914 Bodywork, ...Zero Expereince... Options

[RangerRhett]

I have never done bodywork/paint on a car before.


I have a few dings in my '74LE (very minor) and I am dying to get it looking as good as I can for next summer. Since I have no experince, should I try/not try to learn how to paint/fix dents on my own?

On one hand, I would feel better doing the job myself. On the other hand, I don't want to screw it up worse than it already is... (it isn't that bad)...

A) In your opinion, Should I?
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/cool.gif) How do I learn how to paint stuff?

[Bleyseng]

QUOTE (Vacca Rabite @ Dec 4 2005, 07:37 PM)

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I had a similar question. What is the best way to cut body panels (or in my case, a front trunk floor) accuratly so that you can wled in a replacement? I'd imagine that it has to be pretty prescise, how do you go about doing it. Sawzall, sabre saw, angle grinder with cutoff wheel? Zach

I use all three of those tools.

For replacing a panel, I lay the new piece over the rusty part or hole in the case of front trunk floor repair. Cut the new panel to cover the hole or rusty panel plus and 1" or more to have a good place to cut it. Tack weld it in place in 4 spots. Then using the 3 tools, cut along the edge or thru both so that the new panels edge lines up with the spot its going to. Check fit after completing the cutting(cut thru the tack welds) and then stitch weld the new panel in. Go slow so you don't heat up everything and warp the fit of the panels.
In the front trunk floor you want to cut and weld on the raised parts of the floor as weld down in a gully is hard and grinding is impossible.

On other panels like fenders, just cut to fit and refit and grind and refit and finally stitch weld it in. The time is spend fitting as the welding goes pretty quickly. Prep is everything, clean paint and grease free metal makes for clean nice welds. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/welder.gif)