After siging up with this group, and reading in u'r guys autobody forum section... some of u people... have no clue what your talking about... take it from me, i own my own autobody shop... (StYx's Paint & Perofrmance) Out of my memory... first thing i read was about door skins... for starters... door skins can be easy if u know what your doing... quick tips: when taking the original skin off.. be careful not to damage the inner shell... some guys use air hammers to peel the lip off... where other guys use just a grindger and grind the edge of the door skin off, and the lip is left on, and the complete skin comes off... when putting the new skin on... some people try to hammer and dolly the lip... not a smart move.. you will have tons of dents/waves in your door... the best way is to use a 2x4 of wood and work the whole skin at once...therefore... don't use a steel dolly.. use wood... the second thing i read in your forum was about painting tail lights... 3rd gen tail lights or even 4th for that matter... are made of plastic... if u just take off your deisgn and spray bomb it, it will wear off and peel... quick tip: use plastic adhesion promotor and then use automotive paint.. and you can even base clear the design. The last thing i read was about working with bondo according to dents... first thing first... the dent has to be completly stripped of all paint and primer before the first skin of bondo is put on... unless its a very small dent like the size of a nickle u can use 2 part puddy... but make sure the paint in the dent is completely dulled... Overeall: i'll keep an eye on your guys postings, and try and help u with autobody questions.... if u got a certin question.. feel free to e-mail me at: styxified@hotmail.com When it comes to autobody... there's a reason its called a skilled trade... its not so much as a job... but more of a art form.

 

"StYx's Paint & Perofrmance"

edumacation is good

I on the other hand tend to disagree with autobody work being so tough to do , if a person can read , is willing to practice first, ask advice and then have lots of patience while doing it they can do anything from fixing a little dent , replacing a quarter panel or painting their whole car at home in their driveway with awesome results , I wouldn't call my own work amazing , but it's ok for what I want and I could do a thousand time better job now than the last time I painted my car , and I plan to do that once again this summer (about 4 years after the first repaint)

it's not tough , it just requires patience and it's just metal that can always be put back in its original shape and form.

I'll be the first to critique my own work , notice how dull the paint is in places , that's because I never got a change to wetsand the whole car (the hood is and you can see that it's a lot shinier than the rest of the car). But I'm losing a battle with rust in some places and I decided to go all out and fix those spots (right now tiny but give it a few years and I would have rust everywhere) and then repaint it once again this time with better equipment , garage , lot more knowledge and hopefully enough time to wetsand/buff the whole car after it's done , lol.

 

Again.. somewho thinks they actually know what there doing by reading a book... Autobody work isn't something u can learn by reading... u actually have to teach your hand... now panting u'r own car out in the drive... not to sure about that... for starters.. you'd have the labor board all over you... or in a garage... is fine if you prep the garge it self properly...plus a suction fane kinda helps. Just simply looking at u'r picture... and u'r description of "dull" spots.. i can't u'r no painter... i personally like it when people who think they work in a factory spraying cars.. trucks.. or bus's... think there instanly a autobody painter... u'd be laughed at if u showed your car to a actual painter ! and if u want to get all fussy over speilling.. fine.. u'r choice.. i know the sign on my shop says "StYx's Paint & Performance"

 

I don't know what your problem is, but I'd give them credit for trying. At least they're willing to go out and learn something new. Everyone, even yourself had to learn somewhere.

 

I beg to differ. Sure autobody work isn't the easiest thing to do, but there are harder things (like rebuilding a tranny). You have to learn from something..usually a bood is a good place to start. Then you can have a good idea of what you are doing (or what you are supposed to be doing). I'm only 16, but I have read alot of books about autobody, engine rebuilding, etc. I also have experiance in autobody repair (look in the post about replacing a damaged quarter pannel). And from what I have done...autobody has been the easiest, I think mostly because I have read up on it the most.

 

Dang bro!!! Most folks on the board are not mechaic or paint/body professionals, like you . A majority are folks who go to their 9-5 jobs M-F and come home to work on their F-bodys. A message board is used to share one's advice, tips & generally what they have learned on their project. Some posts are, of course, questionable. Some folks are, in fact, full of it. StYx man....instead of coming on so dang strong like that...maybe you just should have just said "i'll keep an eye on your guys postings, and try and help u with autobody questions". Hell of a first post...don't you think??? You're defintely getting off on the wrong foot with the moderators!

Brandon

 

Thank goodness you're here to protect us from doing bad bodywork. Out of almost 20 thousand members, do you think you're the 1st painter/body shop owner to sign up to this message board ?

Yes, who has ever learned anything by reading ?

If you want to help and give advice, do so. If you want to repeat the name of your shop (as if it's going to make you creditable) and critisize members for giving body work/painting a try, don't bother submitting to the post.

 

Maybe he just came across hard. I am sure he has good intentions. I know that I would not tackle any paint/body repair myself, even though I am very good at working on cars. At least he was offering his services/advice to us on the boards, and thats what they are for. Lets give the guy a chance.

 

I love doing body work....I mean..I'm 19 years old...and have been around it most of my life (my dad has done all of his own work).....and ...I've had 2 years of vocational school..and I hope I can get a really good job as a body repair man one of these days....

 

...couple more..

 

....

 

Finished..

 

Do we have a choice? I do appreciate his services also, but to come on that hard.........

84customZ28...how about performing a free paint to mine? Here it is:

Brandon

 

We could fix that right up.....the pictures I posted were of my brothers 87 Z28....Here are a couple pictures of my old 84....did all the work myself...and clone it to a 1992 Z28...buch of work..but it paid off....until....an old lady hit my...and now it's totaled...

 

almost done here....

 

Typing in complete sentences can be easy if you know what you're doing.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt though, maybe he had good intentions- but he sure came off the wrong way.

 

For someone who owns a body shop and is quite knowledgable I'd think he might have a little better grammar skills j/k but you might want to lighten up a little styx dude

cheers

 

84customz, looking good man!! nice work

 

I can't even read your second post "styx" , u'r is not a word last time I checked. Few more keystrokes won't kill ya

and FYI I'm a computer geek if there ever was one , I don't paint trucks or whatever else you listed... what you call "art" is in reality pretty easy on a NORMAL car , sure there's another level to it for the concourse restorations or hotrods with 20k paintjobs.

but I agree , you are all knowing , all powerful and we will all make sure to ask you questions and get criticized for it by the master

 

for that pic it looks like you are using a non HVLP gun(y not, they save so much more paint and i find eaiser to work with) and you are primering(??) with out a real respriator(yeah i suck at spelling)? Y in the hell are you not wearing one??????????????????

 

Quote:

on the other hand tend to disagree with autobody work being so tough to do , if a person can read , is willing to practice first, ask advice and then have lots of patience while doing it they can do anything from fixing a little dent , replacing a quarter panel or painting their whole car at home in their driveway with awesome results

I absolutely agree. Because I've seen it. And done it.

Styx, I dunno who pissed in your Corn Flakes but geez... no reason to come up and criticize people and tell them they have no idea what they're talking about.....

 

We have several guns....but no gravity fed guns yet.......and my dad keeps the gun for paint up....so..no primer or any other material is sprayed through it. The gun I am using in that picture we got at a garage sale for like 20 bucks....it's great for primer...never had any problems with it. It's was cheap...it's works fine with primer....and we have a separate gun for just paint. We didn't really want to spend major bucks on a primer gun...but....we prbably will in the future. About the repirator....I ALWAYS wear one..but....the reason I didn't wear it that day is because it was really hott out....it was hard to breath even with out one.....I am wearing other 2 masks.....which..I know they are not ment for real strong fumes....but....it was better than completely breathing them in with no protection at all. But yeah..I should have worn one...no matter how hot it was.....Really...my old autobody teacher was a BAD influence on most of his students.....he would go in the paint booth...painting baseclear...and he wouldn't even wear a mask!....I thought that was like committing suicide.....at school...I always wore a mask...we had tons of them...and not to many kids used them..which is REALLY stupid...there lives were being shortened....and they didn't even know it......

 

84customZ28: Did you put the side vents in your car yourself? If so, how hard was the install? Anything major other than measure, cut, etc?

 

Well..to me...it wasn't all that hard....basically..what you said....u just HAVE to make sure they are very very secure so they won't crack...that's the main thing. I would try different fillers while the car was still in primer to see how they would act...(driving it in a little more rough roads) to make sure they wouldn't crack. So.. I used pop rivets, fiberglass, duraglass, bondo, bondo hair, and glazing icing...see...the fender vents are made from the same thing the noses are made from..so....you can't weld them in....if someone coud make a set out of sheet metal...then..you could weld them in....it would be SOOO much easier to do like that. In my new 91....I'm installing a set of the 80-81 Z28 fender louvers....they are metal...but..are made from aluminum...so..I can't weld those in either...they will look good..but..they won't be seamless...also...they will have a nice soild mount..no need to worry about cracking..and no fillers will be used...check'em out if you want...just go here: https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...+Fender+Louver

 

You say that, and then you post a picture of your car with newspapers on it, door handles, mirror, gas cap, DA'ed to death, and full of a-holes.......your kidding right?

Like styx said, it's art. If you don't know what your doing, it's easy.

Styx was only trying to help out. Most everyone who responded to this thread does'nt like his tone. Too bad, learn from him, if you have'nt already blown him off this site.

BTW, rebuilding a trans harder than bodywork? Rebuilding a trans CAN be learned from a book. It's simply putting parts in a particular order. How does that compare to fixing a roof that's collapsed to the headrests from a chunk of ice falling off a church roof? Or a millon other examples i could give.

If it's so easy, try it for a living. Compete with me on the job market. I made over 80k last year @ 40 hrs a week. If it were easy, would'nt more people be doing it?

 

I just happened to throw that one in because that is what I happen to be working on now.

The car is DA'ed to death because I'm STRIPPING THE CAR DOWN to prep it.

Newspapers on it. Hmm. I must want to remove all my glass to paint a daily driver?

I didn't say I'm going to do a top-notch professional job, but mine will suffice for the money I'll save.

 

Oh, and wtf are you talking about..holes...? You're the only one that's being an a-hole.....

But anywho, I digress....

 

auto body work is easy.... and yes I just tried you.... when you've shot imron onto a $500k + aircraft let me know ....

 

i'd like to see you read a book or manual and just go ahead and overhaul a garrett TFE731 for the first time

 

Body work. The never ending debate. Everybody has an opinion and they are all different.

I've been around body work my whole life. I've seen good body work, great body work, and terrible body work. I've also seen people that were incredibly happy with all 3. The only thing that I've seen consistantly is that every DIY'er that thinks it's easy usually has the worst body work on the road, but is completely oblivious to how bad it is.

Anybody that is actually good at body work will tell you that it took him years to get that way.

Every time I've seen some proud DIY'er that asked me what I thought, within 2 minutes of me pointing out one lousy mistake after another, they start with the "yeah but" excuses. I'm sure their excuses were legit, but good body work doesn't need excuses.

 

ok guys here my two cents paint and body work can be fun as well as turning wrenches i know it takes more time for paint and body work to come out perfect because every person has their own way to do things like my brother sands and primers with diffrent stuff than i do just like i turn diffrent types of wrenches than my dad but we all have to get along and yes stysxx did come off harsh and before you go trying to cut me down as a know nothing kid i could show awards for best paint from all over the south from resto's to full customs and before you start thinking im taking a painters side no thanks ill take my wrenches any day as long as theres a track open on saturday ill be laying on my back till its time to load up and race

 

Ok, guys. I have left this thread open long enough. I wanted others to be able to post any tech-releated info, but that isn't happening. Consider this topic closed.