Automotive Bodywork and Rust Repair

• How to select the right tools for the job,
• How to prep and clean sheet metal
• How to fabricate panel patches
• Welding options
• How to form metal
• Final metal finishing
• Plastic and lead fillers
• Sanding
• And much more!

AT THE FACTORY AND AFTERWARD Autobody panels begin their lives in near-ideal conditions. Clean, uniform sheet stock was stamped or rolled into shape. Huge machines accomplished this work by exerting many tons of pressure on flat sheet stock that was inserted between the drawing and rolling dies of stamping devices. In such operations, flat metal is deformed by enormous force that stretches and shapes it. The metal is clamped at its edges by "binder rings," and then acted on by dies that force it into desired shapes. Later, it is trimmed and pierced at attachment points. For the metal work, the important thing about these processes is that the stretching and forming of sheetmetal between dies work hardens it. That is one of the reasons for stamping it; to make it stronger. The other reason, of course, is styling. If cars were fabricated from unstamped sheetmetal, their panels would literally flutter in the wind, and from road vibrations. Stamping imparts strength, and helps to eliminate most flutter. Besides, no one would want to drive a car that looked like a steel box. When you repair damaged sheetmetal, you must deal with the work hardening that occurred in the original stamping or rolling process that turned flat stock into finished panels, and with the additional deformations that occurred when it was damaged. There is also the factor of road vibration, which, over long periods, hardens panels as they travel down the road. It is important to keep all of this in mind when you find a panel resisting your best efforts to change it shape and restore it to its original configuration. One of the worst forms of damage that you will ever encounter is bad repair work. A range of people, from the truly clueless to the dedicatedly inept, may have tried to repair the damage before you. Their misguided efforts, often with very large hammers and other destructive devices, may have made things worse or much worse than they were.