Body
work takes time, and a lot of patience. There
are 3 types of bodywork you can encounter,
sheet metal work, bondo and fiber glass.
The
tools you may need for body work are: (my
prefference)
5"
air grinder
Auto body hammer
Sharp auto body hammer
Flat welder's hammer
Sledge hammer
Set of iron or metal dollys
Set of bondo spreaders (metal)
Laquer Thiner
Scotch Brite Pads
Bondo (Golden Extra)
Auto body long board
Sanding block
35 Grit sand paper
80 Grit sand paper
320 Grit sand paper
Sheet
metal working is tricky, you will need to
learn how to manipulate it with heat, stretching
and shrinking. This is the major part of body
work. First you will need to prepair the sheet
metal for bondo.
Start
with using a 5 inch air grinder to grind off
all the paint off the effected area, I usually
grind off about 3 inches more around the effected
area just to have more space to work. Cliean
off the pain all the way to the metal, you'll
appreciate it when you start applying bondo.
Also, note, grind off hte paint first, before
trying to straighten the metal. That way it's
easier to get to all the spots, once you start
beatting the metal up you'll create dents
with your sharp hammer and you won't be able
to get into them with your grinder.
Once
the area is clean of paint we can start on
getting the metal straight. Use the sledge
hammer to roughly straighten the metal, get
it mostly straightened. Use a sharp auto body
hammer with the sledge hammer to beat in the
areas that stick out. Hold the sledge hammer
behind while lightly hammering the areas that
stick out with the sharp auto body hammer.
Then to get it even straighter, use the two
auto body hammers. Hold one's flat end behing
the metal while hammering the areas that stick
out with the sharp end, then to flatten hammer
with the flat end while still holding the
the other hammer behind.
You
should have the mettal pretty straight, should
start looking like a car about now. Get it
as best as you can as if you were going to
leave it like that and paint right over it.
That way it will be easier to work with when
you apply bondo.
You
got the metal nice and straight so now you
can start with the bondo. You will find the
bondo you like to work with as you get experience,
personally i like the soft and light stuff,
Golden Extra seems to fit the description.
I like to use a couple of metal spreaders
to apply bondo.
Work
with a little bit at a time, I just get about
a 1 cup size ball of bondo at a time. It is
much easier to work with and less waste. 1
inch of hadner per golf ball of bondo always
works perfect. Mix it up nice and well. When
it is ready apply it on to the metal with
your spreader. Try to cover as much of the
area with it first. the first coat is to get
the bondo on most of the metal. It'll take
about 5 to 10 minutes to harden depending
on the temperature in the shop. The warmer
the faster it'll harden.
Once
it's hard, start straightening it for the
next coat. Use a long board with 35 Grit sand
paper.
Repeat
the bondo application again, try shaping it
as you apply, it's going to be easier to sand
it later. Usually 3 to 5 coats will do it.
Just keep bondoing as many times as it takes.
Get it nice and smooth.
Now
use 180 Grit to smooth everything down. You
can also use a finishing putty to fill in
any tiny pin holes, it's basically micro bondo
that air dries without a hardner. Let it completely
dry, otherwise it'll stick to the sandpaper.
I like to wetsand it with 320 grit, the water
keeps the sandpaper clean. Once you get everything
nice and smooth, let it dry off.
Get
the car masked off. I usually use a combination
of 24" & 12" masking paper to
mask off the details and a piece of plastic
to cover the rest of hte car. If you don't
have a piece of plastic that big, take somr
blsck garbage bags, cut off the bottom to
make it into a wide tube then cut one side
so it unfolds, now you got a big sheet of
plastic. Do that to a few of them and then
use tape to attach teh pieces together. Worked
great for me.
To
primer the car for painting I use a 2 part
urethane primer. It is nice and thick, and
will cover up little pin holes pretty well.
Spray the car with the primer. Put about 3
coats (more if needed), so everything is nicely
covered. Let it flash about 15 minutes between
coats.
Once
it's all dry (about good 6-8 hours, 12+ hours
is best), start dry sanding it. I use a 8-1/2"
X 11" sheet of 320 grit sandpaper folded
up or rolled up on a paint mixing stick. Block
out the primered area(s) in criss-cross motion
- if on a side pannel, sand first in a upper-left
to lower-right motion once you cover the panel
then go backwards going upper-right to lower-left,
criss-cross, get it? This way all the spots
will get blocked out evenly.
If
the sand paper starts getting primer stuck
on it, you probably didn't let it dry enough,
either let it dry more or wet sand, the water
will keep the sand paper clean, most times.
Some times even wet sanding won't do it, so
you'll have to let it dry more.
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