Body Work Tutorial

I have been asked for a long time to start a body work tutorial page for anyone considering doing the work themselves. I am just doing this to help, I have been doing body work and paint work since I was 18. I have done collision work but for the past 10 years I have worked in the restoration end of the business on and off. I am sure there are many other skilled body men and painters here that can also help, and possibly do things a bit different.. but this is how I do it.

First off I would like to say that I wanted to keep this stuff in order but as I am bouncing back and forth with different operations it's a bit difficult. So I will add things as I go. I am taking photo's for this during different processes at work...

So... here goes!



Here is a car I have brought into the shop today. Sorry about the brand ha ha... As you can tell the car actually looks pretty nice... but alas it's not. The paint is very checked and cracked, lots of bubbles and you can see some rivets and patch work inside the lower quarters. Checking and cracking is usually the result of lacquer based paints and primers being used... if you run into anything that is like this I suggest fully stripping the car as it can come back to bite you later.

It's always a good idea to first look over the car before you dig right in. Sometimes guys will grind wobbly spots, dents or area's that need attention. Grinding them will leave deep grooves so you can see them once the panel is stripped. Here are some pictures of the car on the lift.