Auto Body metal working

RogerN · 2010-06-03T02:19:55+00:00

I've been interested for a long time in auto body work and painting but never had a clunker to play with. Since buying my Ford Ranger, my F-350 will be going up for sale, I hope to sell it within maybe 6 months or so, maybe the 4wd will sell good around snow time. The F-350 I have isn't a show truck but has a good engine and drive train so it's an opportunity for me to try some body work and touch up.I need to know what kind of sheet metal to get to patch some holes, it needs to be formable, weldable, and close to the thickness of auto body steel. I wouldn't mind having a little extra, I'd like to try forming with hammers, sand bags, and perhaps make an English Wheel.Also, years back some were claiming to have real good results with the Harbor Freight HVLP paint guns, they liked them better than some of the name brand guns IIRC. Any recommended model of HF paint gun?Any other good tool recommendations that would be useful in auto body? Power sanders/ power wet sander? I have a Porter-Cable random orbit sander for wood, I guess it would work for auto body. Will probably get a slide hammer type puller.Any recommendations on paint? I went to Napa and they want $98.XX for a quart of Oxford White, no metallic, no pearl, no clear, just plain white paint. That's OK if that is what it should cost, just want a reasonable competitive price.So maybe I get to play with making my old truck look better, learning some skills along the way, and it will hopefully help the truck sell better and give the buyer a nicer looking truck. I'm sure I'll spend more than it will help the value but I get to learn something and keep the tools.RogerN

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Steve W. 16 years ago

Yes, BUT they also take some practice if you have used an older style gun. Because they put on more paint in one pass you have to be more carefull about runs,drips and orange peel from heavy paint. Once your used to them they are great.

I have a descent old school gun I got from a mechanics

For the grater I suggest the original sureform tools. Get a flat and half round profile and maybe a rat tail one if you have any holes to work around. Inline sanders vary in quality a LOT, but for most use the lower end ones work OK. Buy GOOD paper though. The cheap stuff is just that.

It's kind of fun having old autos that I

Yeah there is no substitute for actual hands on when it comes to body work. I started learning as a kid of about 7 from some old school body knockers.

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Steve W. 16 years ago

You too!!

I got fed up with the constant dings and rock chips around the bottom of my Blazer and used black bed liner to paint it up to the trim line. Originally I had thought about two toning it after repairing the dings. Instead I just scuffed out the chips, spotted any rust quick and coated all of it. Less time and looks real good.

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RogerN 16 years ago

Currently I'm in Evansville Indiana, the company I work for sent me for Siemens S7 PLC training.

Anyway, on the way back from supper we saw a Harbor Freight store, I had never been in one before. We made it to the store at 7:40PM and they close at 8:00PM so I didn't buy anything yet, but will be going back a time or two before we leave Friday. My experience with cheap tools is that some are fine, some are crap, but I've been satisfied with most. If I use a tool enough that a cheap tool doesn't hold up then I'll get a better quality.

Any recommended Harbor Freight tools to get or avoid for auto body (or other) metal working, sanding, and painting? I thought there might be some favorite HF tool recommendations to get while I'm here.

Thanks!

RogerN

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James Waldby 16 years ago

A year ago I bought a couple of 24" vernier calipers at HF for $7 each; closeout items, so might not be available anymore, but worth looking for. They're not super-duper items for metalworking, but great for carpentry; aluminum rather than steel, and 1/128" resolution on the inch scale, 0.05mm on the metric scale, good feel to the slide and overall good appearance.

Also see if 6" digital calipers are on sale - they usually are priced about $20 at HF, but often go on sale for $15 or so, and sometimes $10.

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Ignoramus27711 16 years ago

Roger, based on my experience, do not buy anything at Harbor Freight needing sharp edges or with motors. If you stick to this rule, many other things that they have will most likely work.

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JR North 16 years ago

Their body work tools and supplies are pretty good-excluding sand paper. JR Dweller in the cellar

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RBnDFW 16 years ago

I bought one of those too. It looked good, and I was amazed you could buy anything like that for less than $10. I have yet to use it, but it looks good hanging on the pegboard. Might have to buy another for the house ;)

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Stormin Mormon 16 years ago

The one complete failure item from HF, about 20 years ago was a set of flare wrenches, Pittsburgh brand. Might have improved, since then. Other than that, I've been satisfied with thier quality to price ratio.

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RogerN 16 years ago

Any recommendations on where to buy paints? In town we have an O'Reily's, Autozone, and Auto Pro, but I'm not sure if any of them sell paint. We used to have a Lincoln Auto Supply that sold DuPont stuff but they closed years back. Or is there a favorite place to order paints online?

RogerN

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