Now that my ch***is is pretty much finished and painted, I'm going to be tackling the bodywork soon. Right now I have the body on a dolly. Would it be better to do the bodywork on the dolly or on the ch***is? Pros / cons? thanks
i did the body work on a dolly because i didn't want bondo dust all over the ch***is. seems thats what the pro's do... so i did it that way.
All body work should be done on the ch***is.More so if its structural and gapping doors etc.You'll regret it if you dont.
Hey, How much metal work does the body need, and are there any alignment issues with the body? I'd make sure that the body will fit the frame prior to doing any major welding or panel work. S****ey Devils C.C. "Meanwhile, back aboard The Tainted Pork"
The body's in decent shape, but the doors will need gapping etc. I'm torn because Idon't want to make amess of the ch***is, at the same time, I'd like to avoid headaches later on. thanks for the advice so far.
Here is a little trick you can try. In the past , I have covered the my complete ch***is/motor etc with a large piece of polyurethane. I took a razor blade and cut 3 inch slits where the body bolted through it to the ch***is. Fit all your gaps, doors, get it ready for paint. Once done,you can loosen the body bolts a touch and pull the plastic out. Re-tighten the body. If all the gaps look good, then you can pull the doors,hood, fenders etc( depending on what your building), tape every thing up real good and your ready for paint(and you could leave the plastic on until after you paint it). I have painted cars both on and off the ch***is, and every time I remove one to paint and re-install it, it never seems to fit the same as I did before I removed it.Wind up re-shimming and having to have to be super careful of the new paint. Good luck with your build. Baron
Wrap your ch***is with that green celophane stuff that u-haul sells to wrap boxes with. As long as you are not welding it is a good shield agains dust and overspray.
There is a liquid mask you can spray on called green slime. It is water soluable so it won't like wet sanding, but it will keep overspray, dust and filler from sticking. I would suggest finishing all the undersides, firewall, etc on the dolly, then get it on the ch***is to do all the fit and finish.
i prolly would have done a mock up and got the body/ch***is where i wanted it, then blow it apart for the paint. thats what im doing for the 49 that thing will be in a million pieces when it gets paint but ill have all of the body/ch***is issues finished before its painted. just my .02..............but since you have already slicked the ch***is i would wrap that rascal in plastic and set the body on and get everything right pull it off and paint away.
Hey, I'd suggest you remount the body to the frame, align the door open- ings, the deck lid to the quarters and perhaps the cowl to the front clip. If you have any areas of major misalignment, now's the time to solve them! Once this is completed, I'd cross-brace the body open- ings, just as if you're going to chop it. Complete any panel fab work and necessary welding & filler work. Prime and refinish as necessary. There is nothing sadder than a vehicle with ten thousand dollars worth of paint work, and not a correctly aligned panel on it. S****ey Devils C.C. "Meanwhile, back aboard The Tainted Pork"
You're right, hindsight is 20/20. I'll file this one in with "learning experiences". Everything was mocked up with the body on it and I didn't take into consideration the finer and more crucial points of bodywork. Lots of great insight here.
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