body work

[Shane]

I am sick of looking at my rusty truck body!

I went to a body shop and had an estimate done. $3000 - $4000 with new panels and complete paint job.

I want to hear from some body guys out there. I feel I can buy some tools, sand blaster, paint sprayer and do a decent repair job on the body. It wont be perfect but, it has to be better than the rust I have now, and cheeper?

Maybe I will spend more money on the truck later, but now I don't have that kind of money to spend on the old girl.

Opinions wanted, thanks
Shane

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1982 J10 Model 25
My Daily driver since
1988

[Ralph]

I could list it all here, but you'd be much better off to go to a local book store or library. Plenty of books that'll give you the entire rundown.

New tools will set you back around $500, but you'll get lots of use out of them, especially the compressor. The materials aren't that expensive (unless you're one of us bum dastards with woodgrain decals, which are expensive).

From there on, the work is all there is. You'll get LOTS of dust-like debris when sanding, so cover everything you don't want to get dirty. (And plan on breaking the caked stuff off your eyes before you open them in the morning.) You don't need a special paint booth, but you will need to curtain off an area to keep overspray contained and to keep dust & bugs from getting to your fresh paint. A coat of most types of paint will dry overnight just fine without a heated booth.

[JERRY88GW]

I too am tackeling my body work myself.

I just pulled off the front bumper and drivers side panel to bang out a couple of dents. Then sand it down, bondo, prime and paint.

Sand paper is expensive. I bought three rolls today for a dual-action sander; 80, 180 and 220. $103 ouch!

All in all total price for paint, primer and misc materials will be around $500 - $700. Much cheaper than taking it to someone.

Jerry

[Shane]

Thanks Guys!

It will be a learning process, but I think it will be worth it.

Shane

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1982 J10 Model 25
My Daily driver since
1988

[RUDY]

i wish you guys would stop this.i just got my rebuilt 88 gw back from the machine shop.so i to am thinking hey i could fix the rust on my jeep myself.then take and get it sprayed somewhere...im really hoping we can talk each other in to doing it....i live in florida so i worry about the rust coming back after it is repaired.im close to the beach,(I LOVE SURF FISHING). the body shops i got estimates from all say 90 day rust warranty....thats crazy...... so i hope to tackle it myself....we need help.....hey,how hard can it be....

[Bernie]

The one thing you have to remember when doing body work is that proper surface prep is the key to a good job. It's always best to grind the damaged area and then cut out all the rot making sure to get it all, (after all it is called cancer.) And then weld in a metal patch of at least 22 guage stock, After you make your repair, dent ,rot or what ever always use a fiberglass type filler for your first coat. The reason for this is that it will not absorb water like regular bondo does. Ther are lots of them out there such as Dura Glas, Mar Glas, Ever Glas and the list goes on. After this go with a regular type filler to finish of your repair. I usually just go with the glass type stuff right up untill the last coat and then use a lite weight filler such as Chromalite to finish up. Between applications I knock the heavy stuff of with a grate (similar to a wood rasp)and sand with 36 grit Norton blue long board paper and then working my way to a good finish with 80 grit and finnaly 120, always use either a rubber sanding block or a long board depending on the size of your repair. Never just sand with your hand , it might be smooth but you want it straight. Nothing looks worse under a fresh coat of paint than wavy body panels.After your filler work is all done getyourself some good urethane primer, this is usually a 3 part type product that once applied will never shrink, crack, rot, run down your leg or smell bad ( ok it does smell bad). You can get a non name brand for about 60 bucks for a gallon set up. It is expensive but so much better than lacquer primers or spray bomb type stuff.Prime your repair area with a couple of good coats let it dry and then Glaze the repair. I also use a urethane glaze that you have to mix with a hardner it's not that expensive and a quart can will last for a long time. After this is dry block it out with 240 grit wet dry paper, prime again and depending on how the repair looks block it out again with 240, prime and then finish up with 500 grit.This might seem like a lot of work but the end results are worth it. I've seen so many nice paint jobs that start to go sour after a short period of time because of crappy surface prep and sloppy bodywork. If you take your time now and do a good job you won't have to worry about doing it all over again, The actual paint job is the easy part the tough part is making the body suitable for paint. I don't mean to ramble on but hey it's just all personal experience.

[Ralph]

Bernie: do you have a source for the woodgrain vinyl decals? Gosh, they seem to be expensive!

[ClarkGriswald]

whatever ya do dont put bondo over an open hole. you may finish the outside but the inside is exposed to moisture from the inside of the body panel, wont take long for that stuff to come loose. then you have another hole in the same spot..

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88 Grand Wagoneer
D44's front\rear
AMC 360
TF 727
NP 229 (Funky)
Bone Stock (for now)
NO RUNNING BOARDS!

[Bernie]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ralph:
Bernie: do you have a source for the woodgrain vinyl decals? Gosh, they seem to be expensive!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Ralph, The only source I have ever used for woodgrain is the dealer. Yes they sure are expensive.

[msmith9155]

We were lucky when we did the body work on the Wag. The only rust spots were in the rear quarter panels just behind the rear wheels and down low, both sides. On the suface they looked to be about the size of a half dollar, yet once we started removing paint it got bigger! Welded in steel patch panels (approx.3 1/2" X 7") from some scrap that we had then a light layer of bondo. Also stripped the whole truck down to metal with a DA. Applied a spray on bondo and block sanded. When we were finally ready to paint. We wet down the garage walls and all (garage is a metal building, no drywall). We didn't get one fuzzy or bug in the paint at all! Amazing!

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Greenade
1981 Wagoneer"The Greenade"
1971 J4000