Technical Would this be a good way to learn metalworking skills?

It'd be very inexpensive material to practice and make mistakes on with little negative consequence, as in "So what if I mess it up?"

 

Go for it. It is already messed up

 

And you could practice your carpentry skills on the house behind it.

 

That's a nice picture of a dilapidated old car and old house.

 

Well I can chime in. I have learned if it comes out wrong you just redo it. After some time redoing it you attain more skills to do a better job. I have a friend who checks my work as I progress on different panels. He makes it look easy but he has over 40 years in honing his bodywork skills. Believe me I am no bodyman but working to get better with his help. One thing I have learned is working inside things look good but as soon as you take them out in the sunshine they take on a different look. Light is your friend.

 

Start by observing someone talented.
Watch and learn. Ask specific questions. Gathering information before starting helps to avoid some mistakes.
I did that and discovered that I had zero ability and was better served to stick to what I had some functional use at.

 

To learn anything physical the steps are usually, safe practices (warning of dangers), study, practice, repeat, hopefully with guidance.
Lots of videos out there, classes to take and a bunch of stuff to practice on. Don't forget your local library for books, the local body shop to watch (if they are okay), and castoff parts like shown in the picture.
I will say that what is in the picture should be free to haul off. The scrap man is going to charge as much to get that out as the value is going across the scale!
Tools can be very basic until you can afford better, more specialized equipment.

I'd suggest Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) videos also since they discuss how the dent is shaped and how to get it out better (visually) than many hammer and dolly videos.

 

Watch Carter's auto restoration on Youtube, he does sheet metal work with very minimal equipment and hand tools.

 

Don't start with something that doesn't inspire you. If you should just happen to catch on quickly and things go well, what do you have once done? I've offered to coach and help young guys over the years and watched all of them fade off into the sunset from lack of desire to have it finished. If it doesn't matter the hand work shows it.

 

Worked for me!

When you are at a point where you can't hurt the vehicle, and all you have to loose is your time and material (consider that the cost of your higher education), it allows you the chance to experiment, mess up, learn, and practice.

May I suggest recruiting some old large car hoods (trunk lids, or roof sections) at a junk yard, at scrap price (tell them what you are going to do)? Then you can cut up and reuse the non rusted parts of them for some of your the metal, as opposed to buying all the metal new. Just pick up ones that are not super rusty and don't use the rusted sections.

 

you need to learn proper techniques before you start hitting things with a hammer.

 

I like Wray Schelin's videos best.

 

'50 Coronet club coupe? The little waterfall trims behind the door handles are Coronet only, those I think would have some kind of custom application, maybe on a dashboard or something, they're neat.

As for learning metalworking skills, I feel like it'd be easier to start with smaller, simpler jobs and work your way up.

 

My vote is to find a vehicle that is interesting to you, it’s a long and sometimes tedious process and best learned by doing in my opinion. Sure, watch videos and actual body men doing it,
but until you actually do something yourself it just information. If you make a nice job of a panel, well your that much ahead on a project and if you don’t well it’s that much more of an incentive to do it over better than just toss it.

 

Get a sawsall, and a welder. Chop the top and glue it back together. If it works, you will love it. If it doest work, you will have a chopped custom for yard art.

 

The #1 thing I was told as a young dumbass kid in a street rod shop was "It's just metal, you can make it do anything." That has stuck with me my entire career as a welder doing everything from gas welding to aluminum stick welding on everything from old rusty cars to tugs and fuel barges.

"It's just metal!"

 

Actually, the car in the picture would be a good candidate to practice the basic skills of bracing and body re-alignment. Assuming most likely that the floor pans and rocker panels are mostly gone, start by getting the doors to fit and stay in position. Ratchet straps, come-alongs, long carpentry clamps, etc.

 

I only find a few issues with that. First, the use of good hammer and dollies on the rusty metal, will ruin the faces on them. Next, the metal is probably thinned out so much from rust that it won't behave as "good" metal will. It also may not clean up enough to practice welding on, being so rusty AND thin. As a safety issue, you would also have to be very careful of rust flying around as you work it, you dont' want any in your eyes!

 

I don't post much but the title question struck a chord with me. I purchased a running OT station wagon a few years ago. I knew it had rust issues such as floor pans, lower quarters and lower front fenders. I drove it for years then installed a newly rebuilt engine I assembled. Fast-forward to 1 1/2 years ago when a fresh stroker engine I installed developed a blown head gasket. I had future plans to install a crate engine and OD transmission that I had purchased anyway. I decided at that point I would deal with the rust repair. In order to install the OD transmission a crossmember would need significant surgery. When I took a close look at the frame of the wagon, I was amazed that the car was able to hold it's front end alignment. The things I had welded prior to this project you could count on your fingers and toes. I started with the rear quarters and spare tire bay. There are very few if any repro sheet metal pieces made for this wagon so I purchased a few tools, hammers, dollies, planishing hammer, larger capacity welder and 18 ga. sheet metal then went to work. I made quarters, inner and outer rockers, frame sections (heavier gauge metal), etc. I learned as I went along. Made some mistakes then corrected them. I was more satisifed with the results and myself when I finished. I keep a journal with photos of my projects and can reference my accomplishments at anytime. Do it.

 

Good points. The "it's just metal, it can be fixed" line only goes so far.

 

"It also may not clean up enough to practice welding on," Only 1 of my pet peeves on here!
I see this Crap here way too often. It shows to me the builder really doesn't know how to weld. Rust or paint on either side will cause a problem in the weld. That is unless you just don't care. I see that part here way too often. If you wanted to be Dentist would you just tell someone to sit down and open before you knew anything about using the equipment? Probably Not! Most local community colleges have some kind of welding classes, and they are Cheap compared to wasting material and time. A cheap HF mig machine and the attitude "I'll figure it out" is the worst place you can start. Good welding isn't as easy as a good Welder makes it look. Don't start out disappointing yourself or making it more work than it needs to be. You may end up being another one that walks away from a wonderful way of living.

 

A highly skilled friend of mine advised me to "just get better fenders" instead of putting in the time and effort to repair the '29 Model A front fenders I had. Although I was sure he gave me solid counsel, I decided to use those old fenders to learn how to do body work. I peeled back the fender edges, sandblasted away rust and replaced the wire bead. I hammered out creases and dents, cut out and replaced major breaks with fresh 18 gauge, carefully hammering into shape the compound curves. I skim-coated filler as thinly as possible after I'd smoothed the bodywork as best I could with hammer and dolly. I sprayed high-build primer and sanded it down repeatedly. Finally I painted it gloss black, saw how poorly I had prepared it, sanded back the gloss black to primer and painted it again - and then again. Did I end up with a pristine pair of fenders? Hell, no! Did I learn a lot and reach a point where the work was flawed but acceptable to me? Oh, yeah. In fact, I like the occasional warps and flaws that could still be fixed if I wanted to devote another 50 hours to the cause. But I don't want to spend any more time on that. I'm 76 now, I want to drive this thing for the first time in the 51+ years I've been working on it. And once I get it running, I'll take those bodywork skills I've developed and make a version of an express bed using my homemade sheet metal brake, a bead roller and the tools I've accumulated. My advice: be patient, don't give up and wear ear protection.

 

I started banging metal around 15 years old
Took a trade school class afterHS. Started working in a shop at 17.
Was lucky enough to work with some skilled metal guys.
Metal tells ya what ya need to do. It’s learning how to listen to it.

you either shrink it or stretch it.

necessity is great motivation. I was broke so straightening everything was imperative.

 

Good Solid advice Anthony! Would you still do the same thing today if you were starting from scratch?

 

I would suggest starting with a small sheet of 18 or 20 gauge cold rolled steel from your local hardware store. Get a small shot bag and a couple inexpensive hammers and a dolly. There are way too many videos out there that show all sorts of misguided techniques, so find a good source to start. https://allmetalshaping.com/ Is a good starting point.
years ago I bought David Gardiner’s DVD, which focused on things like the basics of gas welding sheet metal, dressing welds and so on. Just one example of the sound resources available to those that have interest. Then, with some developed skills, you can take on a real project without fear of getting in over your head.

 

I was lucky enough to have relatives that were machinists/mechanics/electricians that fixed their own stuff. I didn’t even understand people hired other people to build houses
I was 18 years old at a dealership when I seen my first new body panel.
We built everything from the local junkyard.
So today I wouldn’t have that same benefit.
I learned to straighten out of necessity

in the back of my head I’m still 17 and broke fixing crap I don’t have to

 

My recommendation is to buy an old 48-54 Chevy Truck thats reasonably complete and has a chance to actually increase in value when you are done. That way you have a project to inspire you and there will probably be some parts that need outright replacement. You can fiddle with the bad stuff and maybe throw it away after some experience is gained.

Just having a pile of junk sitting around thats never going to end up being a car doesn't inspire .......

The Chevy will always have some value and you can learn when its best to repair and when its best to replace. It also is a vehicle that its easy to get parts for. I'm talking rocker panels, cab corners and even floor patches or complete floors. If you want to get into forming metal from scratch, you will need to buy some additional tools and the expense of doing forming isn't cheap. What I do is buy something that I see advertised for a good price. Then I keep my eyes open for something even better. Get it for a good price and resell the one I have for close to what I paid for the better one. A little wheelin and dealin can provide you with some very good tools for minimal investment........but you have to keep some money available so you can buy quickly. I used to go to industrial auctions and often got good buys there. Its a learning curve. I'll show you ..........

I bought this Heavy Duty 12 gage finger brake at an auction. Gave abou $300 for it. Also got a 48" Niagara Stomp Shear, A slip roll, a metal cabinet, a handheld Milwaukee bandsaw, and a couple other things. Total was about $1200.

I already had a new Jet stomp shear, so I had to decide which to keep. I sold the Niagara for $1200. I had nothing invested in the rest of the stuff.

Here is the "OLD" and well used.........but 12 gage brake.


Fingers weren't perfect, but it worked fine. (Made in Taiwan)

Used it for a couple years and then a brand new one popped up on Ebay. Think it was about $2200 shipped. Guy had 2 and wanted to move them. So I bought this one.


Same capacity but just a whole lot newer. Then I sold the old one that I had nothing in for maybe $1500/$1800....don't remember exactly.
A similar brake on Ebay today is $5300 . So I feel I could easily sell mine for what I gave for it. These things seem to increase in price as time goes by, so you have to know whats a bargain and jump on it.
bay.com/itm/156378790501?_skw=12+gage+Sheetmetal+Brake&itmmeta=01JZB3XX0V5WSW10P1Q6B2WQ17&hash=item2468e6fa65:g:t48AAOSw5kVmz2Fw&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1ewPOFoYHA4gUrCIOMYMDKNpg5d0aoI%2FVxVg6N7fNWeaXjriS6vpHYpKafifJmhkXCZrv2PWlYjb3LpAHaqru5RrmbUC8m%2FbCfTImlL8ItmIZG9ChOiOZmihDkA57U%2F4ctOST14SoR5dMNmdqMzSS1f3Pgn20jSd5cVdHFdTaGEc2wPOoTxsBiycbGB8Iop1MweMESXFaoQs8Q7fNFI39LUzpq4ov%2BMSgvS2DCiKyb7yDb5R3SlYyZVWyOIH2q8yqdiszc7zw4KyqfyoID0dO6vHkgK%2B6rnP4eWVR4hHhUTwg%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9DQ9-P6ZQ

Later I resold my Jet stomp shear because my son has had 2 knee replacements and I want to insure he has something better. Bought this used electric/hyd one that you only have to use toe pressure to shear up to .125 thick. I love it. It wasn't cheap but its already worth more than I gave for it.


The point of this reply is that if you put some money aside, you can find good deals and by reselling at some future time you can offset the costs. Its an investment, not just an expense.

 

That's the way it was back then. I've always felt that kids who grew up in a household where no one knew how to use tools was a disadvantaged child. That's not meant as a joke, I think people like you leaned a lot more from that kind of work than just the work itself.....things like confidence and perseverance.

 

My son welds and fabricates better than me when I was his age.
He also worked his way thru school doing commercial roofing. They have a fab shop that build lots of trim and hardware. Even copper and stainless items for kitchens. CNC and manual brakes and shears. has a more scientific approach and I’m a design on the fly.
Im kinda jealous of his more formal mathmatic background and experience from the fab shop