DIY Bodywork - What should I do\avoid to save money down the line?

[jeremywrags]

Hi All,

I have a 72 Jimmy that is not horrible but it does need paint and some minor body work. I would like to start doing some of it myself but want to avoid doing anything that I will have to pay to be undone later.

My Plan was to start one panel at a time, sand it down weld/bondo if I have to and then prime it and perhaps a coat of rattle can to keep the color consistent, my wife hate driving multi color cars...

If I do this now and say in a year I am ready for a "Real" Paint Job am I making more work for the body shop?

Thanks

J

 

[blazinzuk]

PM Ryoken he can lead you in the ways of the force and he is more than willing to help it seems.

 

[ryoken]

thanks Eric... got your PM jeremy,i'll get back to this ASAP here in the thread for the tech... gimme a day or so to straighten out this computer issue.. i get bumped off every couple minutes and i don't wanna type a novel to lose it to the introweb gnomes...

 

[JBerno]

subscribed...come on Ryoken...time to help the little people here

I have had the same question, not to skilled here but would like to give it a shot. Would I need to buy a cheap DA sander or will the regular palm sander work?

 

[JBerno]

....................

 

[ryoken]

i know, i know... my bad... i'll write something up in word tonight and copy/paste it....

 

[JBerno]

Awesome...you da man

 

[ryoken]

ok, we'll tackle the easy one first, a DA vs a palm sander... for optimum performance and speed a DA, hands down.. dual action will kill any orbital sander... now, that being said, running a DA requires some good air to run.. a decent compressor.. small tank compressors will require wait times for it to catch up..

Porter Cable electric DA's are a viable option, and comparable performance-wise to air, but run about $150 or so, compared to $40, 50 for an air... a palm sander is a much "safer" way to sand, much easier to get a proper featheredge, non-gouging, etc... not a huge deal on cars, most pick it up pretty quick, but I've seen guys DESTROY boats with DA's.. no metal to stop it from "digging" my boss at the collision shop actually outlawed DA's and made ya use a palm sander, as he had had guys mess up lot's of featheredging with DA's.. definitely doable, but it is a much slower process... stripping a whole K5 is a daunting task with a palm sander..

as to the original question... there are a couple ways to approach such a situation.. one is to do the bodywork areas only, bring them thru primer, then deal with the good painted ares later.. the other would be to get large areas sanded or stripped, and thru a decent fill primer... then deal with individual damage areas when convenient..

now damage areas can be dealt with in numerous way.. hammer and dolly, spoon work, slide hammer, etc.. always grind out past the damage area a decent amount... this will be your feathered edge... so if you do metalwork, patch, etc, little filler, block it out, it should be filler, raw steel, old paint.. not filler right into the paint... all block work should always be crosscut sanding method...

if you need specifac repair approaches, hammer/dolly methods, etc.. let me know, plenty of tricks to it..

also doing bodywork areas, meaning taking a grinder to it, will show you what kinda mils (thickness is there) it will let you know what approach to take to the non-damaged areas.. meaning your "good" paint... rule of thumb is if it's had a paint job over the factory finish, it'll be too thick with a 3rd squirt over it.. not that it can't be done and look good, but thick finish have a tendency to craze and fail prematurely... generally if your seeing multiple layers, it's best to rip it down pretty good.. factory paint minimum, or factory prime.. best yet clean raw steel.. tho this adds to your self-etching primer costs..

if you do leave factory primer, it's best to cut everything to that level.. some bare spots and factory primer.. if you have lots of "sanded edges" raw, primer, factory paint, next primer, etc all spotted in and camo looking, your asking for cringing issues.. that where the wet primer your putting on has it's solvents "eat" into the edge and crinkle it up... pain in the arse... and difficulty in getting a level surface with your primer.. this harkens back to what i mentioned earlier about my old boss outlawing DA's..

if you leave factory primer you just go right to a fill primer.. spot in your bare spots with zinc than overcoat the whole thing with fill primer... you can drive around like that for quite some time.. then when it's ready for paint, they can just scuff it, put a sealer on, or a fresh fill prim coat, and paint it...

 

[ryoken]

well, in all that bodywork babble, i just realized i didn't answer your particular question... yes, you can do the rig a panel at a time..

just be forewarned that many rattlecan primers do NOT react well with later applied catalyzed products... the bodyshop may grow to despise you... also alot off rattlecan primers, including ANY lacquer primer will absorb water.. not advisable to leave them outside for extended periods of time...

 

[kaharshs]

I had good luck with the tcpglobal brand stuff on my suburban. Definately not high quality but if your lookin for a ok job at a good price you cant beat epoxy primer with a nice single stage urethane topcoat. I have also used the omni line and like them. When ever I use ppg or similar high end paints I can definately tell the difference when spraying it on. Goes on perfect with no need to wet sand unless you want the show quality paint job. definately go with a da sander if possible but yes it will dig in if you dont watch out. If you dont have a large air compressor them maby go with the electric. I have never used one. Never aloud to do to the possibilty of dust blowing up the shop. I have done a few cars one panel at a time. It works but its not the most efficient way of doing things.