Body Work Noob lol.

[dstryr]

Alright well here goes. I have a 71 camaro that I recently finished mechanically (well for now ) and its time to start body work. Today I got all my body panels gaps right all around the car but what I found was that the previous owner was horrible with bondo. You can tell he tried to redo the body lines so even though the gaps are perfect on all the panels, the lines are messed up.

So how hard is it going to be for me to redo the lines? anyone have any tips or can someone walk me through it? I have all the time in the world and I'm in no hurry. Whats involved in redoing the original lines? What I'm thinking is I'm going to have to sand all the primer off and fix a few things and the originals should be there ? under all the primer and bondo?

Also, when stripping to bare metal, how bad is it to leave bare for a couple days? I mean I live in an inland spot in california so I don't think it will rust too fast.

any tips would be great and appreciated. I'm finally getting excited seeing my car become more than some metal bolted together.

Thanks,
Dennis

[class67]

:hmm: The way that you describe this makes me think that there is more to be seen under the "bondo" and "primer". Proceed with caution. Are you planning on stripping the whole car? or just areas that you want to work on? either way, I would not leave bare metal on the car, even your fingerprints will leave surface rust after very little time.

[hotrdblder]

need pics of gaps and body lines

[Rick D]

I would start with striping the WHOLE car to bare metal than start at one point on the car snd go from there. Pictures would help.

[dstryr]

Alright, when I go up to work on it tomorrow I'll snap some pictures. I planned on taking it to bare metal , and throwing on some etching primer. i want to make sure the car is 100% good to go before going to paint...

[dstryr]

well you guys inspired me so I took the 15 min drive up to my dad's shop and snapped some pictures. The gaps are the best my uncle and I could get and we worked for atleast 6 hours yesterday. Both doors close great and feel better than a lot of doors on other cars I've closed.
http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj204/dennisrathi/Camaro%20Panel%20Alignment/
http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj204/dennisrathi/Camaro%20Panel%20Alignment/Driver%20side/
http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj204/dennisrathi/Camaro%20Panel%20Alignment/Passenger%20Side/

[danbob67]

just a heads up that etch primer wont keep the bare metal from rusting epoxy would be better

[dstryr]

Hmm yeah, you are right. Also, I messed up the album names in photobucket. The one for driverside is really the passenger and etc...

anyone have any suggestions? Is there a good body work book out there I can get to start the learning ? lol.

[danbob67]

you might want to look to see if you could help out at a local body shop this kinda stuff really doesnt come out of a book to learn. it is a hands on kinda thing and dont look to become a body man over night some people got it and some dont. only time and practice will tell and your project should be a good start to learning the trade.

[dstryr]

Hmm yeah, sounds like a good idea . I'm going to go talk to this guy down the street from me and see what we can work out.

[Rick D]

It's hard to tell from those pictures but here's where I would start. First strip everything done to bare metal, next epoxy the whole car (as stated etching primer won't keep it from rusting as good as epoxy) also you can't do your body work over etching prime but you can over epoxy. Once you have it all striped down start at one spot and work your way from there. I would start at the back (trunk and qtr's) good place to get your feet wet, unless you end up changing your qtr's than you've got bigger stuff to worry about. Anyway when you get to the door's start with the line at the qtr's and the bottom of the door, once you've got those line's looking good than worry about the front sheet metal. Don't be affrad to take a body hamer to the panels and use the door hinges for the up and down and the in and out. If the top of the door needs to go in alittle to line up with the top of the qtr than losen the top hinge at the door side to move it. try to only losen one hinge at a time (unless you need to move the whole door up or down). This should give a good start, as for a shop to help you just remember this is all time and billed as such, so if it needs alot of moving and beating on the panels it could add up quickly. On the other hand if the bodyman is not used to doing old car's than you could end up paying for his learning on your car. This is just my opinion and other 's may go at a defferent way. Hope this helps.