Magnet not sticking to rear quarter, need some advice

[kurider]

The guy I bought the car from tells me its in great shape and all the body work is done. I noticed the lower rear quarters starting to form a bubble so I took a magnet to it and sure enough it doesnt stick.Also, the outside wheel wells are rusted as well. Any ideas, on how to move forward with it. I was thinking maybe sand down the lower quarter and see whats going on. Any way to check the rest of the body? Thanks for the help.

[XLexusTech]

Try a tack

[tellyv]

strip it!!!!!

[JRouche]

Well, if you are into a road that lead to a longer road take a D/A grinder to it with some 80 grit paper and see where the plastic stops. It may be in the next county. You never know till you hit pay dirt, or in this case pay metal. The metal may be well beyond the surface of the paint.

Ok, sounds a lil silly but I have a few different magnets here. Some cheap ones and some rare earth magnets. I would stick a rare earth magnet (poor mans MRI) to the same area. Now if that baby doesnt grab you may have some DEEP issues. And take it all around the panel, get a feel for how the magnet (the good magnet) grabs, all the way to the edge of where you know there is good metal.

With a good strong magnet and a good feel and a sharpie pen you can actually lay out a map of where, and how severe the repair work is. Think topo map. And it takes a good feel, but with a really strong magnet it is easier than it sounds, a persons feel is very sensitive.

I take a small 3/8" rare earth magnet and hold it with three fingers, about a 1/16" in from my finger tips. Then run my three finger tips all along the panel. When you are in real metal, just paint, it will pull very strong, maybe out of your fingers.

But I usually just go for the D/A grinder in the end any way, I dont like slabs of plastic under my paint job. But the magnet trick does work well when you are looking at a car for considerations of buying. And they also make fancy gadgets that do the same thing. Im also not a fan of fancy gadgets :) Never seen a fancy gadget I couldnt make or simulate for less money.. JR

[MrQuick]

Excellent advice guys, what type of car is it? Every body style has a different trouble spots to concentrate on.

[kurider]

Thanks for all the replies. Its a 67 camaro.

[John510]

If you dont plan on redoing it then leave it alone. Poking at the bubbles will make it worse. If you plan on redoing it then strip the car and get it blasted. I thought my car was solid until it met the blaster. Came out looking like swiss cheese.

[kurider]

I plan on fixing the lower rear quarter where the bubble is. I wish I had the funds to get the whole thing blasted. How much does blasting generally run?

[Paint God]

Blasting a first generation camaro runs between 600-800 for exterior. This includes an epoxy sealer over the bare metal to protect it from any contamination.

If the filler is bubbling up than it would be a good idea to dig it out and stop it now. It is like cancer that never stops growning if you dont take care of it.

[cheapthrillz]

Be careful! If you plan on keeping the car and making the body "true" or "right", I would do a lot of measurements on the body to make sure the nothing is bad off and not worth replacing, because sometimes it's cheaper to cover it up and pick up a project that's already been started so you know what has been done.

Might run into this:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/03/MVC007F-1.jpg

magnet wouldn't stick on this... looking back, we should have gotten out from under it and started with another car that was in better shape.

[MrQuick]

Holy Ridge of Calipso (Lunar like)

67...hows your trunk. I bet your rear window shelf is gone too.

[kurider]

Im afraid of what I may find underneath it all

[kurider]

Is it worth it to by a soda blaster from eastwood or somewhere and blast it myself or just leave it to someone else. Only thing I dont want to do is create a huge mess in my garage that I will have to clean up.

[dhutton]

Is it worth it to by a soda blaster from eastwood or somewhere and blast it myself or just leave it to someone else. Only thing I dont want to do is create a huge mess in my garage that I will have to clean up.

You pretty much have to strip the car to a bare shell before you can blast it. Are you willing to do all that? And yes, you will make a mess in your garage...

Once you start down this path be prepared to spend a lot of money.

Just my two cents worth,

[Restomod]

Do your self a favor and look around inside the tunk. you may be able to see where the patch was stopped.

[kurider]

Thanks, I will do that

[Happyfunballs]

Back in my body shop days I would use this (http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/pc-10805-581-progauge-magnetic-paint-thickness-gauge.aspx) to get a quick idea of what was lurking behind some of the customers paint.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/03/10805-1.gif

[cheapthrillz]

Holy Ridge of Calipso (Lunar like)

67...hows your trunk. I bet your rear window shelf is gone too.

69, and yes, the whole rear shelf was gone along with 75% of the front shelf.


To the OP, definitely check the trunk area very well. Use your hands and eyes for this. Hands pick up alot that your eyes won't recognize.