Hey guys, I'm just getting started on a project and I'm new to body work of any kind. The project is a 54 f100 and its a bit rusty. It has been used as a truck and has the dents to prove it. So here's the question. Do I sand these dented panels down to bare metal before beating the dents out, or beat them out to pretty close to the right shape and then sand them down? I guess a more general question is where do I start on bringing this body back to life? Thanks for the help.

 

Hi JW, welcome to FTE.

When I was working on our 41 PU, I took as much of the dent out as I could before worrying about getting the old paint off. It just seemed that I could see the dent better as is. After I got it to where I was satisfied with it, I then sandblasted. There were a few places that I worked on some more after blasting and many places that I knew were going to need filler.

You can do it however you want though as I don't think it makes that much of a difference. The biggest thing is to have a lot of patience.

Good luck with your project and please feel free to post progress pictures.

 

I'll add a couple of ideas..as mentioned bodywork,even for the seasoned professional ,takes alot of patience. Since you are 'sanding' vs sandblasting,you may be able to save yourself some time,..and learn at the same time..that's a win-win in my book!
Most dents are repaired using a hammer dolly approach..more specifically,the dent is "reversed" or worked backwards..the deepest area is worked(with the hammer) out first, the surrounding area follows the metal back to the original postion,and is finesed or coaxed back to where it started from.Metal may have become'stretched" where the dent was requireing more technique to shrink some areas to allow the metal to conform to the original shape. This is real general of course, but is the idea,.and offers oppportunity for a little experimentation. Take it slow and easy, a little at a time.
Because you are sanding,as long as you use a sanding block that is "longer" than the dent(one that bridges over the affected area), you will be able to see rather quickly(while the paint is still on the vehicle)..that shiney area are the ones you are done with, and the painted areas are the areas that still need to be raised/leveled out.Keep working up the low areas,and tapping down the high areas, until you can lightly skim it with body filler. At this point a quick sandblast of the repair area and a coat or two of an epoxy primer and your ready for filler.Good Luck!

 

Thanks, that helps quite a bit. Makes quite a bit of sense to sand it to see where the low spots still are. Another question for anybody. This is going to be a very slow project and I plan to take it one panel at a time. Would it be advisable to get a panel straightened out and cleaned up and cover with a coat of primer from a rattle can? I plan to get a decent spray gun in the future, but for the time being would "rattle canning" it be a good idea or will it cause more hassle in the end?

 

I'm no super body guy but I would think you would want a epoxy primer for the first coat. You can use the rattle can but you would want to remove rattle primer before epoxy primer. At least I would.

You don't need a fancy spray gun for that primer.

 

i think what hes asking is if can he use rattle can as a temporary primer just to keep things from rusting as hes finishing each panel at one time. Im just getting into doing body work my self so someone else chime in if im wrong, but I cant see how it would hurt anything to hit it with a nice light coat of primer out of a rattle can. I do agree when your are finished with all of the body work it would be smart to sand off all the primer and hit it with your epoxy.


Cmoritz- I have a question for you, I noticed you said-- "At this point a quick sandblast of the repair area and a coat or two of an epoxy primer and your ready for filler." Again correct me if im wrong but wouldnt the filler come before the primer??

 

That is how it (filler) was designed to be used . I wouldn't trust the adhesion to the panel over epoxy, unless you buy into the marketing hype ...

 

That's what I thought, I didn't know if there was some new product or alternate universe going on ha