Minor body repair
 

Everybody was so awesome about telling me how to fix my soffits that I'm going back to the crowd for some advice on my car.

My car is a 95 GTI and I love it. I think I would like to keep it forever.

It has this rust spot.

http://cellar.org/2004/gtirust.jpg

http://cellar.org/2004/gtirust2.jpg

Is this something I should just take to a body shop or is there something I can do? Or should I just ignore it until there's actually a hole in the car that I can see through?

you gotta nip it in the bud, bud. nice license plate.

scrape away the bubbling paint, sand it down to clean metal, prime, paint, clear coat, and buff.

actually, as i look closer at it, if you want this to go away permanently, you'll have to pull that back window out. I can see where the water was leaking out under the weatherstripping and getting under the paint. Might want a trip to the body shop to make it look right again. Let's see the rest of her. I love gti's. Shelby had an 84, and a 91 GLI. best "cars" i've ever driven. pocket rockets, both. the jetta used to feel like it bent around corners, it handled so well. 16V, 5 speed, recaro seats, bbs wheels, black....looked like a beemer or a volvo. sniff..sniff, i miss it SO much...sniff sniff.

I know a couple good shops down here, if you don;t mind an hour ride from c-ville to c-ford

The drive is no problem, it's the walk home that's a killer.

But this sounds like it could be a "While-U-Wait" kind of thing?

No, it sounds like an " i'll lend you my demo for 2 or 3 days while they fix it. " kind of thing.

I wanted to be as much like Bruce as possible, so I took a PT cruiser Turbo this time. But instead of the bright blue, I took a Black platinum series. It's GTI esque, but lacks fahrvegnugen. I think I miss th rack -n- pinnion steering from the vdubs. Still, i surprised the shit out of a guy in a corvette the other day by sticking to his bumper ( mostly) when he was obviously tryin to shake me. He wouldnt go faster than 70 in a 35 zone, so i was able to keep up. I think he was toying with me a little, or just not that great a driver.


I'll print these pics out on monday and get the body shop to give me an estimate. The reason i asked to see the rest of the car was because i wanted to see if this the only blemish, and would it be worth spending money to make it dissappear, or would a driveway fix job suffice.

http://cellar.org/2004/gti.jpg

All black cars look awesome in low light. The paint job is lasting "OK"; there's your standard 9 years worth of door dings which are not visible here; there's a fender that was bent up by a valet parking guy and bent back into shape by hand.

Stealth modifications: a Koni suspension, and extra-sticky Dunlop SP-5000s.

http://cellar.org/2004/gti2.jpg

"Kick yo ass wit da EZ-Pass"

bout 90K miles and I put on another 5000 per year these days.

oooooooooooooo


i might want to come pick that one up instead of having you drive all the way down.....moohooohooohaaaa. and it might take 2 or 3 weeks to fix now.....MOOOOHOOOHHOOHHAAAAA!

And thanks man!

I've been Mr. Veedub all along, with an 85 GTI, then I had my ex's 88 Sirrocco for a while, then this one.

My second car was a beetle. Lemon yellow. That was in 1981. My wife leased a Cabrio back in 1998 and that was one solid car - I hated to get rid of it but we had to go the SUV route with crumbsnatchers on the way. Volkswagons are good cars.

oh, it IS a 5 speed isn't it?

:)

I don't believe VW ever made a GTI automatic and I know they didn't make any VR6s.

I can't understand how one can drive in automatic. Real Fahrvergnügen only comes with a nice Volkswagen Golf 1,9 Tdi 110 PS, 5 speed. And a highway in Germany (where you have no speed-limits)... Yeah baby!!!
(Unfortunately this superbe car in black metallic has been stolen 5 days after I bought it) :'(

Probably on a container ship on it's way to Russia or China as we speak ...

That just means more shifting, more work.;)

i got 2 estimates based on those pics. 1st one is $320.60, second is "around $300" just to beat the other guy....

the problem is that the glass is involved, and will have to be removed. They both recommend doing the work, as there is most likely already a hole in the window "well" ....the groove that the glass lays in. the molding will probably have to be replaced as well. These estimates are to repair the panel proffessionally, and if you do intend to keep it forever, i have to agree that you should fix it. If you think you might trade it or sell it, however, and it's not leaking water inside, i would not fix it at all. it's a small spot, but rust is a cancer, and it WILL grow.

you could just scrape away the surface rust, put some naval jelly on it, and paint over it, but that spot will come back. you won;t be able to get all of the rust out without removing that window, and the rust is probably only there BECAUSE of incorrectly seated glass, or a defective body joint. given the placement of that spot, i'd lean toward the former.


~~~~~~~i just spoke to the 1st guy again, while he was here dropping another car off~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

he said that if he DIDN'T pull the glass, and just fixed what he could reach, it might only be around $100, but the repair would only last for around 6 months.

plenty of food for thought.

Sux 2 b me

I need to wait a little before addressing it then... poor right now.

Maybe I'll fix it and then get them to re-fix it 6 months from now?