Technical how did you first major body work go

Mine went terrible. At 18 I tried to weld my '36 Willys hood together and make a tilt front end. Was terrible so I bonded and painted it and made a 'glass one instead.

 

I would say it’s not a fail, the glass one looks great. I with I could do that at 18 y o.

 

Grew up watching it be done. was a shop gofer for some body shops in college. No real training, just watching.

First complete paint job on my truck came out pretty good. especially for painting a whole truck in a garage with a 30 gal air compressor.
About the time I finished it I could see places I could have done better.

You learn by doing. Do the best you can each time, never turn down a chance to watch someone else work (even if theyre bad at it you can learn something). The more you do it the better youll get. I dont think it will ever just fall right in place. Usually when its going too good,... its because its wrong!

 

I'm not a seasoned vet but have done body work on my own stuff for over 40 years and never been completely happy with any thing I've done. I always miss something and see it as soon as I shoot paint and then it's the first thing I see when I look at the car.

 

I was the same way, as soon as I finished I would see a spot. Now with base clear I check it again before I clear it. I do better now still not perfect but better

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I've been doing this stuff for more then 40 years. I know how to do body work, but I can only stand to do it for a month or two at a time, then I'm done with it, regardless of weather or not the body work is actually done. Then I paint it with cheap paint, expecting I'll get another shot at it in about 3-4 years. If I get enough shots at it, they usually come out pretty good.

A consequence of my short term body work time is I always expect to see something I missed, so when I see it, I'm OK with it. I tell the perfectionists that like to look and criticize that I left that spot just for some asshole to find. They usually quit criticizing pretty quickly. Its a matter of perspective. Gene

 

You forgot to mention the second mortgage just to pay for the parts on a 57. [emoji16]

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16 yr old, pop rivets, galvanized flashing, fiberglass, bondo. 65 impala 4 door 6 cyl, that a shop had sitting, was going to scrap. The shitty bodywork and flat plate stick welded over the hole in the frame got the car back on the road and saved it from the scrapper for at least a few more years.

That car got a "real" earl schieb paint job, blue metallic, turned to chalk less than a year, couldnt pour enough wax on it to keep it shiny.

 

My 1st paint job was on LaSalle coupe that was inside out. I was taken in by an old street rodder my father's age and taught me how to pick and file. I painted the car in Ditzler black lacquer and that paint is still on the car today. I painted the car 1978. I stopped painting a year ago and don't have the energy or the patients anymore

 

Not good. Not good at all. OT hot rod Blazer. Fortunately, I've had the chence to work with some very talented ppl who taught me how to do stuff better every time I did it. I don't do a lot but I still strive to get better than the last.

 

As my dear departed Dad's assistant in my youth I got familiar with the shit involved at a very young age. I could rebuild an MBC spray gun, mix primer and mud by age 11. Was spraying primer by 12-13, did my 1st complete in the summer of 72 at the ripe old age of 14. I fucked it up a little but Dad stepped in and fixed it. It was old school Ditzco Alkyd Enamel in Poppy Red on a 62 Ford short bed uni. Since then I've riden a rollercoaster of highs and lows, quicky money makers and challenging builds, some prototype shit off n on, and like Pacino in Godfather III, "...try to get out, and they pull me back in.", somehow always end up back in restoration and Packard stuff. My preference has always been the metal fabrication and to get as close as can be with little to no need for fillers. I've said it to the point of monotony how much I hate bondo. I have to say not too many jobs were ever scrapped for failures. Maybe some larger start overs but few of those too. I've chased the ghost of perfection long enough and parked the ego in the corner where it belongs. Make no mistake, all of this finishing building rodding car world has to be ego driven to some level. Anyone can buy McDonalds, but that meal from Tavern On The Green or the like comes at a price. Without some ego you're just a burger flipper vs a world class chef. These days it's like pouring a cup of coffee, and an "..oh well..." element because the fact is ANYONE can achieve perfection. How or why you get there, how often, how consistent you remain is where your ego boosts the octane a bit but embracing the fact that you're not the only one will easily keep it in check. As we speak (read?) I'm doing a paint repair on a $300K Ferarri that was originally imported and refinished by Bill DeCarr. Yeah, that Bill DeCarr in his signature red vs Rosso Corso. Not to disrespect his legacy or in fact the car itself I really don't give a shit about any of that. Get the color right, make sure the repair doesn't shrink up next month, job done. There's always time to enjoy the fruits of your labors and what it was done to later on but it will always be the job and the reasons for it that has to be addressed. As to the Ford in the topic starter, if you look at it, quietly and undisturbed, it'll "talk to you" and show you how ol Henry used so many of the same parts on different body styles. As to standards? When you're cranking out cars like a sausage machine they tend to be really consistent. Look close, do some digging, find old build or design pics. The beloved Packard/Duesy/Pierce Arrow stuff can sometimes be anything but. Onesy-twosey numbers vs 100-200,000. Makes sense, huh?

Did I ever tell y'all how much I hate Bondo?

 

I tell them, "I know where they are, I put them there."

 

Takes a lot of practice. No one gets it right the first time. My first major body work was a 60 vette front fender that was cracked and a complete repaint. The kids dad helped me and I learned. Came out fine.

My second major body work was a chop top on a model A coupe. We cut it crooked so it ended up being chopped more than we hoped for, but we didn't tell anyone. LOL

 

My first was the patch panels on my A pickup, I was about 14, my dad and I brazed them on, must have cleaned the brazed areas well as 44 years later they have not bubbled. May eventually properly weld, but why mess with it when it still looks good. First real major work was a 10 year old rust bucket (it was Michigan) OT 68 jeepster commando convertible when I was 16. We bent up new rocker panels clamped to a big metal table, brazed then on along with a gazillion holes in the body. My dad had got some two part epoxy from salvage at work. Did the initial filling with that and then finished it off with plastic body filler. It looked pretty good in the end, my first paint job, which was acrylic lacquer. Paint failed on the rockers, had to use metal prep and respect those. I had it for 10 years, always sat outside, but held up pretty well. It’s still around at a guys place in Northern Michigan.


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Not too good! I was 14 at the time. Dad welded cracks in fenders with bailing wire on a 38 Ford pickup then I did the rest with bondo. Not great! Then shot it with white primer tinted with Caterpillar yellow-looked ok from 10 feet-nothing to brag about for sure.

 

Mine turned into an ashtray...

 

I did this one in high school (1964-1965). Hot Rod used to have "how to articles" and I wasn't afraid to screw shit up!
Radiused rear fenders, tunneled antenna, hood scoop, etc. Still love doing bodywork today.

 

I read "How to Chop Tops" book by Tex Smith twice over, bought a used buzz box mig welder and promptly cut apart a perfectly good truck. Soon I realized that book really had nothing about a truck that was wider on top than bottom, but I trudged on making a few mistakes but I got it back together.
By no means was it perfect, actually had a little dip in the middle, but I learned I needed a different style of bracing than I was using. Looking back nearly 30 years later I wonder why I cut it there and why I just didn't do this because that would've been much easier, but that's all part of gaining experience over those 30 yrs.



I had so much new found confidence that I decided to suicide the doors next



After it was painted a rented garage promptly caved in from snow and crushed the roof in, so I got to learn some more skills on how to fix that.



Pushed/worked out but not happy



So it got chopped for the second time, if I would've thrown in the towel from that first hurtle I would've missed out on a lot of learning experiences, sometimes I'm glad I have a hard head and don't always listen to people looking for the easy way out.



I went on after the chop and cut apart the front end, the bed, fenders, running boards and even the wheelbase in order to manipulate their looks and function to create a vision I could easily see in my minds eye, but not so easy to arrive at.
So don't give up !

 

All I can say is at 17 myself, I do wish I had the talent of all the experienced older men and women who have the tools in their toolbox from a lifetime of hard work. I took on a 1936 Ford big truck my dad bought when he was in his 20’s. It’s been crazy and frustrating but ultimately fun. Plan is to take it to my senior prom next year. Body work is tough making sure the metal fabrication is as close as possible and the Bondo fills without caking it, just enough to make each area smooth and clean. I’ve been learning all sorts of skills and all I can say is it’s all gonna be worth it in the end.

Heres some shots from the project, in my build thread you can see the progress but here’s some of the journey