after doing somthing really stupid,I get to learn bodywork? any suggestions? made a big mistake that i will learn from,now i have to make it right.I have no skills but i have hart,most of all i have no $ thanks.
does the door shut properly now? looks like it tweaked the door frame. if it did it may never get straight with basic body work.it will take several pages to tell ya how to do that.another door maybe in order. when ya start don't stretch the door skin past it's natural limits,shrinking it back will be a pig.you will need to develop some hammer dolly skills along the way . get it to a point where minimal body filler will be used.block it down with 36 grit and look for low's and highs,fill or sand as needed.as you block that large of an area you will need a long board to prevnt waves. then start getting finer on the grit.once you have the shape and satisfied with the surface.prime heavily with urethane high build of your choice. guide coat with some black krylon and block sand watching for lows and highs...when happy..paint the ****a!!!!
Sorry that had to happen to you, especially if you have no experience or money. If this is going to be something that you want a near perfect finish on, then don't mess with it. You'll end up stretching the metal worse than it is now and when you decide its out of your league, the shop you take it to will say forget it. Find a friend with experience who likes beer. You can afford some beer, right.......
That's how we all learn. By screwing up cars and then having to learn how to fix the screwup for little or no money. It's the school of hard knocks and there's no better way to learn in a hurry. Best of luck, don't screw up a good car.
I Have A 49 Ford sedan & wanna know the great thing about owning a shoebox? The parts & prices are plentifull & cheap I would get another door and have it painted You could save up and buy a door for less sweat than trying to make it look right There are plenty of these cars in the northwest for parts. In fact Call All American *******s in Vancouver WA they have a few for $125 -200 depending on condition. Their number is 800-955-4999
thats a little advanced to learn on. id find a new door, maybe one with a few golf ball size dings, fix those then work up to a mess like that.
my 3 cents I'd toss that door...i couldn't give one away for $50 , I'm sure you can find a deal on one, that one is too ******** to learn on
I would have to agree also it would be cheaper and quicker just to get a replacement door. I have been into building cars for 35 years and most times this is the best solution. Off course if there is nothing available then the repair is the only solution. And off course its all relative, how much you can afford. Best of luck with the repair. oz40 (Tom)
I agree with most on here. If I were you, I'd find a new door, something thats easily fixed or maybe a good one. Once I had the door in front of me, I'd get out the hammer on the wasted door on the car. Its already wasted, you can't make it any worse. Take it as an opportunity to learn, and if by some chance it comes out close, you saved yourself whatever you spent on the other door. If it turns out wavier than the ocean, pop the new door on and your no worse than when you started.
That door is sprung, it is no good. Get a new door and fix the rust and dents, then paint. You can keep that door and try your hand at body work, you may eventually get it straight but it will always be sprung.
Actually shrinking is pretty easy. Nobody should ever worry about over stretching if they want to learn how to metal finish. The fear of over working the metal is what keeps people from getting the job done. If you don't use the hammer and dolly enough, you will never get it past the slap-on-some-bondo stage. Here is a link to my youtube videos. Parts 9-12 show how easy dent repair using a hammer and dolly and a shrinking disc can be. http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=GullWingInn&view=videos That door won't be an easy first time project though. Start at the outer edges of the damage, bumping the metal out, and work your way in. About a million hours : ) of hammer and dolly work which includes stretching and smoothing, and you will be ready to shrink and then start again raising low spots, smoothing, and shrinking some more. The metal can handle whatever you can dish out as long as your tools are smooth on the edges so they don't mark the surface too much. John www.ghiaspecialties.com
And you usually get to work on your own car. Some offer shortened courses in the evening too - incase you have a day job.
the way to fix that door is take a set of pinchweld clamps and stretch it out with a 10 ton porto power even when doors were straightened a lot not many people learned how to do it but it is not as hard as many expect, for someone who has done a lot the best way to fix that car is to go to work for free for the oldest ___________________________________________________________ bodyman who used old methods and work for a while learning and ______________________________________________________ someday he would help you fix it ________________________ new and used parts dont always fit on a vehicle perfect sometimes, sometimes due to structure bends
http://www.amazon.com/Bumping-Instr...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232296586&sr=1-1 Sargent's book. Easy to understand, great illustrations. There's a reason this book is still around. Since your door shuts, I would say go for it, what do you have to loose? You will gain experiences and learn from them. What's the worst that can happen with a door repair? If it doesn't come out to your satisfaction, then look for a new door. One tip with dents: "last in, first out"
John Kelly and weldtoride have posted the info you need . Take the time to study the repair techniques . You'll be surprised by what you can accomplish. If my memory works correctly the Bob Sargent book actually repairs a door skin damaged very similarly to yours in a step by step article. What makes this book so relevant is that is was published in the late 50's or early 60's . While you may be able to replace the entire door with far less effort and cost . You'll never learn how to straighten panels if you dont try. Sadly its this is one of the major issues that are accounting for the loss of skilled metalworkers in the todays repair shop.
You beat me to it. This is a must read for anyone that wants to do automotive body work. I bought mine from James Chapman. I still have his card, but the info might be old. He's at Daytona every year. http://www.autobodyhandtools.com/ pager was: 1-800-731-8496 My dad was old school pre-WWII bodyman. He trained me, I wish I paid more attention. What he told me is exactly what's in the book. Best $15 you'll ever spend. I'm hooked up with the local tech school. All these folks train you on is frame/unibody straightening, panel replacement, MIG welding and refinishing. They don't even have ya' pick up a torch and train you how to heat and shrink a panel. Get the book and train yourself. Get some take offs from the local body shop and experiment to get some skills. AGAIN: get the book!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I backed into my 48 chevy it looked worse than yours,door was pushed out of the frame.I poped the dents out from inside and it turned out better than I ever though it would,I still replaced the door because of rust in the bottom and I had a better one,but you should give it a try even if it don't work out you'll learn something.
As was mentioned, the door needs to be stretched a little to help relieve the damage; but there some easier ways to do this than what was noted, but will still need a couple of clamps. Anyway, if you don't have the skills to repair the door, replace it with another good door. Whatever you do, don't start practicing on the old door; it is very repairable, unless you start doing something to it. Keep it in case you need another door down the line. If it is solid and has no rust, it would be worth repairing. Now if you can't find another door, repairing that door would be the right thing to do; but only by someone that knows what they are doing.
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