Body work

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Steve welder

Steve welder

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My first real attempt on doing body and paint
Has given me a new appreciation of how much work and skill (which I don’t have) that a true body and fender man has
I’m actually having fun doing this
The welding is the easy part and I’ve discovered that gorilla hair filler is my friend
I’m painting it with a HF gun and Rustoleum

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Lookin' good. Going through this myself too. I realize now that there is no way anyone should have any complaints about the price of bodywork and paint. It is extremely hard work!
 
Lookin good Steve! I bet it's an adjustment going from welding 1/2" thick pipes to welding thin sheet metal. You've forgotten more about welding than most of us know, so I'm sure what you have done will stay together! I have found that using .023 wire works best on sheet metal. I learned a nice tip about making and welding sheet metal patches from a You Tube channel called Fitzees Fabrication. He makes his patch bigger than the cut out by an inch or so and then cuts thru both layers at a 45 degree angle. They match up perfectly and minimizes blow thru while welding.
The purple HF gun will be fine to paint with. Just practice on scrap before tackling the Jeep. There are plenty of channels on You Tube that show how to set the gun, like Gun Man, Paint Society, etc.
Keep up the nice work, and good luck!

:thumbsup:
 
I have been doing body and paint for 26 years now. I recently completely stopped doing "side" work because I am so tired of dealing with everyone that wants it for nothing. I had a good friend the other day ask me to paint his Miata race car. He said what should I budget 1 or 2k? I told him I was busy for the next 10 years.
 
People just don't realize how much work there is and the price of quality paints, primers, fillers
and paint supplies.
 
I’m doing all the body work on my Swinger including metal work,priming,blocking, correcting gaps, etc. I agree with the comments. It’s at least $75 every time I stock up on consumables which add a significant cost. I’ll probably spend over $1000 not including primer and paint. The hours are probably triple what I thought it would take. I don’t even want to know what a shop would charge. I enjoy the work but welding sheet metal isn’t my favourite thing.
 
This is why I don't want a car that needs body work and paint. I tried it back in high school and I knew then that it wasn't for me
 
1MeanA said:
I’m doing all the body work on my Swinger including metal work,priming,blocking, correcting gaps, etc. I agree with the comments. It’s at least $75 every time I stock up on consumables which add a significant cost. I’ll probably spend over $1000 not including primer and paint. The hours are probably triple what I thought it would take. I don’t even want to know what a shop would charge. I enjoy the work but welding sheet metal isn’t my favourite thing.
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I've looked into this before and some shops get 20k for a paint job. I know that includes priming and blocking then paint but I don't know if it includes any body work. Every show I watch about cars they block sand after each coat of primer. After painting they wet sand and buff to a mirror finish. I don't want anything like that.
 
Shooting a sealer coat and painting is the easy part. Its everything else that takes the time. I watched a great video yesterday on fixing gaps. This is another step up depending on what you want. He gave me a few ideas on how to fix a few things.
 
I've seen the door gaps so bad that they would weld metal either to the door or fender and then correct the gaps. What is the gap amount? I thought that I heard that it's a 1/8" is that correct?
 
Dan the man said:
I've looked into this before and some shops get 20k for a paint job. I know that includes priming and blocking then paint but I don't know if it includes any body work. Every show I watch about cars they block sand after each coat of primer. After painting they wet sand and buff to a mirror finish. I don't want anything like that.
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I wouldn't try to paint a car because its quite complex but I would take a shot at painting the Jeep if I had a suitable area.
 
Dan the man said:
I've seen the door gaps so bad that they would weld metal either to the door or fender and then correct the gaps. What is the gap amount? I thought that I heard that it's a 1/8" is that correct?
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He uses a paint mixing stick to gauge the fit. I've read 3/16" to 1/4". My doors are in between those numbers.
 
1MeanA said:
I've painted components like valences with base/clear without too much problem.
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I painted a hood and a fender, surprisingly it turned out pretty good considering I was 19. The prepp work is what's really rough
 
Yeah for a good result you need it properly blocked and finish sanded to the right grit. I spent a lot of time on the autobody101 site and watching various YouTube videos like Bad Chad.
 
Brad Chad builds some funky stuff but his work is top notch.
He uses Nason single stage with excellent results.Lots of videos available for someone that wants to learn.
 
1MeanA said:
Shooting a sealer coat and painting is the easy part. Its everything else that takes the time. I watched a great video yesterday on fixing gaps. This is another step up depending on what you want. He gave me a few ideas on how to fix a few things.
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Thats for the refer on that vid!!!!! Yestrday, I looked at a 66 Comet ( NO deaththreats please) ROUGH project. It needs doors and fenders replaced, BUT I was trying to imagine me fixing such. Did I mention CHEAP!?
I love being able to bring any old car/part back from the dead!!!! Its the challenge I guess. Doe not have to be perfect either!!
 
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