Doing Bodywork

[Dousan_PG]

anyone have an REALLY good website (or books) regarding prepping/repairing/setting up a car for a paint job?

like tools, how tos, materials, hints..etc etc

getting the car repainted soon and doing the body work myself (save a lot of money this way)


THANKS! :)

[WIshb0ne]

Sand and prime... thats all there is too it

[Dousan_PG]

yo im newbie!
sand w/ what grit..wetsand?
i need details

also body work for dent removal.
my car sucks lots of dings, like to get rid of MOST of it...dotn really care because its not a show car...

[Steeles]

dousan I'll see if my boy can write you up some tips tonight and I'll post/pm/email too yah. he does bodywork for a living..trying to get me to come work with him lol. I'll make him do it, he does good work got my bumper looking like I wanted :)

[Dousan_PG]

sweet that would help alot
looking to get mine painted in around august/sep timeframe
got dings on doors and small dings here and there. no serious dents
no rust too
just remove all the paint and trims, set it up and drop it off, few days later pick it up, slap it together, put on the new body parts and back at the track

[lilredstiffy]

Strange as it sounds, when me and my brother set out to learn how to do body work we picked up this great book from the public library. I can't quite remember the name of it, but i remember there was a guy in it named 'Mycon', anyways helped us learn how to do a great job, painting and prepping.

[silnv]

There is a recent copy of HCI (hot compacts and imports i think) that had a lot of info in it on how to paint cars, and had a list of all kinds of stuff you will need. I will try to find the copy of it when my friend gets back from lunch.

[Dousan_PG]

kewl thanks!!!
im just about to order the body kit parts and some paint soon...should be done (100% body wise) by november or sooner :) hehehehehehe..

[silnv]

It is the July 2003 issue of HCI cover story 75 paint tips and how to prep and paint your car. Even has a s14 with s15 front end on the cover imagine that:hammer: .

[Dousan_PG]

sweet thanks
ill swing by the bookstore today and pick it up! THANKS! :)

[masta]

If I were you I would attend Auto-Body classes at a Community College if possible. This way you would learn some techniques and precautions. They are not that expensive; if you are saving money then you can probably just attend without paying and they probably will not hassle you. :D

[kandyflip445]

Hey Steeles you should have your friend join Zilvia and make him do a FAQ write-up on bodywork!!!!:aw:

[weirdstyles.net]

word, im lucky enough to work at a body shop, and the one thing I have learnedis everything regarding body work is an art form. First use a grinding wheel in and around yoru dent. Bring her down to metal.

Use 180grit sand paper on a dual action sander (faster) to feather the paaint. You will see circles of different color forming around the dent where you sanded.

TAPE around the whole with 1" Masking tape

Locate the deepest indent. Use a slide hamer with screw on the end and a drill. Drill a small pilot and use the slide hammer to GENTLY tap the whole out. Do this a few times around the hole finding the lowest point. Remember, better to not tap it out than to over tap it. Be gentle and know when to stop. Next use your grinding wheel to smoothe out the pilot hole, which has now been pulled.

OK, mix your mud (filler) Read direction on filler, their all different. Mix yer ****, and quickly slap it on. Spread it in one direction and try to keep it in the general area.

Next use the 180g paper on the DA to sand her. You will see metal as you sand, but if you see small circle of metal appear, those areas are high. Use a body hammer to tap it down.

1* If you had to tap any dents DOWN, use mudd again, then continue

Mud and fill till you feel the dent is completely gone. You should be able to close your eyes and NOT feel where the body fill starts. Remember, you can NOT sand too much, you can only sand to little.

PM or Reply for more details.....


body lines are a bitch

[Steeles]

Originally posted by kandyflip445
Hey Steeles you should have your friend join Zilvia and make him do a FAQ write-up on bodywork!!!!:aw:

hahaha if I can get him off his *** I'll try. I think weird styles just did us a really good one though. :D

[anotherblusi]

Hey I really recommend taking a class. Im taking one at rio hondo right now and it has been really helpful... All I can say is practice practice practice. If you don't mix the bondo right it will never harden or it will be too brittle and could crack easily. Also Bondo should only be used to fill in a dent that is less than 1/8th of inch shallow. otherwise the bondo could crack. Also when you pop out the dent you have to be careful not to stretch the metal otherwise its a pain in the butt to shrink it back... Also your gonna need a nail gun to pop out any dents you cant reach from the back... basically have someone teach you or take a class somewhere. I talked to some guys there that have been taking autobody for more than a year and they still say they need more practice

-Anotherblusi

[Dousan_PG]

yeah i would take a class but time is an issue. haha...my time afterowkr/weekend and time to get car done

i probably wont care about dents. just repaint it. for the amount of stuff i hit and rocks that scratch teh side of my car at the track..forget it. whatever, its not a show car. i'll just get it primered up and ready to paint. should be soon actually. :)

the wait is for the body parts..ordering that very soon :) hehehehehehehehehehehe....it will be very hmmm....uncommon stateside

[the head]

http://www.diynet.com/DIY/article/0,2058,4944,00.html

there are more about body work on this site but all info is valid and very useful run a search on thier home page and you should find at least two or three other articles on the topic as well

[thelinja]

It doesn't look like the sandpaper issue has been covered yet so I'll add what I've learned. Last summer I prepped my car to be painted, much similar to what you're wanting to do. First I just used some 400 grit to get the clearcoat/paint off. Then, to smoot it out, I used 1000 grit, and then 1500 grit. I didn't notice much of a difference after I used the 1500 though, so I don't think it was necessary. Also, be sure to get inside the cracks too. ie hood, bumper/fender meeting points, doors, etc. It's also a good idea to let bondo cure for 24hrs. I made that mistake and had to rebondo the whole car:o . I think it ended up taking me about 7-8 hours to complete the job. It's a good time.:)

[Dousan_PG]

aaaah you guys rock
thanks! :bowdown:

[Stee Flo]

Hey dousan what kind of bumper are you getting, or are you keeping it a secret? Oem kouki front? I want one:boink:

[Dousan_PG]

laaadeeeda

cant wait. secret for now
but you wotn see anything like it stateside i think....pretty 'original' i guess.i dont know. just REALLY classy and clean. :)

definately 1 of a kind :)

[Steeles]

he;s getting a civic black widow IIX kit grafted on and a celica aero wing for the back. and painting the thing metallic lime green

[SilviaDriver]

send ur car to me Aaron, we will work on it for u:)

if u want..hit me on AIM..and i can show u the repairs we did to the s13 i have...only aaron IM me up tho

u can find my SN, in profiles

[Dousan_PG]

i just need paint job!
i can do the body work myself, and i get the paint
just need a pro to spray itand the body!
gotta steal a second car too..d'oh

[Stee Flo]

Originally posted by Steeles
he;s getting a civic black widow IIX kit grafted on and a celica aero wing for the back. and painting the thing metallic lime green Talk about original! :goyou: :tweak:

[SilviaDriver]

Originally posted by dousan36
i just need paint job!
i can do the body work myself, and i get the paint
just need a pro to spray itand the body!
gotta steal a second car too..d'oh

we do paint too. and this aint no macco **** either

[Dousan_PG]

baah you are norcal! :(
well my mom and pop's live closer..hmm. have to see. i wish more vacation time and holidays. i'll let you know. :) thx!!

[DoriftoSlut]

Originally posted by dousan36
laaadeeeda

cant wait. secret for now
but you wotn see anything like it stateside i think....pretty 'original' i guess.i dont know. just REALLY classy and clean. :)

definately 1 of a kind :)
Or, er.... 2 of a kind. Heh. I know I know yours is gonna be "different" because you ARE "different" in a special kind of way.

[weirdstyles.net]

That DIY was nice, xspecially stressing that this is no novice repair. This is no muffler kid-os. But seriously, im not sure of the 1000 and 15000 grits are nessecary till your on your primer at least. I/We at my shop use 180 after grinding to feather, and to smooth out the body fill (aka mud) I think the only time we go up high (500+) is pre-paint for wet sanding primer.

As a novice myself I would highly suggest using a sanding block as opposed to a DA (Dual Action sander) I suggest this because a block will allow you more of a feel as a novice to the body lines. Not only this, but a DA can catch you off gaurd and if practice and patience are not implememted you will phuck up your job and look like an arse. What I would suggest...seriously. Pick your least favorite part of car (fender or 1/4) and punch the bitch....( :eek: ) and fix her. See how she comes out. If it sucks, grind it out and do it again... Or use a POS or even old front end clips you have laying around (and wanna donate the sr in it to me :-D)

all in all, take your time...kill yourself. You can NEVER EVER EVER sand too much...

correction, when you make a new hole, I would suggest CTRL Z and undo that.... :-D

word

[s0ldats]

sup aaron! good lluck with your painting/bodywork. what color you gonna paint it?

look forward to seeing you at the jspec meet. i'll probably be there with my friend in his super extreme 1986 bmw 325e. keep me updated on the fender/bumper [email protected] thanks.

-chris

[Anubis]

I am king of bodywork. Primed 240's rock.