Bloody Shipping damage

[bellis_GTR]

Thanks for all your help guys. I wanna try and do it my self to save money and get experience on body work. Im not sure who imported the car, it was already landed when I got it. It's my fault for rushing and picking the car up but I was excited to finally get the car. I know for next time not to rush in to it.

Can anybody tell me the basics of sanding the car down? The steps? Sorry I know very little about body work. Also the dent on the fenders, how would I get them out?

Rony, Adam Ill give you guys a shout when I need some help! Thanks a lot. Any other help is appreciated

[Snake556]

Sounds good mano! We'll get 'er all up and running and looking super pretty!

[raijin-xiii]

Alright, that's enough. This thread is extremely out of context.

Firstly, some background is obviously seriously needed.
This GTR, BNR32-215277, is a MY1992 that was purchased for ¥750,000JPY ($9500 in today's CDN) on March 08, 2007 from IBC Japan, Ltd. by a former Toronto resident, that now lives in Japan, for his father back in Toronto, along with another GTR, a gunmetal MY1989 BNR32-00XXXX (one for each of them). The car was shipped on May 15, 2007 with an ETA of July 09, 2007 through the vessel Sky Light (CTN) (YK) V.705W of the shipping line Zim... whatever that means. It was appraised on September 30, 2007, with comments that stated "car has numerous scratches and minor body damage, interior is worn" (if anyone would like proof, I can scan and post it). I am the second owner of the car in Canada.

Shipping damage, as the thread states, is what caused everything on all of the fenders and on the rear bumper, and the lack of clearcoat on the hood and roof are, as previously stated in here, sun damage. I received the car this way on May 28, 2008, and I drove it this way until I bought my Subaru on October 08, 2009 (I put the GTR up for sale on August 05, 2009 -- it sold on June 08, 2010 to the TS). This was a cheaper GTR due to the lack of perfection, and I knew that, but I bought it anyway since I was 18 and in college and couldn't afford anything more.

The rust behind the mud flap in the first picture is quite probable to have been caused by me, but there is still a possibility it started even before I got it. Yes, I drove the car in the winter, as it was my only car. Yes, it was parked outside every day of the year because I live with my parents and since the house is theirs and not mine, I do not use the garage. Despite that, the car received proper monthly or bi-monthly waxing, almost daily washing (including undercarriage + rust inhibitor), and weekly interior cleaning... because I work at a car wash and all of this is easily accessible to me. I took as much care of this car as any of you would with the resources I had, and I do not appreciate the comments I'm reading in this thread. If driving this car too much is lacking care then, yes, I'm very guilty of that. I drove this car 50,000km in about 15 months that I had it on the road.

My car, as I said earlier, was put up for sale in August 2009 and it sold about 10 months later in June 2010. That also means that the car sat for 10 months. I did wash it sometimes, but not as often as I did when I drove it since it was parked at my friend's house where there was room for it, as there was no room at my house. During this time, I had a number of people saying they wanted to buy the car, so I wasn't about to winterize it or anything to that extent, seeing as it might go at any day.

Brian started this thread asking what he should do with the damage. If he was complaining about the condition of the car, he would've opened with it, and maybe made this thread sometime sooner than the 5 months he's owned it, where obviously it's gotten in worse condition than when he got it due to time.

So I'm asking everyone to stay on track for the thread's subject, and back off of this "lack of care" crap.

[Jdc]

o snap!

[bellis_GTR]

"Can anybody tell me the basics of sanding the car down? The steps? Sorry I know very little about body work. Also the dent on the fenders, how would I get them out?"

Stay on topic

[wongger]

Alright, that's enough. This thread is extremely out of context.

So did you get the paint job done? If so the shop did the worst job I have seen in a long time.

[raijin-xiii]

So did you get the paint job done? If so the shop did the worst job I have seen in a long time.

I'm guessing you didn't read anything except that line. I got the car the way it is.

[Bossman]

"Can anybody tell me the basics of sanding the car down? The steps? Sorry I know very little about body work. Also the dent on the fenders, how would I get them out?"

Stay on topic

If you want to do a good job with body work I would suggest getting a book from the library or buy one from a store. There is so much information on this topic and methods it would be very difficult to explain with a few lines on a forum or even with a few pages on a web site. Don't get me wrong, I started working on cars with body work and this is one area where good craftsmanship is required.

[wongger]

I'm guessing you didn't read anything except that line. I got the car the way it is.

Guess I missed that, sorry.

[bellis_GTR]

If you want to do a good job with body work I would suggest getting a book from the library or buy one from a store. There is so much information on this topic and methods it would be very difficult to explain with a few lines on a forum or even with a few pages on a web site. Don't get me wrong, I started working on cars with body work and this is one area where good craftsmanship is required.

Thanks man. I didn't think of that. Im too use to the internet now, and finding all my info on here lol. Thanks for you help.

[cortexx]

I'm going to suggest that you get a quote from a bodyshop for doing this work . From personal experience ( i used to work in a body shop many years ago ) what you see here is the tip of the iceberg. In my experience when someone with no to limited experience with bodywork attempts to undertake a project liek this themselves , it is never finsihed .

The equipment you'll need to do this properly is actually pretty expensive , not to mention the materials and a location clean and dry enough to paint it.

You have to ask yourself a few questions :-

How long do you plan to keep the car ? if you intend to keep it for 5-10 years then go ahead , if not sell or part it out and buy another car. mechanical repairs are alot easier to master than bodywork.

If you plan to keep the car and you want it to look good , get it done professionally. Look at it this way - the time and effort it's going to take you to do a good job could be spent doing overtime ( or even working some part time work on top of your regular job), and that extra cash can be used to have a rpo do it for you.

An improperly prepared paint job will bite you in the ass in 3 years and you'll be back to square one.

I use a guy locally in brantford that does amazing work , isnt cheap but guarentees the paint for the life of the car while you own it. He does alot of custom work , bikes , rods , showcars. If your interested PM me and ill give you his details. He has done work for me !

If you are only going to track the car , sand it down , bondo it and roller paint it. If you use the right paint and a decent roller you will get a pretty good finish for the track ... white or flat black is great for this

Thanks man. I didn't think of that. Im too use to the internet now, and finding all my info on here lol. Thanks for you help.

[bellis_GTR]

Yeah I was contemplating getting it done by a pro, but 1. I wanted to gain experience 2. I dont have money .

I was thinking of getting flat black, but done professionally, like this http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/res...an-GT_R-03.jpg

Do you think if I send pictures to the guy in brantford he could give me an estimate or would he have to see the car to see how much damage there is?

Thanks for all your help!

[nelsonmxmarc]

Alternative is to do the sanding, body repair, filling, prime then get a shop to do a vinyl covering.. Vinyl is incredibly resilient to stone chips and damage. It's also a cost effective way of dealing with a 5000$ paint job. I think for about 1000$, a full vinyl wrap can be done in a wide variety of colours. I was planning to do my car this winter in a matte white.. I'm dealing with suppliers for vinyl covering so i'll get a good price, and figured i'd attempt it on my own..

[bellis_GTR]

Thanks Marc, I had that in mind but never really thought of doing in, and how strong the material would last. Hmm A nice Ztune Silver would be nice. Ill keep that in mind!

[Bossman]

Yeah I was contemplating getting it done by a pro, but 1. I wanted to gain experience 2. I dont have money .

I was thinking of getting flat black, but done professionally, like this http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/res...an-GT_R-03.jpg

Do you think if I send pictures to the guy in brantford he could give me an estimate or would he have to see the car to see how much damage there is?

Thanks for all your help!

It's hard to estimate repairs because some of the damages are hidden behind inside the fenders and what not. If your undercarriage, sub frame, rocker panels, inner fenders/strut mount are in good shape then your car would be a good DIY project. The reason is that these are the main structural part of the car and any repairs to these areas means $$$$$. I was 12 when I started reading books on cars and auto repairs, how much money do you think your dad had when he was around 12?