# few body work questions and help please



## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

hi there is a few things that i would like to do to my corsa c over the winter ready for the shows and i could do with you guys help advice and opinions please.

iv done a bit ov bodywork and spraying in the past and i do enjoy it.

so here is the car 

























iv already had a price to colour code all the plastics and on the boot ther is a bit of rust coming through under the wiper and il be having the vauxhall badge removed and the halls filled so il be having the wholeboot resprayed by my uncles friend whos got a body shop.
but i have been thinking of having the boot all smothed out and getting rid ov the lock and handle.
what is your thoughts on this?

now this is the hard bit for me any way as i intend doing this myself
i want to smooth the bump strips out of the bumpers and maybe smoothing the front splitter in.
iv read that fiberglass is the wrong thing to use hear as it dose not bond tidy to the plastic and over time it will sink.
and the correct way of doing it is by plastic welding and then using a bumper filler

could some one help me with the correct way of doing that please?
here are a few photos iv found on the net to help explain what i mean

boot and rear bumper smoothed 
[

















front with splitter and bump strips removed








front with splitter smoothed in









im not relay bothered bout smoothing the front numberplate reuses in like in the pic above.

what is your opinion on doing the above and any help or advice that youv got would be much appreciated 
thanks


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

To smooth your tailgate once the lock and handle are removed you will need to cut out the recess of the handle and weld in a flat piece of metal, but becareful when welding it as if you get to much heat into the meyal you will end up with alot of heat distortion causing you to fill more than required, once you have rubbed down thew body filler before you prime it make sure you apply a 1k etch primer over the bare metal this is an adhesion promoter for the primer.

smoothing front bumper depends how your fixing front spoiler on, but theres no reason why you cant smooth the edges in with p40 glass fibre you just have to make sure its keyed up enough for it to stick.

primimg plastics if your planning on flatting all your arches to get rid of the stippled finish flat them back as much as possible, because if you just use a 2k primer to fill over it thinking you can flat and it will be smooth eventually because of the ammount of primer you will have to apply and how they flex it will evenyually split and crack resulting in doing it over again, and dont forget to apply a plastic primer before any primimg this is an adhesion promoter for the primer

any other questions please just ask mate :thumb::thumb:


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

Thanks Andy grate help
i think i will let my uncles friend do all the work on the boot as i dunt have access to a welder. but do you think it will be beter to smooth all the boot or to leave the lock and handle in place?

regarding the front bumper and splitter the splitter is already bonded onto the bumper so i planed on just using fiberglass to smooth it where necessarie. i assume it is better to slowly build the layers of fiberglass up instead of putting one thick coat on?

with the bump strips do you think its best to fill them with plastic weld then a bumper filler or would the fiberglass be okay?


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

sean20 said:


> Thanks Andy grate help
> i think i will let my uncles friend do all the work on the boot as i dunt have access to a welder. but do you think it will be beter to smooth all the boot or to leave the lock and handle in place?
> 
> regarding the front bumper and splitter the splitter is already bonded onto the bumper so i planed on just using fiberglass to smooth it where necessarie. i assume it is better to slowly build the layers of fiberglass up instead of putting one thick coat on?
> ...


No probs mate.

With glass fibre you will need to use David's p40 glass fibre paste available from Halfords it should fill the gap between splitter and bumper in one go.

Take it you want the bump strips smooth as there plastic you could just flat them down with p400 until then when you have tailgate done give them bump strips so they can apply some 2k high build to them as this will have more build than aerosol cans.


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

thanks mate

with the p40 glass fibre will i need to take the bumper back to the plastic were il be applying that?

Yes i would like to smooth the bumpstrips out. the bump strips actially pop out and then there is a reuses that will need filling and iv been told that its best to plastic weld them to fill them instead of fiberglass as the fiber glass will crack as it dunt bond the best to plastic.

iv got a compressor and gun and a 1litre tin of 2k primer in the garage so i dunt mined giving that a go


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

The only way I'd smooth over the front bumper mouldings is.

Where mouldings fit in the actual recess I would cut it out and remove it this way glass fibre will not be as thick as you will not have a recess.

Next put tape over the outside of the holes your left with, turn bumper over and on the inside I would use resin and glass fibre sheets, scuff up the area with p80 clean and remove dust. Next cut a piece of glass fibre matting/sheet obviously larger than the slots your left with then mix up some resin brush this over slots you have cut out then lay glass fibre matting over it you could lays two sheet on if you want for more strength and brush some more resin over it leave to dry, if you think it's still not strong enough repeat process again.
Once glass fibre is full cured turn bumper back over you may need to sand tape off idea of the tape is to stop resin running through just blocks slot of while you glass fibre the inside, sand down the resin then all you need to do is apply body filler over it and rub down till your happy with it and it's right shape, prime as needed.

Regards to your question about body kits/smoothing parts opinions will vary as will not be to every ones taste the main thing is if it's what you want a d you like it then go for your making the car how you want it.

Any other help mate just ask only to glad to advise you :thumb:


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

thanks Andy grate advice that i never even thought about doing it that way.

My plan was to get a back bumper from my local scrap yard and have a go on that before i touch the front bumper as if i mess that up it wount matter 

im suer that i will have more questions soon Thank you again


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

No probs mate ask what ever you need to know :thumb:


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