Newbie body work questions.

[Cntymnty77]

Hello,

I've got my first K5 (1983 Silverado) back in Sept. (2016) and as soon as I got it home, I started stripping it. While taking it apart, I found there were a lot of mixed parts from other trucks, not a big deal but the glove box was one of the parts. Meaning I don't have any of the RPO Codes. I was wanting to get as close to possible to original but without those, I can only get close. I know the original exterior color (Midnight Blue) but have no clue what the interior was. Anyway.. that went a little longer than I wanted.

Over the last few weeks I've been sanding down the body and inspecting it for rust and other damage. Luckily I've found very little rust so far but who ever did the body work on this last, filled it like crazy with bondo, instead of fixing dents and dings. I just got a hammer and dolly set but have never really done much body work, other than sanding and a little bit of painting. I was a welder for quite a while in another life so I don't need to worry about that. I'm just curious what tips or tricks some of you guys have for a newbie on banging out dents and dings. I also have a good sized dent on the roof of the passengers, right on the front radiused corner. With there being an inner and outer skin, any ideas on how to bang it out?

 

[brans87]

Stud gun once welded you and pull it out slowly then cut head off and smooth it out for dentin roof.

 

[Cntymnty77]

Stud gun once welded you and pull it out slowly then cut head off and smooth it out for dentin roof.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Maroon_Madness94]

When banging out dents etc you will only get so close to being straight before you just start moving metal around. My advice is get it close so that you use minimal filler. You want the slight dent for the filler to have something to fill without sanding through to high spots. In all just dont be afraid to start spreading and sanding. Make sure you da your spots in 80grit before you mud otherwise it wont adhere well.

 

[Cntymnty77]

When banging out dents etc you will only get so close to being straight before you just start moving metal around. My advice is get it close so that you use minimal filler. You want the slight dent for the filler to have something to fill without sanding through to high spots. In all just dont be afraid to start spreading and sanding. Make sure you da your spots in 80grit before you mud otherwise it wont adhere well.

Thanks for the help. I just wish it would warm up some so I could go out and get started.

 

[RubberFloorMat]

If it was midnight blue, the only color the interior would be is grey.

Agree with the weld on stud gun. Eastwood has a pretty good setup but not exactly bargain basement.