Started doing some body work and I am having a bit of a difficult time with it. Can someone point me in the direction to a site where I can maybe pick up some hints on metal working. I might be old but I can still learn.....Thanks.

 

The most detailed info I've seen has been on the HAMB. If you aren't familiar with it, let us know.

If you can tell us what part is giving you trouble we can be more helpful in pointing to info because it's a pretty big topic: welding sheetmetal panels, gluing sheetmetal, removing dents, shrinking metal, expanding it, prep for paint, using bondo or not, leading, etc.

 

Well, alot of that depends alot on how you like to learn new stuff.

Some folks like to self teach out of books - then trial and error. There's some really good books out there.

But myself, I really prefer to SEE IT DONE and be able to ask questions, then do it with the instructor there to coach.

SO, I might be tempted to look into evening adult vocational programs and classes at local community colleges or dedicated training centers. Theres some great schools and tech centers out there.

Body work requires a tremendous amount of patience!

 

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Your not kidding. I cut my gas tank apart a few weeks ago to get it all cleaned out and just finally got around to welding back together today. It took me about five hours to get it done right and a realization that it has been years since I last welded. But it is good to go now.

 

I Can weld patch panels fairly well, My problem is using the dolly/hammer to properly conture the metal the right way. My extent of the damage is on the lower part of the body where it gets flatend out from damage running into objects. I need to learn to an angle of attack instead of just using a hammer and pound the living heck and use to much bondo to cover up. So I know I am probably asking alot and you guys are probably shaking your heads but heck, if i can see a couple videos on metal working maybe I have a little better understanding the fundimentals.

 

Thanks fordman75! I just glanced at it it looks like what I am looking for!
Ron

 

No problem, they are a great group of guys/gals that have a lot of metal shaping knowledge to share.

 

I can't praise Ron Covell's DVD Basic Techniques for working with Steel www.covell.biz highly enough. He takes the mystery out of body work. The section on "on dolly" and "off dolly" hammer and dolly work is worth the price alone.
Sorry Julie, I have to disagree, done right bodywork is very relaxing and rewarding unless you suffer from AADD. (Not kidding, I didn't realize how much difficulty a person who suffers from this syndrome has until I recently had a student in my woodworking class who suffers from it.)
Do a search on my user name, I have made many posts here on various aspects of body work.
Also ask specific questions, How do I do body work is a pretty big subject.

 

I enjoy doing body work. I'm not great at it but my stuff is OK. I like working and shaping sheet metal. Its my favorite part of building. I struggle with mechanics. I sometimes can't vision or understand how mechanical stuff works but have infinite patience for most body work and paint. I too like AX racer would put all i know about Ron Covell right up there with the best. I also like the "shrinking/hammer/dolly" work of
this guy--I forget his name sorry--http://www.sunchasertools.com/ --but I've seen his demos and a multitude of tools at car shows/swap meets etc. and i also recommend him as well. I think he also has clinics/classes at his Socal shop. I think for me I mostly think of his "metal shrinking" techniques on how to make sheet metal repairs with less or no filler etc.
I've go some of his shrinking discs etc and I used it a lot, but my results were not as good as he could do. Experience in this technique is a must.
But anyway i still used much less filler. I think he has videos too.

 

Shrinking disks are a great tool, but there are a lot less expensive ones out there than sunchaser's, The texture on the disk has little to no additional affect, the smooth ones work just as well. The disk will do little to nothing to bring up low spots, so after using it you need to identify them and do some hammer and dolly work to bring them up to the finished plane. You don't need to be too concerned about bumping them up too high, use the disk to shrink them back down again.

 

Thank's to all of you for your input. It is greatly appreciated.
Ron

 

Go to eastwoods site and look for paint-ucation videos. Kevin is a very good teacher, you will recognize him as the host of Trucks on spike tv.

 

You are a very sick individual! Just kidding AX!

Actually, what I meant by patience wasn't a reflection of frustration as much as a measure of the time it takes. If you are in a hurry, it'll make life difficult.

I was taught to do it by just tapping the hammer in little taps around in circles. Also, I was taught, everything MUST be hand filed and sanded. So it porbably takes me twice as long to do everything (and thus the patience).

But it's worth the results.

 

I actually prefer body work over the mechanical work. But I seem to get stuck doing the mechanical work a lot more then the body work.

But I'm also one of those people that chose to do a frame swap.