Body Work

[NOVA1958]

Hi everyone
I'm in the being stage of doing the body work on what 72 Nova and need to know if everybody tries to get ever high and low spot out before they add filler or do you get it close and start filling.On the body,to save on epoxy paint I've been working the metal before I epoxy then I'll mist with cheap spray paint then block sand work metal again and check metal again.When finished I'm planning on sanding all the cheap paint off and when spraying with SPI epoxy.Both quarters were replaced with half quarters and I flanged the car and I mig welded the quarters.The door was pretty meshed up and took alot of work to get it looking this good it had alot of filler on when I first sanded it down.Please all body guys chime in.

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[J2SpeedandCustom]

The better the metal is the better the final product will be no way around it. On the door I would re-skin it unless you really like the way it fits or just want to practice on your metal skills...:D

[NOVA1958]

When I purchased the car I had no idea the door was like this,but worse.The door fits very good and no rust at all.

Thanks

[elitecustombody]

Spend as much time as you can possibly afford to get your metal smooth to cut down on the amount of filler as J2 mentioned. I'd stay away from using cheap paint as guide coat, because it will be clogging your paper. When you think you're done with primer, shoot one wet coat of over reduced primer with a little basecoat color . You can also mix different color primer for last coat to chase high and low spots.Remember to epoxy before doing any filler work or you will end up redoing it all few years later

[Select Motors]

Keep tappin. Amen to the new door skin.

[NOVA1958]

I agree with getting the metal as straight as possibly but when I keep tapping seems as if I create more issue like the spots gets flexibly then I have to fix that and believe me I'm no body man.I have issues when to stretch and when to shrink those soft spots.Can some please tell me how to determine what to do when it comes to that and how you do it (what tools etc.)

Thanks for the help.

[elitecustombody]

Look into buying shrinking disk,it's cheap and can do wonders on high spots or stretched metal

[Select Motors]

I would do some research on shrinking. We always use a stud welder with no stud in it. Iv'e never used a shrinking disc but that looks like the way to go to learn how it works, not do more damage than good and get some work done.

[elitecustombody]

I would do some research on shrinking. We always use a stud welder with no stud in it. Iv'e never used a shrinking disc but that looks like the way to go to learn how it works, not do more damage than good and get some work done.

You can do a lot more damage with stud gun than shrinking disc,at least in my opinion,since you have to push on the gun for the tip to collapse and get the outer housing to contact the metal.

[Select Motors]

Thats what I was getting at. The shinking disk looks like the thing to do.

[GregWeld]

I agree with getting the metal as straight as possibly but when I keep tapping seems as if I create more issue like the spots gets flexibly then I have to fix that and believe me I'm no body man.I have issues when to stretch and when to shrink those soft spots.Can some please tell me how to determine what to do when it comes to that and how you do it (what tools etc.)

Thanks for the help.

This is not going to be very nice to say -- and I don't want to come across as being an ass... so please don't take it that way... but it's impossible for anyone to teach bodywork over the internet. Working metal is something that takes experience and somebody right there showing you all the nuances. Basics such as "that's not a dent - it's stretched metal"... that's easy - but how to work the metal from one area (the high spot) back to the low spot (the stretch) = dude that takes a bunch of skills....

Are you anywhere near a Community college that has an auto body class at night or weekends? Or maybe go around to the body shops in your area and see if you can't trade out some manual labor for some help? I used to stack bumpers and sweep the floors and straighten up -- and chip bondo off the floors etc years ago... and the guys taught me how to do a bunch of stuff just because they knew I was interested. So just thinking out loud here... that maybe just asking around there?

[Bryan O]

^^What Greg said. :thumbsup:

[dhutton]

There are some good videos on youtube that might be worth taking a look at.

Don

[NOVA1958]

Well I just couldn't stand it and went out and tried out my metal shaping skills.I got the 2 big dents out and some more but as I thought now I have high spots that I can't figure out now to take care of.This was alot of hammer dollying and alot of pecking.Can somebody give me some advise on how to fix these high spots.

Thanks


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