How to: Body work, Painting, and Color sanding

[CamaroJeff™]

Re: How to: Body work, Painting, and Color sanding

guide coat and a sanding block can do wonders. i use the 3m brand dry guide coat but any flat black spray paint will work too. hold the can about 10 inches away from the surface and dust the paint on. let it dry and sand it, any low spots or pits will remain black. stay away from gloss or semi gloss paints for a guide coat though, they will clog the sand paper quickly and render it useless in about 6 passes.

[jims69camaro]

Re: How to: Body work, Painting, and Color sanding

flexible sanding plane to aid in a smooth, even curve. A lot of it is the feel though, compare it with the rest of the curve and make sure it feels exactly the same, if not, add some more filler and get the curve right.

thanks, about how long did this take you? oh yea a bodyshop told me that using bondo on fiberglass was bad and that you should only do fiberglass or the paint might spidercrack and the repair might sink in since bondo wouldnt hold as well, true or not? thanks and sorry for all the Q's

ask 10 different shops and you'll get 10 different answers. if we're talking globs of bondo, then, no, it will crack and look hideous, no matter what substrate it's on.

bondo should never be more than .005" when you paint it. there is never a reason for it to be thicker than that. at that thickness, assuming you used Prep Sol and sanded properly, then it will adhere to whatever is under it for the life of the car without cracking. if it is going to be thicker than that, then go back to the hammer and straighten the metal some more, because without more straightening you are taking a chance that the bondo will be too thick and it will crack. it might not crack today or tomorrow. it might take years, but it will crack. keeping it thin adds to its ability to adhere to the metal or glass underneath it.

there are tips and tricks to working metal, none of which were covered here. it's a good thing, because the tutorial would be twice as long with all of the ways to work metal. i've been doing it for a while and i still don't know all there is to know. the corner of the rear end of the car can be very tricky to straighten, as there is zero room inside to swing or use a dolly. (good rule of thumb: dolly on the low side, hammer hitting the high side). unless you are trying to stretch the metal then you shouldn't hear a "ping" like a bell; that means you've hit the metal with the hammer directly over the dolly. sometimes this is needed, but for the most part is not desireable, because you'll have to shrink the metal again before it gets back into it's original shape.

metal has a memory - all you're trying to do with the hammer is coax it back into its original shape. it will go back there with the right kind of coaxing. and since you won't be using more than .005" of filler, 99% of moving the metal will be with the hammer.

if you want to learn the right way, take a class or two at your local Vo-Tech school. you'd be surprised what you can learn. also, if the metal is in as bad shape as the project car above, i would suggest a class or two or having someone with experience look over your shoulder. that kind of dent is not for the faint of heart, nor is it something to be tried by someone with zero experience. shopping cart dings are much better to try for the first time. even then, you will have to completely disassemble the door to gain access to the back side or use a slide hammer (which you'll have to drill a hole for, and the hole should be brazed closed * another subject entirely).

then again, some things should be left for the professional.

[RPDRed6]

Re: How to: Body work, Painting, and Color sanding

Hey schlotzky what about rocker panels? my rocker panel underneath that black door sill on the passengers side of my car is pushed up a bit and scraped because i hit a parking block in the snow on accident, can i follow these steps to fix it? any advice you have would be great bud, thanks alot

[JCM_1970]

Re: How to: Body work, Painting, and Color sanding

Man, what an awesome JOB!! way to look out for the little guy. and thanks for doing a write up like this we need to see more like this!!

[ssms5411]

Re: How to: Body work, Painting, and Color sanding

Most shops will drill a hole and use a tool to pull out the dent then use bondo to smooth it out. Thats what they did to my drivers side rocker panel , dented pretty bad. Got everything done and looks like it came from the factory.

[RPDRed6]

Re: How to: Body work, Painting, and Color sanding

Ssms5411 how much did it cost you for that rocker panel to get fixed?

[ssms5411]

Re: How to: Body work, Painting, and Color sanding

Ssms5411 how much did it cost you for that rocker panel to get fixed?

It was so long ago, but it was included in the whole car getting painted.