Body work

[Spotted]

Got a question for the body and paint guys.
My car is old (94RS that I rescued from my girlfriend who neglected it) and has some body damage and some spots are starting to collect a little rust. I would also like to replace all the rubber seals on the body because they are warping and coming out of their normal places. I need a new hatch garnish and a few other minor body details. I don't have a lot of money to have it all done at once.
For the body work, can I get away with having some of the body work done and primered a spot at a time?
Like I have a dent just behind the driver's door ( I see this on a lot of MXs), Can I get it fixed and primered and then move on to another spot like a month or 2 down the road, get another piece fixed, move on to another spot, then when all the body work and seals have been replaced, move on to finally paint the whole car? Is that possible?

Sorry about the really long question..

Thanks

[Vanished]

You very well could do abit at a time, but you woudl be driving a very patchy car for awhile, which is probably ok. Some of the dents you might able to do yourself, rather than taking it to a body shop. Just go out and by a dent puller, and you could do a couple. If its a huge one, or the metal is very rippeled (not a smoth round dent) then you'll need to take it to a body shop (they'll most likely just relplace the fender/door/ or whichever peice has the huge mofo dent)

You won't need to primer the spot, just give it a spray with some protective paint so it doesn't rust. Then after you have it had it all de-dented, then prime the whole car, find the low spots and fix em, then take it to paint.

Good luck!

[ccreech]

That would do, or you could just save your money up and do it all at once. You might come out better if you fixed it all at once instead of in 5 or 6 trips to the body shop. Also, wait to install the trip pieces until after you have painted it. You should remove them when you paint and if you rip or mess up your new ones you will be pissed!

[PATDIESEL]

well I'm going to offer a third suggestion.

If you choose to try and fix some sopts on your own you will most likely pay the body shop later to go back over what you have done and redo it since I doubt you will be perfect.
I'd say take and have each dent fixed one ata a time. Fixing them all at once is cheaper, but you said you didn't have the money. Try taking it to a "good" body shop and just see what it would cost to have them fixed and primered. You might be suprised and can afford it.

I do agree with Chris though. You need to wait to install any new seals or trim untill you are ready to have the car painted. It will also save you some money on the paint job b/c they won't have to worry about painting the seals as much. Just make sure you let them replace the seals and tell them which ones you are getting so they don't paint one that you are leaving.

Get the rust fixed first. It will ruin the car in short order and the longer you wait the more expensive it will be to fix.