[70tatim]

Hi,
I'm interested in learning about doing my own body work on my cars. I have the tools and space to do it but very little knowledge. I have checked a couple of the area tech schools but price and time are not on my side. Who sells a good book or videos about doing body work. I know it takes more than reading and whatching tapes to do quality work. I have plenty of parts to practice on before I try working on my car. I'm not looking to learn to paint just basic body work. Any help is more than welcome.

Thanks
Tim

[Speargun]

Stay away from "The Collector Car Restoration Home Video Library"

http://216.178.81.108/forums/showthread.php?t=457126

[eric65]

http://www.autobody101.com/forums/index.php

register here and start asking especially in body/paint

[firebirdcrazy1959]

i'm glad you posted this.i'm the same.i can make a fart do 100 in the qtr ,but can't do body work to save my life.great new site for me to check out.

[Steven S]

Same boat here!! Know every bolt in a pontiac motor, but basic body work is beyond
me. I think it is kind of an art thing.

[rzrektd]

I can make a piece of wrinkled sheetmetal look as smooth as glass no filler. I have never tried working on a poncho motor. That day will come though.

Recommend reading books. I am self taught. Just make sure do what you read.

[70tatim]

Thanks for the info, I know that there is an art to this that comes with practice and lots of it. I'm going to buy the dvd set from auto body 101 and see if I can do some of the basic work on my cars. I will post again after watching the dvd's and let everyone know if these are worth the hundred plus bucks.

Happy thanksgiving to everyone!!!

Tim

[carcrazy]

Another good place for info is autobodystore.com

[cblandin]

Try Kevin Tetz's paintucation website and DVD series. Both are excellent.

www.paintucation.com

[68alpinebluegto]

The main thing with body work is to take your time.
Prep work is the dirty thankless job, laying down the color is when you start to smile ... but those smiles will not last too long if you didn't take the time to get the body straight. Also hand wet sanding with 2000 or finer until all of the surface inperfections are gone is probably done on only 2% of all paint jobs ....if that much... but boy do the efforts pay off when looking into the side of hte car you'd have thought it was a mirror.

[73superduty]

Originally Posted by cblandin

Try Kevin Tetz's paintucation website and DVD series. Both are excellent.

www.paintucation.com

I 2nd that!

[Goin' Topless]

Don't rush it.

Use polyester based fillers. They resist soaking in the primer and creating dull spots.

Also, use short strand or powdered fiberglass filler over welded spots. It's waterproof so it won't draw moisture to the metal joint. Apply long strand fiberglass to the inside of the panel for strength

Strip the car down, then shoot the bare metal with an epoxy coat, then do your filling work. The epoxy will create a great overall moisture barrier. You can do this all at once or one panel at a time. It's up to you. I like to apply fiberglass filler first, then polyester glazing filler over any pinholes to finish.

hope this helps.

[pmdclassics]

Great basic topic to discuss. In the past I have used a chemical stripper to remove all paint and primer and then I let a pro take over from there. On my 70 T/A I plan on taking it a step further so this topic is helping me.
Thanks much!

[Goin' Topless]

PMD, I did that with my fenders and it worked great! Since the fenders were off the car, I brushed the stripper on then covered it with some plastic to keep the vapors on the paint.