How to: Body Work 101

To begin Bondo is a product name for body filler.
I am not a fan of Bondo products.
I use Evercoat Rage Gold and Evercoat Metal Glaze.
It is a far superior body filler.

 

[DeRocha]

...The other day some stupid kid decided to take it out on the neighberhood. She walked along the sidewalk with a nail in her hand and keyed (scratched) everyone vehicles parked on the side of the street! Mine (2000 Ranger with tri-color) was one of the victim. It is a deep scratch, I wouldn't feel so bad if it was on the passenger side.

Here the question, can I buff it out with scratch remover or will I need to take it to the expert? I have insurance and $100 deductable. Would it worth the pain of doing it my self or leave it to the expert???

For a $100 deductible I would let the pros handle it BTW if you know who this girl is then they should be the one to cough up the $$$.

 

[MONMIX]

yeah $100.00 dedutable. Ger er' done !!!!!!!
A scratch with a nail most likey will never buff out.
The key is this, if your finger nail can catch the scratch, it will need to be repainted.

I don't know about Fresno but machanical labor is almost three times as much as body labor out here.

 

[Ranger Al]

Thanks for the info Monmix. I drove it around town and asked them if it is buff-able and most said "it is too deep". Although I am carious, can they just remove the clear coat and re-apply the clear coat? The Ranger have scratch starting from the drive side door to all the way to the rear tail light. It wouldn't bother me that much if it was on the passenger side. I just wished I could find out who is the girl who took it out on the neighbor. The guy down the street saw the girl, but didn't know she had nail in her fingers and discovered that his 89 Bronco II, 03 Mustang, and 04 Lexus LX300 were all scratched.

I guessed the local body shop will have a field trip with works. lol

 

[MONMIX]

The process goes like this.
Depending on the depth, smooth the scratch edge with a dual action sander with 180 grit. If it doesn't go away, a thin coat of filler will be used. But to answer your question they most definatly will put down fresh color.

Revenge will get you no where.

 

[Ranger Al]

Thanks for the info, Monmix. I found a shop that will do fix all the scratches and the dings around the truck. He is also going to be waivering my deductable and making sure that the truck will look better then what I bought it from the Ford stealership!

 

[Ranger Al]

One last ?, when do Ford start using "F"x4 on their 4x4? Mine have the 4x4 OFF ROAD and was thinking of letting the guy order me the FX4 OFF ROAD.

 

[Rick]

I've got a ton of body work to do on my "new" Dodge Dart. Any reccomendations for working body lines? Any good body work specific website that you know of???

Thanks!!

 

[MONMIX]

I am not aware of any web sites.

Different body lines require different techneques.
A variety of sanding blocks helps. I have a collection of round wooden dowls that help with curved body lines. Some cut down paint sticks as well.
For transition body lines do one side at a time.

To make body lines straight using masking tape and or a pencil helps to make guide lines.
Also spraying a thin coat of black spray paint, then letting it dry and sanding will clearly show you what is going on with your body lines.
As always proper sanding techneque is the key. Smooth consistant strokes, do one pass one direction, do another pass another direction. Remove the mud evenly.

 

[Charlie's_93EB]

can you do body work without engine/trans?

 

[MONMIX]

???
sure why not ?

 

[Charlie's_93EB]

Well Rick's new toy is missing the engine. I thought that would make a diff. Guess not??

 

[Rick]

Just makes it easier to take care of the engine compartment

 

[Charlie's_93EB]

ture,

BTW I like the Pee Soup green. Just leave it and look at shock on the other guy's face when you destory them.

 

[Rick]

It's going to be orange The mini pumpkin...

 

[Stanleyjd]

whats your advice on this. i want to try to tackle it myself. i need list of tools and best place to get them. sugestions of techniques for my situation. you can probably tell it was hit in a parking lot by some idiot that cant park at the mall. lucky i have seen worse.

 

[Stanleyjd]

i am also interested in mono toning the truck white. fyi i got rust spot on the roof near the windsheild and on both sides of the roof lines near the doors. i figure from lack of waxing in the body line. duno maybe the paint was weak there or due to fail. so i am basicly getting at since i want to mono it and i got issues with the roof should i just have the whole truck painted.(i think would make sense cuz most is being painted). its both body lines on each side of the windshield. and i think i can answer my own question for the painting the entire truck cuz now i just remembered the back hatch on the top the paint has came off so i guess its safe to say its due for paint. what should i expect to pay for painting the entire truck and mono toning it. i am going to be moving to arlington va right out side since i saw your in md. any good places up there you can recommend?

 

[MONMIX]

the damage to your door is very significant. I would tend to replace the door shell ( easier, but more costly ) OR replace the door skin ( more difficult, but cheaper )

An all over will run you about $5,000.00. You are doing a color change and normally that would significantly increase the price, but since you are going with white which is the vehicles base color you will not have to pain the jams.

I know nothing about Arlington or where to go down there
sorry.

 

[BF]

Great post! Really makes this easier to understand.

 

[ExploreTHEWorld]

Awesome post, but I like the dents and dings on my truck it lets others know to get the hell out of the way when I'm barreling down the highway, not to mention it sounds like a really big motorcycle..... a motorcycle disintegrating as I drive it HA.

 

[Glen4X4]

Hey Monmix good write up gives me some confidence on trying rust repair on my 96 rockers. But after priming when ready for the actual color is there any type of sanding the primer needs before putting the color on? Thanks