Learning about body work....Alfa Progress

[terriphill]

As you know, I have been working on learning about body work and have an 86 Alfa to practice on...spent today learning how to use the body tools...lots of work, but its beginning to actually take shape.

 

[JPSmit]

I'm envious, this is a skill I would love to acquire - there are some courses nearby that are on my to do list.

Nice that you don't have to make your mistakes on a real car too

 

[terriphill]

No classes here...just lots of reading on line and a desire to try. I am beginning to understand the cost of body work!!! If I were being paid just $5 an hour I would around $600 already accrued in labor costs! Of course its slow because I'm just learning how to use what weights and which hammers etc. but this is really time consuming and labor intensive work.
I still have to weld up the holes I created, sand them off, remove paint,fix another dent in the side, then rough up, primer and paint the thing.
I also have a set of seats on order to redo the interior seats that are trash.
The hope is that I will know what I am doing so I can get to work on our B!

 

[DrEntropy]

meh. Looks like someone took a Ma Deuce to it!! :wink:

Dolly-n-hammer, close up the holes then CHEAT!! Filler called AllMetal.

My Alfa was punched front and rear some time in its past history. The "repair" was less-than stellar. It "sneers". Apparently the shoddy bop had NO idea what an Alfa Spider was s'posed to look like. And it's now so rust riddled it ain't worth tryin' to resurrect it.

 

[tony barnhill]

& if you can't dolly & hammer 'em closed...time for some welding or brazing.

 

[terriphill]

WE will be welding the holes! You can't tell from the pics, but we tried a couple last night and with a little grinding and then sanding they fill quite easily! I have to be sure that they are SMOOTH!!!
I will then "skim coat" it with bondo (Like a skim coat on sheet rock) to smooth any left over ripples. and hopefully come out looking at least decent. TO be honest...it can't be worse than having the front end completely smushed in!

 

[tony barnhill]

There ya go - right attitude!

 

[terriphill]

I could also take some earlier advice and put a bra on it! LOL

 

[DrEntropy]

Again, after you fill the holes, use AllMetal instead of Bondo for the skim coat. I didn't elucidate but that's what my prior comment was sayin'.

 

[AweMan]

Welding those holes can/will cause some shrinkage, if things get too out of hand {shrinkage wise} some on dolly hammering of the welds will stretch things back out where you need/want them.
A little heat goes a long way in the of shrinking metal.
An investment in a body sheet metal shrinking disk {basically a stainless steel disk that goes on your sander} and an investment in time to read up on how and where/when to use it can/will bring your skim coat to a minimum.

Note: High spots that you can not seem to hammer out are places that are stretched
this is where the shrinking disk comes into play.
Get one and try it ..... you`ll be amazed.

I have to say ..... so far your work is looking excellent!

 

[terriphill]

We welded up the holes already, so stretching or no..its too late to turn back. After some more smoothing and pounding...I am a little more pleased, but I know what you mean by "stretching"

Ordered the Allmetal this evening...hope it comes with instructions.

Kerry...where do you get a shrinking disc? There are some great videos on you tube showing how to use one and after today's work it appears that that's what I need to learn how to do.

 

[AweMan]

Terriphill:
Here is One website that sells em.
There are others if you look on the web.
A lot of people think you need red {to turn the metal red} in order to shrink it ..... not true!
Read everything you can find on the net {there is plenty} about tips and techniques on using the disk method to shrink the places needed.

 

[Popeye]

Or you could use a stainless pot lid as a shrinking disk.

Make sure it is balanced and the hole is in the _center_ of the disk!

 

[JamesWilson]

There are others if you look on the web.
A lot of people think you need red {to turn the metal red} in order to shrink it ..... not true!
Read everything you can find on the net {there is plenty} about tips and techniques on using the disk method to shrink the places needed.

I got one on e-bay. Practice too, before using it for "real"...