Take this rear quarter loaded with fiberglass and crinkled on the inside. I'm no body man but I'm willing to put the time in to fix this quarter but is it worth it ? The car was hit in the rear, most damage was taken by the frame rail crossmember which I cut out will weld in new. I'm just seeing a lot of fiberglass hiding a world of sins plus bumper issues. My question is repair or replace ? Where is the line drawn. Again no body man here but I'm in construction and can sand & spackle my *** off so I'm willing to put the time in but don't want to waste time either. Thx for any advise.

 

You would be amazed what you can do with a hammer and dolly and a little tecqnique . Along with a little heat shirnking. I'm not honkin my own horn but I'm the guy at work (bodyshop). That fixes panels that should be replaced using minimal filler. It comes down to the metal work and knowing where to shrink , where to strech , when to heat and when to quench. Thinner metals on newer cars suck to work with specially when using old school methods meant for thicker metals ., but I make it work. If its original sheetmetal I would try to fix before I replace. Alittle metal work goes far.

 

Good advice Copper. I once knew a guy that could MAKE body panels with the mist basic of tools.......and a WHOLE lot of knowledge. Why not try to save it.... If it doesn't work, then cut it off and replace.

 

A few months ago a member surprised a bunch of us with a crushed cowl and managed to beat it back into shape and it turned out nice. I probably would of cut it out and welded in a new piece.

 

The best advice i like to give people is. Go out and buy a beat up fender. patch up some rust straighten some dents , creases , do a little heat shrinking, find out what body hammers do what , what techniques will work with certain dents ., Like hammer off dolly, hammer on dolly etc etc. Practice is perfect.

To give you a few examples ., I made this patch panel by hand. I never did that before but i watched a few videos on youtube of what guys do to make motorcycle fenders and it only took 1 piece of sheetmetal. Just took my time. For this particular rust repair i did a lap weld vs. butt weld .



Here is a pretty dented up fender job i did



This was after just working the metal. i never used a stud welder just shaped it with the correct hammer and dollies.

 

I'm all in for trying. Now my particular crinkle you would heat it up then beat it into the best shape I can ? How much heat & will a small Mac torch work ? Thx for the tips also your fender came out real good. No one is ready to put a welder in my hands just yet but I'm shopping. Now I assume thin filler several times over on that fender makes it perfect ?

 

Before you hit it with heat you will hammer it out close to where it needs to be then hammer and dolly the creases out . There will be a certain amount of stretch and that's where you can heat shrink it. A mapp gass torch is very sufficient for the job. You don't wanna get it cherry red. Jut hot enough to get the metal to stretch a bit then you give it a few taps to compress the metal molecules which will shrink it then you quench it with a wet rag for it to hold its shape. That particular fender took 2 skim coats. 1 of filler and one of glazing putty. I don't like using filler a whole lot. So I keep it to a minimum.

 

you guys are amazing. Talented steel workers are like voodoo. Stretch it, shrink it.

My skills are more on the order of I hammered a mangled motor mount heat shield into serviceable form again.

 

My particular rear quater the problem is only on the inside with pretty tight creases won't trying to beat it flat just fold the metal over ? Or is that the idea any way to get it flat. I also don't want to mess up the good side. But I will give it a try. What type metal tools do I def need or which any body guy shouldn't be without ?Here's the before pic again.

 

My particular rear quater the problem is only on the inside with pretty tight creases won't trying to beat it flat just fold the metal over ? Or is that the idea any way to get it flat. I also don't want to mess up the good side. But I will give it a try. What type metal tools do I def need or which any body guy shouldn't be without ?Here's the before pic again.

 

Not sure why that posted twice hopefully my new body skills are better than my phone skills. Real quick stuff like original tail lenses, the tail housings, plate light housing I hope I'm not wasting my time puttering with these. I bought a new tail lens a few months ago just to see it and needless to say I'm painting my old ones. Let me know if I'm doing this stuff right thx in advance let me have it if I'm not it's the only way I will learn. This site has been my blueprint all along as this in my first attempt at a auto restoration.

 

For that area i would use a stud welder. 100 bucks at harbor freight . Or you can make your own pull tabs from thick gauge sheet metal with holes drilled on one end so you can pull with a slide hammer. The way you do this is weld a pull tab or a few studs along the crease about half an inch or so to side of the crease . Start on one side first . You weld a pull tab on and then put a little heat with a mapp gass torch into the crease . Now you put your slide hammer hook into the hole on the pull tab and give it a tap then just hold it back as you tap the crease down to stretch the crease so it will unfold. Once you get the creased to unfold a little bit you can hammer and dolly them flat. Since its in a hidden i wouldnt get too hung up and making it perfect but you can finish it with a little fiberglass filler to smooth it out and then a little primer and undercoating will make it look good.

As for tools i dont have too many exotic tools in my box at work. You can buy a hammer and dolly set at harbor freight , a slide hammer , some sanding blocks , a stud welder will come in handy and of course grinders and what not. I do have some specific shrinking hammers but i have come up with a technique that makes it a useless too. I use a dolly and a spring loaded center punch . Holding the dolly behind the area thats a little streched i push the center punch into it. It has a hard enough blow to leave a divit that will tighten the metal molecules ans shrink it but not a hard enough blow to over do it.

 

The tail light is still a work in progress as it only has one hit of paint will wet sand it a little with 1000 or higher grit and paint again. Everything is hand painted in my living room in front of the TV to hot and to much dust in my garage. Is there a better way will these look cheesy ? Or am I on the right track. Going for nice driver quality when done the car.

 

I have all the grinders several sized palm sanders big hammers bigger hammers most carpentry and electricians tools. I do even know what's dolly is unless I'm moving furniture with one so got a lot to learn

 

Alright then my next suggestion will be buy books. I have been doing collision repair for 8 years but still buy book , watch videos anything to learn something new or make life easier. We can only give so much help throughthe forum but having good refrence books helps greatly. Metal shaping books . Autobody books will help you get the basic skills and some terminology for us to better help you .

 

Here are a few suggestions.

https://play.google.com/store/books/...UDhQ&gclsrc=ds

This is the book i still have from high school

https://www.google.com/shopping/prod...crrI8vOeMS5jRA

here is another one

https://www.google.com/shopping/prod...crrI8vOeMS5jRA

and lastly .

https://www.google.com/shopping/prod...u6F8u9eMKKjLgF

 

You say it has fiberglass, not sure i see it but first remove all the glass and bondo if it has it then see what you have to work with. You may need to cut out the metal then straighten it, and weld it back in, or replace it with new metal. Do you have a MIG welder, or access to one?

 

steverw i thought the same thing about the fiberglass. Also didnt even think about cutting the panel out and straightening it out off then welding back on. I have done that before many times and yest that would be much easier than what i mentioned.

 

I took all the filler out already it was packed in everywhere. I could cut it out and flatten it out but will have to get my buddy to come up and weld it if you think that's the way to go. As far as the books go I use my smart phone for everything. If a customer asks if I know how to do something I say yes then go look it up. Already got the skippy on the hammer dolly technique will practice on some junk metal. Welding is in my near future. Those stud welders are they good for anything besides pulling dents ? I'm actually surprised those studs even hold.