S10, My first Attempt at Body Work, Open to Suggestions

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hurst1979olds

G-Body Guru
Feb 19, 2011
712
1
18
East Stroudsburg, PA
Well I have a severely rotted 3rd door on a 2000 S10. I bought a 98% Rust free door. It has one minor dent on the corner of the door and a chipping paint scrape and a little spot of rust.

I have never done body work before but is one thing I'd love to learn. I am very handy. I have remodeled a bathroom, built a bar, done tile work, I build engines for a living, etc. so I find myself a very well rounded.

By looking at the pictures please let me know what all will be needed, any techniques, what to look out for, Paint brands, stoping the rust from spreading, Bondo to use?, sand paper grit, hand or orbital sand, primer to use just some general tips on getting the couple small problem areas taken care of.

I will also be on the market for a reasonably priced paint gun, so give me ideas for that as well.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 

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pencero

Royal Smart Person
Feb 20, 2008
1,466
25
38
Ind.
well this not exactly my field either but I think a good pc of advice is you should test fit the door before you even do any of that other stuff bc it looks real bent up to me and a 3rd door needs to be more 'true' than a full size door because there is less room for error so you'll need to know ahead of time if it fits too snug bc then you might need to make some additional adjustments at this time instead of after paint which isnt an option. In other words,you dont want to paint the door go to hang it and have clearance problems bc then your stuck and wont want to revisit your body work w a dremmel wheel big ouch!
 

Oldsmoletick

Royal Smart Person
Sep 18, 2009
1,581
10
38
cny
^Good tip...I'm no bodyman either, but I do ok, lol. Before starting any bodywork, wash the door with a good degreaser (I use purple power for this) and rinse it well. If it were me, I would strip the door completely being that it appears to be scarred pretty bad. You can pick your madness, whether you chem strip (messy), or buzz it off with a sander (messy). Either way you do it, you'll want to finish it off by using a d/a or random orbit sander with 80grit so your bodyfiller has something to bite into.
Example: sanded door ready for filler

SX4093.jpg


The surface rust can be taken car of with a small sand blaster, then treated with a rust converter, talk to your local body shop supplier on which product they recommend (every area is different, what I use may not be available to you, etc). Fix the dents to the best of your ability before using any fill, and don't put bodyfiller over paint :puke: . Before using the filler, clean the panel with a prepwash or final clean (again talk to your bs supplier to see what is offered, or laquer thinner will do). I like use ultra light filler, it's very nice to work with, goes on smooth, sands easy (I do my sanding by hand), and doesn't shrink like the cheap sh*t.

If you have many dings close to one another, spread your filler over the entire area, don't spot fill it'll look like sh*t.
Example: wrong

SX4051.jpg


right
SX4108.jpg


For sanding, like I mentioned before, I do by hand and block of wood, knock the high spots off and smooth it out a little with 40 grit, the continue with 80, leave it a little high, go over it with 180 to take the large scratches out for your finish. Feel your work, your eyes will lie to you, your hands won't, If you can feel it, it will show up in your paint. Onto your primer, again clean your panel with prep wash, I like using 2k high build, hides sandscratches, and other minor imperfections, this should be wet sanded with 320 (again by hand with block), once you have your primer satisfactory, it should be gone over with 400g before paint.

Ready for top coat:

SX4105.jpg


For paint guns, I bought a kit from my local bs supplier made by finish line (devilbiss off brand), came with a primer gun, a top coat gun and cleaning kit /storage case $70-120 ish, I've had it a while so I forget exactly what it cost. Set up is key, if the gun isn't set up right it will look like sh*t, again your bs supplier can/should be able to help in that department, hard to explain without a visual, lol.
 
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