[Shop-talk] Amateur Body Work

[Bob Spidell]

Google 'do-it-yourself autobody work' or similar and you'll have reading material for the next century. 

There are usually three ways to repair a bashed-in panel: 
1) cut and replace 
2) pull out with a slide hammer puller 
3) use a stud welder 

All will probably require at least some filler ('bondo'). 

Autobody work is a craft and can take years to master, but with practice you can do most things yourself. You'll have to make an initial investment in tools, like body hammers and dollys, puller or stud gun and you'll wish you had a MIG welder--and knew how to use it--if you don't already. Power tools--usually compressed air-powered--are essential; you'll want a die grinder and a cutoff wheel at the least. 

Then comes painting, which is truly an art. The good thing is, at least here in the States, low-cost paint guns--and other tools for that matter--are available from places like Harbor Freight and they are good enough quality to at least get you started. 

One of the best pieces of literature I've perused is Duffy's: http://www.amazon.com/Tech-Manual-Duffys-Repair-Technology/dp/1418073547 

Good luck and have fun. 

Bob 


-------------------------------- 
Bob Spidell - San Jose, CA 

----- Original Message -----


This past year I got the great idea to buy salvage vehicles and repair them. 
For my first attempt I got a full sized domestic sedan that needed a front 
bumper, grille, and one headlight assembly. Easy enough, I had done this 
before and I got the car for 25% of "market value". Great I thought so I did 
it again. This time I bought a German luxury coupe with front end damage. No 
real problem here that money can't fix. The damage is all repairable by 
bolting in good used parts except that anything for the Silver Star cars is at 
4X what you pay for a more mundane car. So I've put this project on the back 
burner until I can devote more time to searching for junk yards that don't 
hold Mercedes is such high steem. And now we get to the real point of this 
post. My last purchase was a 2002 Ford F150 4 door cab pick up truck. The 
truck had been hit on the driver's side rear door and cab corner so that the 
rear door needs to be replaced and I fear that the cab 
corner will need to be cut out and a donor piece welded in. 
I want to remove 
the rear door and try to pull the damaged cab corner as much as possible 
before going to a body shop. I am trying to keep costs down as much as 
possible and stay within a budget before it becomes uneconomical. 
I would 
appreciate any comments, suggesttions and perhaps links to websites on body 
repair. 
Thank You 
Jorge