This 2005 Chevrolet Equinox was purchased by the customer from a salvage yard.

The car had been involved in an accident and the insurance company "totalled it", meaning that the cost of repairs was greater than the value of the vehicle, so they just wrote a check to the owner and took ownership of the car.

The insurance companies often try to sell the wrecked cars on consignment at a local salvage yard (don't call it a junk yard!), to see if there are any buyers in our area. If they can find a local buyer, the insurance company can save a lot of money on shipping the car downstate to the salvage auction.

I had to cut away at the bottom of the front door just to open the back door.

The owner of the car is going to replace the air bags and interior trim.

It's bad.

The top bit is a 1/8 inch drill bit I used to drill a pilot hole in the center of each spot weld.

The bit on the bottom is an "auger" bit that I used to cut through just the first layer of sheet metal at each spot weld. This tool is similar to a carpenter's hole saw, but smaller.

Then I discovered why they call this "high strength steel"...

The floor next to the inner rocker panel (red arrow) rolled down and then up in the accident, like an accordion.

The green arrow points to the lip on the edge of the floor pan (which extends up the center pillar a few inches), which had separated from the post and been pushed back more than an inch.

Note: To prevent the top of the jack from punching through the floor pan, I put a heavy steel place between the top of the jack and the underside of the floor. This spreads the force over a wider area. I used a piece of 1/4" steel that would fit into that area of the floor pan. The scrap of steel I grabbed was about 3" x 8".

He did purchase more than needed, but that's the way it goes when buying slices of cars.

I cut the sheet metal with a 4-inch angle grinder and an abrasive cutting wheel.

I used a thin flat cold chisel (which is extra hard and designed for cutting steel) to pry apart the layers of sheet metal.

Remember... I've already drilled out all the spot welds on this section of car body.

That's not bare metal behind the outer layer... the steel has been given a protective coating.

I cut that center post at a higher point than I really needed to. Where I cut this metal is not quite as curved as the area below, so there will be less work when I need to sand and finish the joint.

Since there is no finishing required on the inner layer, I only needed to cut out a replacement piece that was as big as the actual damaged area.

What you are seeing is the BACK side of the piece I just cut out.

Note that yellow stuff inside the center post at the bottom. That is sound-deadening foam installed when the car is built.

Wherever I will need to weld, I have ground down all the spot welds and smoothed out the edges of the sheet metal.

This is a corrosion-resistant primer that can be welded over.

Remember how I had drilled out all the spot welds on the "new" section of sheet metal? While welding, I filled each spot weld hole with weld metal.

Then I applied the anti-corrosion primer again.

Then I bolted the rear door hinges to the center post, to make sure everything will fit properly.

Note the orange "stick"-like thing across the back door opening. That is a hydraulic ram (like a jack) that I needed so I could push on the center post to maintain the proper position during welding.

Then I used a grinder to grind all the weld beads smooth and flush with the surface of the outer layer.

Note the upper joint area (which has a light blue color). By making this joint higher up than the actual damage, I had less finishing work to do, and I could make sure that the upper and lower hinge mounting holes were the proper distance apart, because they were both on the same piece of metal.

The new coat of Matrix paint and clear-coat is so shiny that it reflects everything, even when the car is a little dirty.