Body work 101
 

In light of the recent everyone getting hit hooplah, I decided to share my somewhat in depth knowlege (Did I even spell that right?) of do-it-yourself bodywork.
the first thing above all is to consider what type of repair you need to make, to further determine the steps youll need to follow. Are you doing ding repair? Mabey fixing some rust? Perhaps your replacing fenders, bumpers, and the like. Mabey your even considering doing a full paint job.
...come to think of it, theres ALOT of stuff to type about this. Jeeze, what did I get myself into? Okay, okay...regroup Eric..they are all reading. Why am I typing what Im thinking?
Um...Anyway, yeah, you need to determine what you need to do. this professionally drawn graph could offer some insight as to what your up against:
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6...rkgraphwf7.png

Okay, another usefull thing....A list of some terms ill throw around(Ill update this as I go)

Edge / Edging in-
this is done to new/ new to you parts that will need to be painted before being hung on your car. The edges and if applicable underside of the parts to be are painted. Standard paint preperation for edging is scuffing and if needed light sanding

Scuff- This is a preperation tecnique in which you use either a scuff pad or a fine grade sand paper to dull the finish of the area your preparing to paint. Scuff pads are abrasive pads resembling the scratchy side of a sponge.A typical sand paper to use for scuffing is 1000-1500 grit, and can be done wet or dry (I tend to find wet better)

Feathering- this term is used to describe the sanding away of any irregular surface to make it smooth to the touch. Typically used in regards to chips and scratches. "feathering" is typically done with 400 grit sand paper and either a power hand tool (Such as a DA, long board sander, or palm sander) or by hand using a block the surface is sanded untill there is no trace at all whatsoever of the original blemish.

Guide Coat- this is a substance which you apply to an area your working on that works it's way into low spots and crevaces to reveal what is there. Used during sanding. typical things used as a guide coat are a light dusting of black spray paint or a specialized graphite powder
Okay, now that your eyes hurt, let me try to go all in depth on the steps. What to do, what to look out for, and how this may or may not be applicible to a certian situation

Step 1-Replacing body panels
A step I havent put on the chart...Before the new parts are hung on the car, they must be edged. This is your one and only chance to get paint in them places!
This is often more involved than one would think. I have found in my experiances that a fender is usually more than "Just a few bolts" a door is usually more than a hinge or two, and getting things to line up takes more than a "few" tries. All cars are diffrent in this aspect. I mean, lets face it. Subaru isnt going to put their bolts in the same place as GM, but, I can say theres a few places to start looking
Fenders
usually have three sets of bolts holding them on. theres the obvious ones in the hood jamb, theres the ones that you miht have seen where the fender and the door meet, and theres the ones that are usually a pain in the .....cavity...on the bottom edge of the fender underneath the car. Often times you must remove the inner fender wheel welley dealie to get to bolts, or (as it is on the svx) even some body cladding. The fenders will need to be adjusted to allow for proper gap to the hood and the door so they open and close unobstructed. This is a also a pain in the.....donkey.. as there are usually at least 6-10 bolts to loosten and tighten. Really nothing fancy to know, youll likely see what you need to do when you do it
By the way, this is probly a good time to remove things like headlihgts, tail lights, the spoiler, emblems...Prettymuch anything thatll be in the way of fresh paint
bumpers
nothing too fancy here. bumper covers are usually only held in with 4 bolts and mabey a strange fitting or two.bolts typically located where the bumper meets the rear quarter or fender, and mabey a few in a support somewhere. every car is diffrent here.. Once again, the inner wheel welly thingies will be a ...yeah... Bumpers typically dont adjust much, they either fit or they dont. I've seen some pretty horrendous "Factory replacement" aftermarket bumpers. Though I doubt any aftermarket companies have recreated the stock svx bumper, this might apply to someone else's car. Get the bumper from the factory, not some knock off from another company. this way it's gaurenteed to fit.
The svx's rear bumper, after much trial and error, is actually VERY easy to remove. unbolt the beam and everything from the trunk, and slide it out. The cover itself is held on with a bajillion screws, and sevral brackets. The front bumper can be done the same way, or actually removed from the beam itself
Doors
Doors typically have a few things holding them on. The obvious being it's hinges.The hingers usually will bolt on, but older vehicles and some trucks you need to pop out the hinge pin to seperate it.
Usually theres wires going into the door for power accessories such as windows, mirrors, locks, and the like. most cars have a plug hidden somewhere that you can seperate for easy removal, but if your car sucks like genral motors, it wont.
Also theres often some kind of stopper guidey thing that goes into the door. the svx's has a pin that hammers out.
When re-hanging a door with bolt on hinges, it may be necicarry to make adjustments in order for the door to catch onto the latch. theese adjustments could be loostening, moving, and retightening, or it coud be something as simple as yankign on the door untill it fits. Either way you will probly want a friend to help hold the door in place as you make the needed adjustments


Okay....Im very tired. More to come tomorrow. Sleep is good now..


MORE, because bill wants to know (THANKS BILL!!!)

Pulling Dents and Rough Shaping

Not much to explain for this entire step. If you have any big dents, try to push them out from the inside. I prefer to avoid using a hammer unless necicarry. If you have a dent you cant seem to get anything behind, there's a few tricks to try.
One is to use self tapping screws. Zip one in just enough so it gets ahold of the sheet metal, and use something to pull it out. This method often leads to MUCH cursing, and many, many holes in what was an otherwise good panel
The other method involves a welder. Go ahead and weld something to the panel...Mabey a roofing nail, bolt...something. Just put a small tack on, and use something to pull on the thing you welded onto the panel. Break the welded attachment off once the pull is made. This method also creates much cursing, and many holed burnt onto what was otherwise a good shirt
You've probably also seen some wacky methods on you tube incolving everything from plungers to aresol cans. Those probably work too, but I haven't been desperate enough to try any
One thing to remember...you can fill a low spot, but you cant cover a high spot. If you pull a spot out too far, simply hammer it back down. remember, this section s titled ROUGH shaping, not paintless dent removal tactics:D

okay, im bored again. More when someone else gets curious:eek:

Looks like I should have you come down when Young Tom does so you can clean up the modified fender wells on Battlestar;) :cool:
-Bill

Man this must be a pretty long day.

I figured I'd bring this back since it was a pretty good read. BTW Eric, you should add some more info to this thread:)

As more input form someone who works in a collision shop (body shop) me. Always use wax and grease remover before you paint anything or primer sealer for that matter not primer filler. And for raw plastic parts like our plastic side moldings use a special sponge for RAW plastics and when ready for primer sealer use wax and grease remover then apply a special wipe for RAW plastics to help for adhesion. And use a tack rag after you paint but before the clear coat.

Here's one for you body work/paint experts:

I'm going to be de-rusting the SVX at the beginning of April. Look in my locker for the pictures, but basically I have heavy rust going on the rear wheel wells. They haven't started to crumble yet, but it's not pretty up close. I haven't removed the plastic cladding, so I don't know how far the rust goes underneath.If the rust goes bellow the cladding, into the wierdly-shaped metal with all the rubber plugs and stuff, I'm guessing it will be much harder for the shop to repair?

Should I buy replacement quarter panels? They run less than $300/side. The boxes will be humungous, so I'll get horribly raped on shipping, but I don't think that's a bad cost. I would have them shipped to Ogdensburg or northern NY and drive across to get them. (That's a couple hours of driving each way. Not a big deal)

What do you think? I think quality would be better. After all, these are perfectly shaped replacement panels. What about cost? The panels would set me back ~$850 when all is said and done.

well if you can poke a hole in the rust with a pointy hammer lightly you will be better ok by cutting out that area with the same piece from a junker svx (costs less), then you will have to blend the panels to make it look good which just a quarter panel you're probably talking about a little over $1000. And it the doors are rusting hopfully not if they are on the same side as the rear rust then maybe $1500 or more because then you have to blend the fender.And these prices are guesses for one side so around $3000-$3500 im guessing for both quarter panels and both doors and blending. but this is why we have estimaters so if yo can get an estimate usually they are free and shop around for the best quality and price and see what numbers they give you but they should be around my guesses. I am fortunate to have a RUST_FREE car.yay

lol. Doors are absolutely rust eaten and toast, but I'm planning on just buying a set from a parts car some time in the future.

just get the door skins replaced

Yeah, I probably should....Ill do it tomorrow:lol:
As someone who USED to work at a collision shop (body shop) I can add even more input for the raw plastics bit.

The reason raw plastics are tricky is because they are covered in a film of mold release..Meant to keep the part from sticking to the mold from which it was created, but also ends up preventing paint from sticking to it
the way to remove it COMPLETELY is to flam be' it with a propane torch, then scuff / scrub it with special cleaners, then flam be' it again for good measure

In theroy, you could cut and weld pieces to frankenstien yourself a new..ish panel, but theres a few problems with that
A: Your gonna have seams that need body filler. this might not sound like a big deal, and potentially it isnt, but depending on what filler you use, what sanding techniques you use, it could end up showing itself, via swelling, shrinking, cracking, or sanding scratches
B: the amount of time replacing just the pars is going to be the same or more than that of replacing the entire panel
C: any smart body shop will charge much much more for used parts. The reason: They are a pain n the ass. There's ALOT of extra work to be had when using used pieces.
D: The finished product, and the work getting there will be much nicer than a patchwork job. Plus, no worries of the problem returning

I would talk with your body shop (or ask yourself) if this is a viable option for you. If you were in a situation where you could either re-skin the door, or make due with a used door, Id choose re-skinning it. Good suggestion

Eric,

I just couldn't resist... it's in my genes. :lol:

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Haha, nice my car made it's way into another SVX publication.:lol:

now...how do I open that? I suck at tecknoligeee

Its a Microsoft Word document. When you click on it, it will either say "Open" or "Save"

If you click open, it will open the document (if you have Microsoft Word). You can view it and save it to your desktop for later.

If you click "Save", it will let you save it on your computer without opening it. You can then open it whenever you want.

If you have a PC you should have Word. If you have a Mac, I am not sure what program you would use to convert it.

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With just a little photo editing to get rid of the scrapes and flaws. It almost looks like Mike621's Claret now...

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Yeah it looks darker than Bordeaux cuz we were in a gas station at like 1AM on the way to the Pumpkincarve meet.