April 2002 - The Lada gets some welcome attention in the bodywork department. Not a perfect job, but it'll keep the old girl looking respectable for another year. My rust-beating method is to power-wirebrush back to good metal, then apply rust killer, red oxide primer, then white primer (sanded with 1000 paper), and finally 2 coats of beautiful Lada White. The first picture shows the front end in red oxide primer. Most of the rust was in the seams, but I took the chance to sort out all the stone chips at the same time. The left front corner is already done in this photo, I did it first to check the finish and colour match.

The front end after painting. Not bad for a rattle-can job on a 16 year old car. White is a very forgiving colour.

The driver's side needed quite a lot of work. The sills were really rusty and the front door was rusting through due to blocked drainage channels. The other side will need doing next, although it's not quite as bad.

The end result. Not a bad morning's work, although the overspray on the inner arch will need painting over. I've relocated the number plate on the valance, to get better airflow in the radiator for summer.

Picture : John Tile: Unknown

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