Author Topic: Subaru Autobody 101?  (Read 2029 times)

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Phr00t

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Subaru Autobody 101?
« on: March 08, 2016, 12:45:50 pm »
So I rolled my rally car at the last event, and I need to replace quarter panels, bumpers, that sort of stuff. I have no experience in any of that.

Are there any good resources on how to learn that stuff? I don't even have any idea where to start, how to remove panels or body work at all.

Offline LilDrunkenSmurf

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Re: Subaru Autobody 101?
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2016, 12:55:31 pm »
Most of the body panels are removeable... Bumpers, doors, hood/trunk and the front quarterpanels, the rear quarters will need to be hammered out, or cut + welded in. If you have any kind of frame damage, itshay won't line up properly without the help of a body shop.
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Offline spanky

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Re: Subaru Autobody 101?
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2016, 01:38:03 pm »
I have  body parts  .post some pics of the damage!

Offline RockThePylon

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Re: Subaru Autobody 101?
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2016, 07:17:34 pm »
front quarterpanels,

Those are called fenders. Go look at your car, you'll see how it's all held on. If you can change your oil, you can figure out how to change a fender.

Fixing non-removable bodywork is easy. For little stuff, tap at it with a hammer until it's flat-ish. For big stuff, climb inside the car and leg press/curb stomp until flat-ish.


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Phr00t

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Re: Subaru Autobody 101?
« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2016, 08:39:36 pm »
The damage to the rear quarterpanel is pretty severe, but I'll see if I can just kick it out. Probably not, will most likely need a replacement.


Offline toytech

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Re: Subaru Autobody 101?
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2016, 08:46:50 pm »
First you`d have to find rear quarters , then do a lot of cutting , then do a lot of measuring , then do more cutting , then more measuring , then a ton of welding , only to find nothing lines up because everything is bent . Rear quarters are hard enough to do without the crash damage , not a job for someone without body work experience . Ive done them before but tackled a lot of other panel replacement before moving onto quarters .

Phr00t

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Re: Subaru Autobody 101?
« Reply #6 on: March 08, 2016, 09:04:36 pm »
Good to know

Offline RockThePylon

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Re: Subaru Autobody 101?
« Reply #7 on: March 08, 2016, 11:01:50 pm »
The damage to the rear quarterpanel is pretty severe, but I'll see if I can just kick it out. Probably not, will most likely need a replacement.

It really comes down to, how picky is tech inspection?

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Offline Canuckrz

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Re: Subaru Autobody 101?
« Reply #8 on: March 09, 2016, 12:45:38 am »
I would also recommend against replacing the rear quarter if possible seeing as racecar and the amount of difficulty involved. If it was me the approach I would take would be to push it back into its rough shape with a rubber mallet, then from there smooth it out with an autobody hammer and dolly.

Shaping metal is definitely a case of having the right tool for the job, or more specifically the right shaped tool. A combo set like this should do you fairly well, and being in the rally game will almost certainly come in handy in the future.

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/powerfist-7-pc-autobody-shaping-tool-set/A-p2990149e

This technique is somewhat dependent on having access to both sides of the panel, I'm not sure exactly how bad the rear quarter is caved in from the picture nor the amount of access in the trunk area.

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Re: Subaru Autobody 101?
« Reply #9 on: March 10, 2016, 07:23:22 pm »
You can get patch panels for the rear quarters from Subaru as well as other manufacturers (and used ones from certain yards, possibly also spanky). I wouldn't bother trying to 'knock out' the rear quarters if the quicker route of putting in new metal is a viable option. You're painting it either way which is usually the expensive part of the job.

I've been told the cleanest way to remove the rear quarters is to drill out the spot welds rather than sawzalling it.

Step 1 is definitely getting behind it to get an idea of how bad things are. Drop the rear bumper, poke around inside the trunk and see what you can see.

Remember there is structure behind the exterior skin that includes the unibody; since you have a cage not repairing that structure probably won't ruin the crashworthiness of the vehicle but it could be much worse under the skin than first assumed. Get paint on anything you cut or drill so it won't rust; when you weld it back together try to use weld through primer and (near the very end) something like Eastwood internal frame coat or cavity wax so that the backside of the welds don't immediately rust through. Use seam sealer along the new spot welds as well.

Looks sorta like this inside, although hopefully without a blown out rear strut tower and a totally compromised rear wheelhouse:

Phr00t

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Re: Subaru Autobody 101?
« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2016, 07:53:41 pm »
Thanks for the tips guys. I'll post pics of the quarter panel soon to show how badly it's messed up and judge what steps are next.

I'm assuming you have to get to the spot welds from the inside of the car to drill them out, or do you have to cut anything else first?

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Re: Subaru Autobody 101?
« Reply #11 on: March 10, 2016, 09:38:51 pm »
I haven't done it myself, but my understanding is that you pull up the seam sealer goo in the inside of the rear wheelhouse which exposes the factory spot welds.