Is there any website that shows you how to do bodywork like paint prepping and body filler and some other information? Thanks

Not sure if it "shows" you, but theres plenty of info here

http://www.autobody101.com

Got the April issue of Car Craft in the mail the other day, the cover shows a guy painting a 65 El Camino in a home garage and it says learn to spray it yourself, block sand, apply filler and primer. Got my hopes up until I opened up the mag and found they only devoted 8 pages to this, but I guess it's a basic starting guide. The autobody101 web site has a lot of good how-to info. You'll probably have to buy videos or DVDs if you want to actually see how to do things, or take a class at your local JVS.

What are some good books or dvd's and where to buy them? Im trying to cut down on body shop costs by doing some of it myself. Thanks

Welcome to bodywork 101. Brian Martin is a member here and has been kind enough to publish his "basic of basics" series covering many topics regarding bodywork, prep, paint, etc. just do a search for Martinsr his user name or Brian Martin obviously his real life name. good luck. JN

Try paintucation.com. They have a video series that covers basic body work and painting.

I bought a book at Barnes and Noble that Parks and Jacobs put out that shows alot about basic body work.

The latest issue (April 2006) of Car Craft has a body work & painting basics article.

The first thing with any body work is patince, Dont bother with any video's even the book's dont give any real informantion, It is all skill and pratice go buy your self a 16" hand sander (called a long board) get a air grinder and a 8" pad, I dont use a DA (daul action sander) It has so few uses it ant worth the money! The grinder you can use all the time! And a rubber hand sander.for thoses flexie areas.

Do not use a dent puller! hammer and dolley any wrecked area's
strip the paint with air craft stripper it works great just give it time to work! And wash off car after stripping it deactivates the stripper.

Now sand the car with your grinder with 80 grit paper,and your ready for bear metal primer DO NOT spray with out a mask it will kill you its acid based,You can pick up a nice spray gun for priming at any body supply house (dont go the Home Depot) dont forget the laquer thinner for cleaning the spray gun,good primer is about 150.00 to 200.00 a gallon. 2 part epoxy.dont use any spray can primer the cost of the 7.00 can 30x's is more the the one time can! and some dont mix with car paint.it will peal

The 40,80 grit for the grinder and long board I use the 3M stickyback stuff, At least for the grinder. Some times you cant find it for the long board.


Now the fun starts buy good bondo BUT nothing made by bondo its junk and hard to sand! Rage gold is nice but spendy,Evercoat (bondo) is great stuff any of there products.

Do not do the hole car start in one corner and work from there,Make sure all your body lines are as good as you can get,then apply body filler with a spreader do not make one just buy they are cheap in a large area I perfer a 8 or 10" dry wall knife it makes for a smooth spread.When adding more bondo if you got a small area that is just a little low,dont try the just in the spot fill it does not work spead out 10-12" beyond.

Take your 8" grinder and 40 grit paper and knock the top off the filler its pretty hard but you can hand sand if you want with 40 on the long board.DO not put more filler on top of applyed filler with out sanding the top off.

When sanding the side hump keep the board horizinal to the ground but sand at 45* to keep hump smooth with out waves.use 80 grit,then 150 grit.

A little secret tip use flat black spray can on the hard body lines 2" above to 2" below very light amount sand the lower or upper and the black paint will show how straight you got the hard lines.

Now lets say you got the drivers side done or at least the fender and door take the garden hose and wet the surface right over the filler it will act like a clear coat and you can see how smooth you got it! Just dont get any oil on the car when in the body prep it will mess the paint later,I wear machinx gloves when doing the ruff it saves the fingers,and latex rubber when final sanding and any spraying


This is just something to get you going if you need more info let me know going to the body supply house for the first time sucks with out info.

And goodluck this is the fun part to me,ITS ALLMOST DONE!!! BUT take your time this is what everyone sees!

I did mt first paint job this past summer on a chopper I built. The Jessie James tank I used looked like a motocross track it was so uneven. I wne to a paint spuuly shop when they were not bust and picked everyones brain. I did all the body work, primer and paint myself. Did a second color and taped off old school scalops myself. Did the clear and wet sanding and polishing myself. Only thing I didnt do was hand pinstriping. When Im on the bike people always ask me how much my paint cost me and who did the work and they freak when I told em I did it myself and it cost me about $300 bucks! Now with that being said I proabably have 60 hours into a tank, one rear fender and one real small front fender! First time, so I took my time and best advice I got was when you are sanding and you think you are done ....your probably only half done so get to work. You can do it but to say it takes a lot of effort and patience is an understatement!