Ryan Armstrong

iTrader: (8)

so i want to start sanding my camaro and start some of the prep work. kinda new to this so im not sure what grit sand paper to use. any tips will help...thanks

i tried a search but couldnt really come up with what i was looking for.

thanks,
ryan

HAte

what are you trying to do repaint? body work?

Ryan Armstrong

iTrader: (8)

oh sorry the whole car is getting repainted and yes it has a few small dents on the rear quaters that need some body work. its just sitting in the garage while i wait for the motor parts and i figured i could atleast start getting the paint off, but i dont want to mess it up

HAte

for dents, 80 grit first, straighten filler atleast 220, prime, then sand out to 400 then 600



body panel thats just getting painted (that is free of any blemish such as a clear peal or deep scratch)

sand it out with 400 or 600 or even red scuff pad. now if you've never done this before id choose red scuff because its a little safer than a stiff piece of sandpaper and you can get in all the grooves nice and edges. remember don't use your finger tips use your hand flat with the scuff pad.

another choice is use gray scuff pad with "Scuff Stuff" this will sand and clean the panel at the same time.

Ryan Armstrong

iTrader: (8)

alright thank you thats a big help seeing how this is my first time.

axon360

iTrader: (3)

great write up, is it necessary to prime an entire car if you're just sanding the clearcoat and not the undercoat?

bdyman

great write up?? seriously??? if the dent can be worked out from behind the panle, then why not do that oh wait you have no experience and are not a body man so if you worked the metal you would probably screw things up just being honest

if the dent is shallow enough small enough/ then ya evercoats glaze 415 and 416 is made to go over sanded paint, but and i mean but i have seen poeple like this guy asking questions which is fine but...... lets see him finish fix a small door ding and then i get it becasue they fucked it up real bad

glaze over almost the whole panle1 or the body work one a golf ball size dent is so bad and so lumpy that i have to start over again, have any experience using different sized and shapes of blocks, using a grinder using a d.a. the inexperience can warp a panle with a d.a. i have see apprentices do it

sure us techs can do pages and pages of write ups but and i mean but if we are not there showing you and teaching you learning a hands on trade over the internet well then you will fail

i can give you my advice but thats all i can do but since you lack the experience doing so isnt going to help you so i suggest having a shop do it or bring the car to me and ill do it

Sublime Dak

I hope your bodywork is better than your spelling and grammar.

There is no black science to bodywork, and it is most certainly something most guys can do with the right help and patience. It's just a few small minor dings, not like he is rebuilding a wrecked car, so how about offering suggestions and tips instead of claiming only a shop can do it.

I had never painted a car, much as less prepped one for paint, but with the help online of some very skilled 30 year experience body men, got it done and it turned out great, dare I say better than I have seen roll out of some of these so called 'professional shops'. The point is, you can do this stuff yourself, the question is are you willing to put the time, and labor in that is required to learn how to do it properly.

If not, then send it to a shop.

HAte

who said anything about working the metal from the back side?
i said to finish your filler to 220?

HAte

80grit the spot to which you want to fill for adhesion.

bdyman

ok then, if its that easy go be a apprentice in a shop if you and everyone in this thread claims its so easy go ahead be my guess, and when the boss puts a car in your stall and you cant fix it, you can always tell him well people online tell me its easy

so then it must be easy

HAte

whats wrong with, sanding the area with 80grit....applying your filler. sanding progressively down to 220, then prime it when you have it straight, then sand the primer with 400 then 600

yes i will admit this is a very loose explanation, but if someone wants to try it and they dont want to take it somewhere and have it done, and theyre asking for help? what are you suppose to do not reply?

if "ryan armstrong" wants to try his hand at body work let him do it










no where in my reply did i say wowwwwwww so easy, nor did anyone else, i was simply giving a simple process

and no problem i will be your "guess" (guest im assuming) on repairing anything you put in my "stall"...........seeing as that im a full time body man its no problem at all. and with all your freaking out you must have trouble with body work? come to think of it.....body work is prett easy for me, you can teach a monkey to do body work

and if you think im just blowin smoke up your ***. come see me at my shop any time youd like

im not trying to start some pissing match online, thats gay, im just sayin calm down before you start blowin through the door placing judgment on anything that has to do with sand paper just because your handle is bdyman

KTK Z28

iTrader: (6)

Were you planning to attempt to work those "small dents" out from the backside? Or were you going to use some kind of nail gun to pull those?

I would recommend trying to go from the backside, I know you mentioned using a plastic filler to "fill" the ding but I would try to work it a bit from the inside. Access to the damage can be a complete bitch but if possible its almost always better to work the metal a little bit before trying to use a filler. Metal work is definitely a learning process that takes years, but if your not trying to build an autorama car it's possible for a newbie to do. Just take your time! Possibly consider buying a book on body work, it will probably be less than $20 and would give you a good reference point for your project. Of course those books aren't the end all be all, but in my opinion $20 is a small price to pay for a little kick start on working metal.

67goatman455

iTrader: (14)

your dead on man, i pretty much stopped coming into the paint section to help guide people because honestly, almost any paint/body work should be done by a professional.

Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

I've never had a class on body work but from the advice of my grandfather over the phone and from reading up on it online, I've gotten just as good at it as anyone who went to a tech class. Now I haven't started learning how to hammer dents, but that's next. I just think there are people who don't want to share their skills because they may lose business. Proof: And how much would a shop charge to do the prep work? I've heard quotes locally as high as $1500. That's whole car paint for $3000 or $1500 if the car is prepped when I bring it in.

On a side note, there's a Haynes Techbook "Automotive Body Repair & Painting" that has a lot of good info about body repair, paint prep and painting, including how to use different types of tools on different surfaces and how to set-up and adjust your paint gun.

Sublime Dak

lol, funniest post so far.

Sublime Dak

No one said it was easy tard, but it's not rocket science. Just because you spray cars down at the local Macco doesn't mean you're anyone to treat someone wanting to learn like they aren't intelligent enough, when you obviously prove one doesn't need a high level of education to do bodywork.

bdyman

once again people lets see you and anyone else do what us techs do for a living, and lest see if that book you read is going to apply to a real time situation, **** your book **** your online training

like i said do what us techs do day in and day out for yrs on end, its only easy for a tech that has been doing it for yrs on end then its easy, but go ahead do your backyard hack work and when you **** it up and go to a shop and they see your hack work dont come crying on here becasue its going to cost you more to correct your mistake

just go read a book or learn online thats what all the cool kids are doing

KTK Z28

iTrader: (6)

Just relax a little bdyman. The guy is trying to learn, sometimes mistakes are the best learning tool. Nobody is good at anything the first time around, everybody has to start somewhere. Obviously he's not trying to build himself a show car... give the guy some credit, he wants to use his own hands to work on his own car. That counts for something in my opinion.

There's nothing wrong with reading a book on metal work or body techniques. Of course there's going to be things that you simply can't learn from anything other than experience, but it is a starting point. I agree there are many aspects of body work that cannot be described in text, but again it's a good point to start from. It's cheap, easily accessible, and you can read it on your own time. You can actually learn quite a bit from literature, you'd be surprised.

Sublime Dak

Derp. I can, and I know many people who can do what you guys do for a living, you're not a brain surgeon.. No one ever said it was easy, but you don't hear engine builders on here saying no one can build their own engine, and that isn't easy for some either. lol No offense dude but you take yourself too serious. Lighten up, many many many people CAN'T do what you do, I grant you that, but some of us can.