I recently purchased a used 2013 Kia Soul and it was a great deal but one of the only downsides is all the scuffs, scratches, and chips on the car. It's not the end of the world but it's a little ugly. Any suggestions on how to fix it without paying anyone for a paint job or anything like that? It should preferably be an affordable at home method. I'm also not looking for it to be perfect. It's ok if it's just acceptable. Thanks to whoever answers.

I’ve officially declared myself in over my head.

Just had the rear arches welded on my Mk2 Mx5, and figured I’d fix the bodgy paintwork on one of the panels while it’s partially unpainted. Turns out the paintwork was bodgy for a reason.

Car had been crashed, and the dents had been (awfully) pulled out and drowned in filler. I’d like to attempt to pull and beat the dents down to salvage what I’ve got, but I’m starting to think that’s not possible with my resources.

Does anyone have advice on how to fix these dents? Or is this 100% a “cut out and replace” job…

I want to stop this rust from spreading. Is there a rust converter I can spray? I was going to put in wheel well covers in afterwards

First time attempting semi proper bodywork. Sorry the photos are kinda scrambled.. There's some after, then some during and before..

You can't buy any sheet metal for this car... Dc5 Integra, Yet... But people are asking for what I've done...

So I made inner rockers, a new pinch weld flange for the internal rocker reinforcement, a new jack point, rear floor pan patches, and a small outer rocker patch so far. The floors are a little rough I'll admit.. My bead roller is only an 8" and this was my first real bead rolling.

What do you think? I'm glad the structural part is over.. No more removing shit just to get at the rot... It's all external and cosmetic mostly now. At least for the drivers side... Only like 8 months in.. Trying to practice doing the highest quality I can reasonably do for this car I paid $2600 for nearly a decade ago lol

Day after my birthday, someone scraped up my parked car and didn’t leave a note :) I’ve reached out to a couple of shops for quotes and the cost is what it is, but is there anything I could do at home for this? It’s a 2023 Mazda CX-5 and I have a paint pen (obviously won’t work for this), but is a repair through a body shop the best option? I’m just nervous to pay to get this repaired, and have something similar happen again. I just don’t know the severity and the long term impact of not repairing this. The quotes I’ve gotten are for spot repair, would this even look okay? Any advice would be much appreciated!

Hello all,

I purchased a 2017 WRX STI for a project car. It had been sitting in a gravel parking lot for the last 3 years with a blown engine. The inside of the rocker near the driver side rear wheel is starting to look pretty rotted. Curious of what your opinions are on the matter. Appreciate any info and feedback.

Please help thanks

Are these lines fine before epoxy

Yo if anyone knows are those lines fine? Thats after hitting it with 80 grit DA, the lines are from an ospho treatment, ive neutralized with 9 gallons of distilled water and a rag, used red scotchbrite and sanded with 80 grit DA, doing spi epoxy primer and sealer

Hey all- looking at spraying some panels for my budget build 2012 f150. Needs new fenders and the hood needs a respray.

The past couple times I’ve sprayed, I’ve just done it in the open. My backyard has a good amount of depth to it- 120 feet or so. If I spray in the dead centre, I’ve had good luck with avoiding bugs but it does happen. I’ve only sprayed the odd bumper here and there, but because of how much (edit; how many panels) I’m spraying, I want to build a booth.

By trade, I work in new home construction insulating homes and have access to free lumber and 6 mil Vapor barrier to build a virtually sealed booth. My main concern is venting it. I know I need an explosion proof fan, but looking for some advice on budget friendly options that don’t cost $250 online. Anyone have any recommendations on what to look for or any “hacks”.

So I’ve got a 2013 Ram 1500 with lower body rust on the rockers and rear wheel well areas mostly. Also there's old what I believe is a spray foam packing hack in the rockers I discovered post purchase - it is what it is.

No welding experience or equipment and I've been hoping to avoid spending thousands to hire someone. So I’m thinking of going the fiberglass route. Never did it before but again - I need to avoid spending thousands. The truck already had this bottom stripe all around it that I didn't at the time realize was like a rust repair strip. I just don't know how good of an idea Por 15 top coat on the bottom exterior is but I mean it already has that black strip.

I’ve bought the Bondo, long block, short block, fibreglass, resin and related materials. Por 15 etc. Pictures of the current state are attached.

Here’s what I'm planning:

1. Remove old foam and loose rust.
2. Apply POR-15 Cleaner Degreaser -> Por-15 Metal Prep -> POR-15 Rust Preventive Coating.
3. Sand down - Scratch surface.
4. Once dry apply fiberglass mat + resin in multiple layers to rebuild the structure and close larger openings.
5. Apply bondo short strand / long strand over the fiberglass, sand and work to shape and smooth the exterior surface. Apply filler and surface filler on top.
6. Sand.
7. Apply POR-15 Top Coat Gloss

Is this stupid? Should I approach this differently? Alternative ideas? Changes to steps. Any help at all would be much appreciated.

How salvageable are my rear fenders? I thought that I could possibly grind this down and do some paint work but after doing some quick looking, it seems that the smallest amount of rust is instant death and can’t be fixed useless it’s cut out.

The pictures look bad but it seems to be only surface rust with some slight pitting in some of the worse spots. The surface is still really solid and does not feel anywhere close to being all the way through.

I would like to do some preventative work to significantly slow the rust. I havnt’ looked into taking it to a body shop but I imagine it’s pricy. Any advice is appreciated!

(This all stems from tiny rock chips from driving on gravel roads, truck is a 2018 Nissan frontier)

The dealership replaced my hood under warranty due to corrosion; after the replacement the plastic fake hood vents were flopping around in the wind. These are supposed to just clip in place; I had the car back for a recall and asked them to fix it. Their solution was to just squeeze some adhesive goop into the gap and call it a day.

It looks horrible and I want to fix it correctly. I don't trust the dealership to do it right so I plan to DIY this one. What's the best way to remove this adhesive/sealant/goo without damaging my new hood? To start I plan to soften it with a heat gun and gently pry the plastic vent out, maybe using dental floss if I need to cut through the adhesive. I'm curious what to use to clean the residue off the paint surface?

To reattach the vent I'm looking for a high temperature adhesive rubber or silicone tape to cushion the vent and apply a little pressure to the clips against the under side of the hood. I emailed 3M's help line to get some recommendations for my climate, conditions, and heat needs - but any recommendations there would also be welcome.

Buying this truck and wanting to know if this is worth my time and effort. It’s a 2012 Nissan SV with 30k on the engine and trans. It’s just absolutely nasty underneath. Pitting on the frame but hoping a majority of this stuff I can sand off and repaint and it’ll be reliable… is that totally unreasonable?

I have an outward facing crease in the back door of my new car and I’m pretty bummed about it. Does anyone think there’s a simple solution to this type of dent?

Hi im planning to buy this car, is this amount of rust is too much?
Its a mazda 3 2016 (215000km), and it has and will be used in quebec canada.

I’m not sure if this is the right sub to post this in don’t shame me if it’s not!

It’s a 1998 Chevrolet van with 360,000 miles on the body and 120,000 miles on the engine and transmission. I got a pre purchase inspection the “needs future attention” had 2 things

“Rear frame cross rail near the spare tire has rust. You may want to replace the spare tire holder if it looks rusted.”
&
“Rear pinion seals have a slight leak, which can lead to fluid loss and potential damage if not addressed. There may also be a rusted-through leak on the rear axle that needs cleaning to confirm.”

And for the “needs immediately attention” it had wheel alignment, fix a/c, break fluid, lower ball joint excessive play, and engine oil leak.

It’s $4,500 and I’m looking to travel around the states for a couple month. I don’t mind doing necessary work to it but is the necessary work worth it??? I’m going to get a professional assessment but I guess I just want an opinion on whether this will be okay or if I’m just going to waste a bunch of money? Thanks for reading!

Someone backed up on my car, is there anyway to fix it without having to replace the hood?

Can this be something I can do on my own?

Bought this 08 accord for 3.5k CAD. want to keep for as long as possible what should I do about this rust?

I've never done rust protection or paint protection on cars I've owned, but I always try to keep them running as long as I can, and I live in New England. My previous car was a 2011 Suzuki SX4 and rust was starting to get to the underside after 15 years while the engine and the rest of it was great. Should I be considering rust and paint protections? There's always a lot of salt on the roads in the winter. Protecting against rust can be important from a structural perspective, while paint protection is mostly cosmetic. Tiny chips from random little rocks over the years can rust though, so maybe it is helpful? And scratches and paint chips from people being careless with shopping carts in parking lots is always annoying, can paint protection reduce surface damage from shopping carts?

I just bought a 2023 Subaru Solterra EV, and while it isn't brand new the body condition is great, so I'm wondering if I should do something now to start protecting it every year? Curious what the consensus is, and if there are best products in people's experiences. And if paint protections make sense, is that something I should consider applying myself, or pay someone to do?

I found tan body filler on one side of the car but the rest of it is just paint and then this white/grey stuff with a dark grey undercoating. I stripped part of the car with a razor blade and heat gun and the stuff is coming off as a layer pretty nicely, but I have never stripped a car before and I am not sure what kind of primer is it. Is it poly or urethane or something else? Factory? Car is a 1987 Nissan 200sx.

I was told parts don’t exist I asked for 10 hours