

i'll just post this quote, from one of my other forums: "you can give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. But if you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for life." thats what this is about, its not about getting it done quickly and easily, its about the experience, and the pride of work.

 

I'd rather have the pride of knowing I saved money and time so I could do something else to the car and fix other issues. I can name a page long list of maintenance items that should be done to the car that would be more worthwhile than the time spent fixing that fender. Without body work experience, the work you do won't be a whole lot to be proud of either.

 

We're teaching you how to fix your car efficiently. When a fender can be had for $35 and 1 hour of work, it doesn't make any sense for you to spend several hours of work to do a novice job of fixing your own.

 

The greatest thing you'll learn after you're done with the project your way is that you should have just bought a junkyard fender in the first place.

 

Keep in mind that the people giving you this advice are people who have been there and done that, and know a whole lot better what's worth it and what's not for these cars.

[Night Fury]

^^^WIN^^^ He SO speaks the truth!

[White93z34]

I'm someone who learned to fish a long time ago, so to speak.

 

replace a fender once, done.

 

repair a fender that should have been replaced, have the body work go south in a short time and replace the fender anyhow.

[Crazy K]

replace. repairs will always come back to haunt you.

[carkhz316]

Not if you do it right.

[90Cutlass3.1]

I SO have to do the same thing, only a deer ran into me instead of someone. My fender dent looks almost exactly the same as yours LOL...same place and everything.

I will prob go with a j/y fender just for the fact that it`s gonna cost me less to replace it than it would for all the materials and time spent. Having said that what you can do, should you so choose is to replace yours with a j/y fender. Keep your old one and go ahead and repair it for the experience of doing it. You will have your car back on the road in less time, plus you will have a spare fender (should you ever need it) Heaven forbid

[jimmyfloyd]

Look like you have a good start. I'm all for learning and trying things first. That's not to say that I don't agree that replacing is easier than repairing, and I have done that many times, but I also feel if you want to learn a little bit about something, give it a try. You just have to understand that it might not look as good, or last as long the first few times.

 

Another thing I learned is that color-matching parts from different cars is tough. took me 3 fenders to get one that was close enough to my car to work, and they were all the same paint code.

 

I am assuming that you are on break right now, otherwise I'd offer you my dollie set. it's a cheap one, but would work to help fix your fender.

 

Also, what are you studying there? I graduated 2 years ago from there and could give you some places to check out.

[xtremerevolution]

Not if you do it right.

 

What are the chances that you will do a bondo repair job on a fender right the first time?

[White93z34]

you can't get it right if you never attempt.

[carkhz316]

Not if you do it right.

 

What are the chances that you will do a bondo repair job on a fender right the first time?

What are the chances that its guaranteed to end in failure? But in agreement with you, YES, with no background or education about bodywork, it is a somewhat difficult, skillful thing to get the hang of, let alone master, even with a regular 'ol parking lot dent. But, like this guy said:

you can't get it right if you never attempt.

[xtremerevolution]

Not if you do it right.

 

What are the chances that you will do a bondo repair job on a fender right the first time?

What are the chances that its guaranteed to end in failure? But in agreement with you, YES, with no background or education about bodywork, it is a somewhat difficult, skillful thing to get the hang of, let alone master, even with a regular 'ol parking lot dent. But, like this guy said:

you can't get it right if you never attempt.

 

Yeah I agree you can't get it right if you don't attempt it.

 

I just figure people have better things to do and better ways to spend their money.

[White93z34]

Most people do. That's why they don't own 13+ year old w-cars. Us on the other hand....

[Hairdo12]

i'll just post this quote, from one of my other forums: "you can give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. But if you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for life." thats what this is about, its not about getting it done quickly and easily, its about the experience, and the pride of work.

 

This would be like learning to fish with your bare hands vs. using a fishing rod with some bait. If successful both produce a fish but one is a hell of alot easier than the other.

 

I'm still learning the art of body filler... but to start I used a perfectly flat piece of scrap sheet metal and dented that and then tried to make it look perfectly strait again. It had no curves at all. Once I mastered that I then tried to learn hole patching in a flat piece of sheet metal. I've only begun to try curves as these take practice and alot of block sanding to get right. I really hate sanding the piss out of something, only to find there is a high spot in the metal, so I have to tap it down and then apply more filler. Then sand and sand and sand. I will choose the old-new body panel any day of the week.

[rockfangd]

lol i have yet to fix my fender. It has been messed up for 5 years now and it hasnt fallen off yet lol. When i bought it they said there was ice buildup and they opened the door too hard and crunched the fender I couldnt even open the door past halfway when i bought it so this is a big improvement. Only when someone leans against it i want to punch them because it is already messed up and when it gets bumped i have to go at it with a prybar :mrgreen: