bodge's bodge build, (french tailgate and rust repair guide)

[Phat VR6 3]

Hello.

Ive got a new car so I thought id post some pics up of what ive done to it. Some before and after pics...

The day I got it back from london. Its rust free and got no dents. Theres a few little dings NUFF stone chips the odd scratch but doesn't look bad.. Its a 1.8 driver at the moment and cost me £700

Few days later and I added the coilovers off my old VR, Mk4 headlights, Removed that red line on the bumper, painted the fogs, removed the rear boot spoiler, badges, wiper, fitted my debadge grill, smooth boot plinth and single wiper

Then off with the old pooey nail 4 stud drum brakes and on with the new VR brakes. Polly bushs everywhere I could bodge them, Braded lines, new brake pipes, green stuff pads ect. Gave it a lick of paint while i was there (have no idea why lol) Also all the VR seats streering wheel glove box ect has gone in it

Going to get a few more pic of it after a good clean polish and wax

Quick before and after shot

Next thing I want to do is smooth and paint the plastic bumpers as they look pants, Should look somthink like this I hope (did this on paint lol)

Thats it for now.. Will update when I do more to it

[goonersteve 0]

Nice work mate, certainly wasted no time there have ya!!

[Phat VR6 3]

LOL thank fuck somone replyed. Cheers for the comment.

[Jk* 0]

Good transfer!

[mike 6]

nice work

[Phat VR6 3]

[Phat VR6 3]

Just started to smooth/ french my boot. Thought id try and do a guide for anyone interested in doing it

1st Remove the badge and keep this bit as its the prefix size to make your plate

Draw round it and cut out of 1.5mm steel with jigsaw

File to make for a good fit, You want to make it sit as flush as possible without it sticking out

Grind away wiper hole till flush

Remove paint around badge hole to be welded

You need to protect the glass as welding splatter and grinder sparks melts into the surface, I used thin ply as cloth didn't do the job

Tack weld the plate in

Fully weld plate, Do a few spots welds at a time and cool with cloth, This stops the metal distorting with the heat

Grind welds off smooth so there just below the surface of the tailgate skin

P38 filler used on top (1/2 hour to dry)

Rub down 120 grit, Then coat of high build filler.primer, Finish with 600 grit, Use block to get a flat surface not your bare hand. Did a quick coat of paint to protect it and see if its level

Today

[Jonnyboy82 0]

Looking good dude, looks like you know what your doing.

[Phat VR6 3]

lol hope so but ive never smoothed anything before, Done abit of welding and panel repair in the past tho so it kind of helps. Ill find out if its any good once painted and in the sun light :S

Done abit more

Cardboard template, Turns out its just a 48mm strip of metal, No awkward shapes to work with

Tack welded to get square

Fully tack welded

Realy take your time hear, I worked 1" at a time cooling with wet rag but it still wasn't enough

Fully welded

Grind welds off flush

Have a perv lol, Note the distorted metal, This means more filler later on :-( , Note really ideal

First layer of filler, Best to work in thin layers and build it up, quick rub down between to find where more needs adding

More filler on low spots

Rub down and even more filler

coat of high build primer to see if its flat and shaped properly, Light coat of black shows up low spots when you rub it down

not quite right yet as you can see, Look at the line that travels across the tail gate, Getting this strate is quite hard and takes abit of time

Quick coat of black to see what it looks like shape wise, Still loads of imperfections but doesn't look to bad

[Jonnyboy82 0]

For someone thats never done this before im impressed mate and your definately brave for attempting it in the first place.

Cant wait to see some more pics.

Keep up the good work.

[Phat VR6 3]

Cheers dude. I'm nearly there now. If i'm honest it has got abit scary at times and i questioned if i should have started it in the first place :-d

I'm not in any rush as im kind of liking the red tail gate for a rat rod kind of look lol

Next few days and the tail gate should be on and i can give the car a good clean

[orangecruz 0]

keep us posted looking good

[Bobtrude 0]

This got me inspired:). I want to try.

[Mackenzie 6]

very nice work, it's getting there.

[Phat VR6 3]

right, rubbed it back down again

Now more happy with the shape wipe over with these, You should do this before every coat of paint

Let dry and then another coat of high build

1 Hour for that to dry then rub down with 600

Note have ive left the line to do last

Not quite happy there so i added another layer (i blame it all on the welding lol)

Finally happy with it, Flat the line with thin strip as to not make the flats uneven

Now i pushed the seals down and im going to flick them back up with the knife after its fully dry

Clean all the shizzle out

Masked up for Grey primer

Two coats of Grey primer, 15 minutes between each coat, Leave to dry for 24 hours

First light coat of black

Two coats after, Leave 15 minutes flash off time between coats

Leave 24 hours and flat down with 1200 grit to take gloss away from surface

Two coats of lacquer, 15 minutes between coats

DONE lol :-d

[Phat VR6 3]

Thanks guys, hears some photos of it on the car

Tried to show in different lights rather than hide the work

Mates A3

Slammed lol

Its LOUD

[Bobtrude 0]

Nice, I like it, but is it shiny/ glossy?

[Bobtrude 0]

Nice, I like it, but is it shiny/ glossy?

[Bobtrude 0]

Nice, I like it, but is it shiny/ glossy?

[Phat VR6 3]

:-( Nope it isn't tbf, I wasn't inspecting it to be perfect been out of spray cans, 80% of the time its covered it dirt anyway lol, After 2 weeks when its dryed im going to cut it, polish it and wax it and it should look better but def not factory standard

When I can afford it im going to buy compressor and do the red one, Probably doing somthing a little more unique with it, With a proper spray gun i should be able to get a thicker more glossy finish, The spray cans didn't seem to put in on thick enough, Failing that get a body shop to put a proper coat on or wait until i can afford a full respray

Im thinking about doing the bumper next with spray cans? What u think, or should i wait till i can get a proper coat of paint??

[Bobtrude 0]

I think the bumper will be to big for a spray can. . . . . but maybe you can do the groundwork and get it finished by a pro

[MattBVR6 0]

i've done various panels with spray cans and to be honest with decent prep work and plenty of time and effort with the flatting, cutting and polishing, you can get quite a decent finish. obviously not as good as a propper job but good enough to not be noticeably shite!!

I do have a massive compressor and all types of guns, but unless you have a booth / oven, you still have to rely on the trusty polisher to finish things off. you really can pollish a turd ;-)

Just dont skimp on the clear coat / laquer, you will never get a decent shine without a good coat of it.

[jason2875 0]

prefered how it was at first lol only messing mate looks quite good put a lot of effort into that,maybe something i will do in the future

[Phat VR6 3]

lol thought id lost this tread. cheers mate.

Made a 2nd one now, Its deeper and ive chopped as much weight as i can out of it. and got some hella all reds

Changed quite a bit tbf

stripped out carbon bonnet ect. still a bit of a nail but it will get there

hidden brake pipes, bias valve in cab battery in boot

[golfrabbit33 0]

looking great Bodge, definately a good point you made to cover your rear glass properly when the grinder comes out, my rear glass has hundreds of tiny cuts in it when it got smoothed/frenched.

i thought it looked good with the mk4 lights and thin grill, i think im just getting old