Basic tools and tips for Bodywork and Prep
From Captain Fisheye and Bondo Bob

If you are tackling a project in your garage you will need some basic tools to do bodywork and prep work.

A good compressor of 5 HP will run just about any air tool or spray gun. Make sure when you plumb your airlines you make provisions for draining out water and for installing oil and water traps. If you plan on using HVLP type spray guns you will need larger airlines (finish with 3/8 hose and HVLP couplings) for these to work properly. Beside basic hand tools, you do not need a lot of tools to do basic, quality bodywork.

Number one is a good stiff long board and a hand block. A long board takes long narrow sheets of sand paper available in coarser grits (40,80,100,120) for rough blocking large areas straight, (note the Velcro style save a lot off time changing grits). A hand block is shorter for finer grits and smaller areas, I prefer to use a piece of straight wood approx 2” x 5” x 1” or a very hard rubber block and I also like the broad ones that take a half sheet of 9 x 11 paper. Tip: when checking body panels, use a soft rag or clean cotton glove and close your eyes feeling the panel for irregularities (an old master told me this years ago and I swear by it).

If you plan on doing your own bodywork on a steel car, you will need a migwelder, cutting torches, a die grinder, a cut off tool, a grinder, some dollies (heavy metal dies with flats and curves you hammer against to shape metal), a dolly hammer, a shrinking hammer and some metal files and possibly an orbital sander and some clean heavy gauge sheet metal. You can get some great professional tools from Eastwood that are hard to find anywhere else. They also have the ribbed shrinking disc for your grinder, which works fantastic for shrinking dollied high spots on thick metal as found on older cars.

A lot of people snub there nose at using plastic fillers, but the truth is, if used properly they will out perform lead and give you a lasting finish to repair areas. If you need to weld in patches, make the repair piece as precise and close to the area as possible, a cut-off wheel will give a sharp straight cut on your repair area. You don’t want overlap if possible as this will create more finish work and be susceptible to trapping moister and rusting where it overlaps. If you run into a piece you can’t shape yourself you might want to enlist the help of a panel beater to make it. An experienced craftsman on an English wheel can make a precise compound curved piece in minutes that will save hours of finish work (and frustration).

For plastic fillers, you will need a mix board, cheese files, some 36 grit grinding discs, some spreaders (spring steel work better) and 40, 80 and 120 grit abrasives.
Note on “bondo”: Modern plastic (polyester) fillers are available in different qualities, the premium fillers have a finer talc making them less susceptible to pin-holing (caused by air bubbles that are trapped).
I like to finish shape the plastic with 80 grit, then skim coat with 2 part polyester putty (a still finer talc) or a pour-able type 2 part putty (even finer) and finish block sand the repair with 120 then 180 before priming. Do this and you will never have shrinkage, pinholes or scratches showing up later. When mixing hardener with plastic, “more is not better”, the hardener is tinted with an ink so you can see it mix, if you use too much you can get migration bleeding (staining) through your paint job that is not repairable!
Rule of thumb: add a bead of hardener (after kneading the tube with your fingers) to half the diameter of the blob of filler you put on your mix board.
Do not ever try to fill holes or deep dents with plastic, do your metal work as good as you can first and grind well for adhesion, these are strictly for thin finish coats to your metal work. Plastic filler should be applied like “icing”, smooth and even and a bit high, saving a lot of applications and finishing time. Note: plastic filler has a shelf life of approximately 6 to 12 months from being made to work right and should never be frozen, use fresh filler – it has a batch code stamped on the can – if you are unsure phone the manufacturer with their code.
The first time I did an original ’34 Ford, the body was done and the interior guy redid the hardwood that is the door frame and supports the quarter panels – ruining hours of labour and my custom paint job (thank you very much Mr. XXXXXXX), as this threw everything out – if you need new wood – do it first.

When board blocking out primers or fillers, you use a diagonal (cross hatch) pattern to get things straight and follow compound curves with out flat spotting or grooving (digging) the area leaving lines that appear when painted. When blocking let the paper do the work, you don’t need heavy pressure or you will get dig marks. Be very careful when blocking into raised areas (I usually put down some masking tape to protect a rib edge from digs). Re guide coat primer as you work up in progressive grits so you sand enough and don’t over sand and always use a block or a rubber sanding pad – to keep things straight and prevent finger grooves. Feel as you go, with a soft rag and your eyes closed, you will be surprised at the subtle wows you will find that would show when painted. Don’t be surprised if you need to re-prime areas several times before you can get it right – this is normal. Machine sanding near the end is okay (particularly with the premium papers now available), try to use a good orbital sander with fine action, a hard backing pad for flat areas and change your paper often, guide coating as you move up in grits.

Prepping a fibreglass body is not much different than a steel one for getting it straight (also see primer article). Look for stress cracks in the body – you will have to re-enforce the area with glass at the back and go way down through the gel coat to repair and keep them from re-appearing down the road. Also look for pinholes in new glass and gel coat blisters, sharpness of bodylines and raised details - these can be usually be fixed with 2 part polyester putty and some patient shaping. Wavy glass is very challenging to get to look like a steel car, try to get a body that looks straight to begin with, it will save you hours and hours if the mold and gel coat were true to start with.
Note: when working with glass where old long sleeve clothes or a disposable paint suit and gloves or you will be itching for days.
Contrary to popular belief, you can chemically strip fibreglass of old paint with regular paint stripper, just don’t leave it on for a long time and neutralize it with water right away after scrapping or you can soften up the gel coat.

One of the challenges of doing bodywork is getting panels to line up with proper, even gaps and doors and trunks to shut easily and flush. Most original cars from the 30’s and earlier often didn’t fit together well when they were made, certainly not by today’s standards (often doors overlapped the body when shut from the factory-yikes!). This is one area where you might consider getting an experienced body man involved (if only temporarily) early in your project as this will make or break how your car looks when finished. Do this fitting early and you can remove pieces and work on them separately, finishing each like a jewel and making the project less tedious with the satisfaction from knowing an area is finished. There is an adage –“ failing to plan is planning to fail”, so figure out your project’s body mods early and you will save redoing things. Once you have solid foundation you can get ready for “trimming” your paint (painting the inside areas while she is apart) and getting ready for an outstanding kustom paintjob

John