11-2 Chapter 11 Body
3 Vinyl trim - maintenance
1 Don’t clean vinyl trim with detergents, caustic soap or petroleum-
based cleaners. Plain soap and water works just fine, with a soft brush to
clean dirt that may be ingrained. Wash the vinyl as frequently as the rest of
the vehicle.
2 After cleaning, application of a high quality rubber and vinyl protectant
will help prevent oxidation and cracks. The protectant can also be applied
to weatherstripping, vacuum lines and rubber hoses, which often fail as a
result of chemical degradation, and to the tires.
4 Upholstery and carpets - maintenance
1 Every three months remove the carpets or mats and clean the interior
of the vehicle (more frequently if necessary). Vacuum the upholstery and
carpets to remove loose dirt and dust.
2 Leather upholstery requires special care. Stains should be removed
with warm water and avery mild soap solution. Use aclean, damp cloth to
remove the soap, then wipe again with a dry cloth. Never use alcohol, gas-
oline, nail polish remover or thinner to clean leather upholstery.
3 After cleaning, regularly treat feather upholstery with a leather wax.
Never use car wax on leather upholstery.
4 In areas where the interior of the vehicle is subject to bright sunlight,
cover leather seats with a sheet if the vehicle is to be left out for any length
of time.
5 Body repair - minor damage
See photo sequence
Repair of scratches
1 If the scratch is superficial and does not penetrate to the metal of the
body, repair is very simple. Lightly rub the scratched area with a fine rub-
bing compound to remove loose paint and built up wax. Rinse the area
with clean water.
2 Apply touch-up paint to the scratch, using a small brush. Continue to
apply thin layers of paint until the surface of the paint in the scratch is level
with the surrounding paint. Allow the new paint at leasttwo weeks to hard-
en, then blend it into the surrounding paint by rubbing with a very fine rub-
bing compound. Finally, apply a coat of wax to the scratch area.
3 If the scratch has penetrated the paint and exposed the metal of the
body, causingthe metal to rust, adifferent repairtechnique is required. Re-
move all loose rust from the bottom of the scratch with a pocket knife, then
apply rust inhibiting paint to prevent the formation of rust in the future. Us-
ing a rubber or nylon applicator, coat the scratched area with glaze-type
filler. If required, the filler can be mixed with thinner to provide a very thin
paste, which is ideal for filling narrow scratches. Before the glaze filler in
the scratch hardens, wrap a piece of smooth cotton cloth around the tip of
afinger. Diptheclothinthinnerandthenquicklywipeitalongthesurfaceof
the scratch. This will ensure that the surface of the filler is slightly hollow.
The scratch can now be painted over as described earlier in this section.
Repair of dents
4 When repairing dents, the first job is to pull the dent out until the af-
fected area is as close as possible to its original shape. There is no point in
trying to restore the original shape completely as the metal in the damaged
~~~~ area will have stretched on impact and cannot be restored to its original
contours. It is better to bring the level of the dent up to a point which is
about l/a-inch below the level of the surrounding metal. In cases where
the dent is very shallow, it is not worth trying to pull it out at all.
5 If the backside of the dent is accessible, it can be hammered out gent-
ly from behind using a soft-face hammer. While doing this, hold a block of
wood firmly against the opposite side of the metal to absorb the hammer
blows and prevent the metal from being stretched.
6 If the dent is in a section of the body which has double layers, or some
other factor makes it inaccessible from behind, adifferent technique is re-
quired. Drill several small holes through the metal inside the damaged
area, particularly in the deeper sections. Screw long, self tapping screws
into the holes just enough for them to get a good grip in the metal. Now the
dent can be pulled out by pulling on the protruding headsof the screws with
locking pliers.
7 Thenext stageofrepairistheremovalof paintfromthedamagedarea
and from an inch or so of the surrounding metal. This is easily done with a
wire brush or sanding disk in a drill motor, although it can be done just as
effectively by hand with sandpaper. To complete the preparation for filling,
score the surface of the bare metal with a screwdriver or-$e tang of a file or
drill small holes in the affected area. This will provide a good grip for the
filler material. To complete the repair, see the Section on filling and paint-
ing.
Repair of rust ho/es.or gashes
8 Remove all paint from the affected area and from an inch or so of the
surrounding metalusing asandingdiskorwire brush mounted in edrilf mo:
tor. If these are not available, a few sheets ofsandpaperwill do the job just
as effectively.
9 With the paint removed, you will be able to determine the severity of
the corrosion and decide whether to replace the whole panel, if possible,
or repair the affected area. New body panels are not as expensive as most
people think and it is often quicker to install a new panel than to repair
large areas of rust.
10 Remove all trim pieces from the affected area except those which wilt
act as a guide to the original shape of the damaged body, such as head-
light shells, etc. Using metal snips or a hacksaw blade, remove ail loose
metal and any other metal that is badly affected by rust Hammer the
edgesof the hole inward tocreateaslight depression forthefiller material.
i i Wire brush the affected area to remove the powdery rust from the sur-
face of the metal. If the back of the rusted area is accessible, treat it with
rust inhibiting paint.
12 Before filling is done, block the hole in some way. This can be done
with sheet metal riveted or screwed into place, or by stuffing the hole with
wire mesh.
13 Once the hole is blocked off, the affected area can be filled and
painted. See the following subsectron on filling and painting.
Fi@g and pain t!ng
14 Many types of body fillers are available, but generally speaking, body
repair kits which contain filler paste and a tube of resin hardener are best
for this type of repatr work. A wide, flexible plastic or nylon applicator will be
necessary for imparting a smooth and contoured finishto the surface of
the filler material. Mix-up a small amount of filler on a clean piece of wood
or cardboard (use the hardener sparingly). Follow the manufacturer’s in-
structions on the package, otherwise the filler will set incorrectly.
15 Using the applicator, apply the filler paste to the prepared area. Draw
the applicator across the surface of the filler to achieve the desired contour
and to level the filler surface. As soon as a contour thatapproximates the
original one IS achieved, stop working the paste. If you continue, the paste
will begin to stick to theapplicator. Continue to add thin layers of paste at
20-minute intervals until the level of the filler is just above the surroundin
metal.
16 Once the filler has hardened, the excess can be removed with a bodi
file. From then on, progressively finer grades of sandpaper should be
used, startmg with a 180-grit paper and finishing with 600-grit wet or dry
paper. Always wrap the sandpaper around a flat rubber or wooden block,
otherwise the surface of the filler will not be completely flat. During the
sanding of the filler surface, the wet-or-dry paper should be periodically
rinsed in water. This will ensure that a very smooth finish is produced in the
final stage.
17 At this point, the repair area should be surrounded by a ring of bare
metal, which m turn should be encircled by the finely feathered edge of
good paint. Rinse therepair area with clean water untifall of the dust pro-
duced by the sandmg operation
IS
gone.
18 Spray the entire area with a light coat of primer. This will reveal any
imperfections in the surface of the filler. Repair the imperfections with
fresh filler paste or glaze filler and once more smooth the surface with
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