Paint and Body repair

[Mother304]

I have a 67 Dodge Coronet 440 (indicates body style not engine, unfortunately) 4 door. This is my first project car so I am still learning all the tricks. Now, the body is pretty straight except for a dent in the driver-side fender and in the chrome bumpers. The paint is still original but oxidized with some rust where the paint chipped years ago. Those and the fact that there are two 3x2 inch holes in the trunk lip behind the rear glass. My question is how hard is it to repair a dent? It needs a paint job anyways so should I just bite the bullet and go professional? I am a working college student so cash is kinda tight. It doesnt have to be show quality just decent. Ball park how many thousands of dollars am I looking at? I dont want to restore it since I mostly bought as a practice car for when I get a true classic but I dont want to look like I am driving a beater. Well sorry for the novel, I would really appreciate ANY info so I know where to start.

Thanks
Mother

[moparjeb]

mother---
I am a body/paint guy...it is not really difficult to repair a dent, if you have the correct equipment. If you have access to the back of the panel you could metalfinish it with a bullseye pick and a body file. This is the purist way, timeconsuming. If you ground the area clean and had access to a studwelder, you could pull and rough out the dent, then put some lightweight plastic filler in...absolutely no thicker than 1/4 inch and preferrably no thicker than an 1/8 inch. Then the area is sanded until the area is level witht he rest of the panel. Rust repair, however is a different ballgame. The only way to do rust repair is panel replacement (if applicable) or in the case of holes, to cut out at least a one-inch radius outside the rust and then weld in a replacement section.

[moparjeb]

oh, the second method I talked about (using studwelder) Similar results can be achieved by drilling a small hole in the dent, and using a slidehammer (with screw on end) and pulling or roughing dent out. This is the predecessor technique to using a studwelder. It eliminates some of the stock corrosion protection (because of the hole) and you must close that hole with a weld, then grind out the weld. Either technique will almost surely necessitate the use of lightweight plastic filler (NOT BONDO--BONDO is the old term for an old misused and abused product....Lightweight plastic fillers such as Evercoat Rage are very light (unlike BONDO) don't crack out (unlike BONDO--but remember the thickness rules!) shrink minimally (unlike BONDO) and sand very easily (unlike BONDO) Get the point? BONDO is a bad word, an old product and should not be used any longer. Word of advice, stores such as Wally-Mart still sell Bondo, go to an auto body supply store to buy your products. They actually carry stuff for people who do this for a living. Let me know if you have any more questions mother


---Jeb

[Mother304]

Thanks for the info. You mentioned welding patches over the holes. Since I have never used a welder before or know anyone who has one I think it would be best to send it out to be handled by a professional? As is I work on my car with mostly hand tools so anything more might be out of my reach. I would really like to know what I could do to lower the cost and improve on the finished product. I already took the trim off in an attempt to look less like my grandmother, so could I fill in the holes by my self? For a decent job I know I am looking at major bucks so any tips to help me cut costs would be SOOO appreciated. Thanks

[moparjeb]

Hey mother---
if you are speaking of rust repair--there really is no way around cutting it out and welding in new sections. All done with a wirefeed MIG (metal Inert Gas) welder. Quite simple to operate with a little experience. I would suggest checking at a local community college and seeing if you can take a beginning welding course (usually not real time consuming and not expensive for the most part), or finding a patient and willing soul in the industry somewhere to teach you the basics. Yes, the hole left by the trim attachment peices can be filled by welding (really the only way to fill any size hole) Grind the areas clean of paintand then fill with a mig welder. Grind them flat and you're almost there. Let me know if you have any questions. The simplest of MIG welders cost around $300-$400 for your information. Jeb

[Mother304]

Thanks for all the help. Looks like I got my work cut out for me.

[Larry S.]

A little trick I picked up from a professional welder friend of mine (this guy welds everything from aluminum to tungsten) is to hold a piece of brass or copper up against the back side of any trim holes that you can get to when welding them closed. It keeps the warpage down as it acts as a heat sink and it makes it much easier to fill in holes without burning a bigger hole. We did this on the top of a 68 Coronet front fender to fill in the hole where a turnsignal indicator had been. That hole was at least 3/8" and when we finished and the weld cooled down there was absolutely no warp in the top of that fender.

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1970 392 Hemi Cuda

[PlyScamp]

Just thought I would add my 2 cents. Hot Rod (March 99 issue) mentioned using the copper paddle with a aluminum handle. However at a local swap meet I found a Cutting & Welding Pistol. Check it out at WWW.Henrob2000.com. "Welds even the thinnest sheet metals with little or no distortion." Cuts up to 1" thick steel. Runs on 50% less Oxygen & Acetylene. Let me know what ya think. Maybe they will send me one for the free advertisment.