The parts finally all arrived and it was time for the bodywork. From earlier posts you could see the main impact area (rear left fender), and at the point of impact a straightening job and welding in a new infill panel were needed. Even before the car arrived in Ukraine, a genuine new infill panel had already been bought:
But once the car went in for the damage assessment, it became clear the impact was a bit worse and the wheel arch would also be needed. A new genuine arch and a small section of the trunk floor were ordered and arrived from the factory in Germany within a week.
I also had damage to: the rear bumper, left taillight, door and sill. I found a used door, while the sill, bumper and taillight had to be ordered new. I handed all the assembled parts over for straightening and welding in the infill panel.
Before installing the arch and infill panel, the body’s geometry and dimensions were checked, and the minor discrepancies were corrected according to Audi’s factory recommendations:
The infill panel and arch were fitted almost exactly as Audi recommends:
After the main body repair work, all that was left was a light straightening of the used door I’d bought — it had a small crease from shipping — and a minor straightening of the front right fender, which had been slightly bent due to a damaged front wheel.
As you can see, all stages of the body repair were done perfectly and by the book, exactly as Audi’s factory recommends. The next step was painting all of it and detailing the interior, and that’s essentially it.