Official DIY Bodywork Thread

[Fixer]

Some of us were discussing bodywork a few ago,

I stumbled onto these pics of my 911 Carerra that was hit, thought i lost them.

I wanted to share them. Turned out pretty well, hardly any filler in the end.

You can see the wheel arch was stretched enough that i had to cut material away and mig weld it to shrink it back to shape.

Haven't found the "before" pic of quarter yet. It was hit pretty good.

Had to fix the rear end too. Looking for those.

PLEASE POST REPAIRS PICS and Descriptions of how you did it for DIY purposes.
Glass,Trim, Modifications or anything you find interesting regading Body Work




Took many hours.

[Jerry Feather]

That looks pretty good to me, however I suspect that you did not need to take any of the metal out to reduce the part that was stretched. There is a technique for shrinking steel panels that is really quite simple and is very effective. I wish I was there to show it to you. I'll try to describe it for you.

Take your oxy/ace torch with a small tip and heat a spot, where you want it to shrink, to cherry red and about the size of a dime or nickle. When you do that the spot will raise up fairly significantly. Then while it is still red or nearly so, with you dolly on the under side and your body hammer, flatten the spot while it is still swelled up and then as it cools it shrinks. Do this any number of times in and around the stretched area and very soon you will have it shrunk where it needs to be. If you find that it is shrunk too much, just use your hammer and dolly on it with some sharp but careful blows and it will stretch back to where you want it.

[Fixer]

Thank you Jerry, i did shrink the quarter a lot above the lip but that area is so thin
i could not shrink it well there with hammer and dolly. I wanted to retain the crisp line.
It was really tough.
This should be a cool thread

Please add some photos Jerry..
Thanks
Matt

[Fixer]

The estimates i got from body shops; they wanted to cut off the whole quarter,and would NOT do it otherwise.
I didn't want that. Found some more pics copying the quarter shape from side to side with a profile tool.
Don't get angry anyone i am self taught!

[Fixer]

Those are Harley Davidson Turn signals for tail lights. Can't tell that on the 911 Forum!

[Kiln_Red]

Matt, are you just trying to start some controversy?

I'm kidding, of course. Your work looks great. I understand people come at body/paint from different points of view much like they do mechanical work. As I said in that other auto body discussion, I think a lot of the difference in explaining these techniques is simply in the language.

[Fixer]

LOL,

Even though you guys aren't DIYers you are Pros,

Please share some of your wisdom Austin. You too Bluemane, but there is a no gasket-blowing rule in this thread!

Glass and trim info too people..

[Fixer]

Good side used as template. Can't find accident shots looking.

[Kiln_Red]

Alright, Matt. I am about to do a complete respray on a 928 sometime within the next couple of months. There won't be much body work involved. Just a couple low spots and replacing the left fender and hatch. I'll include photos and share what advice I think would be helpful. I assume paint tips and discussion is invited?

[Fixer]

Cool Austin. I look forward to it. Not enough info regarding this important aspect of 928 ownership.

[Kiln_Red]

Originally Posted by The Fixer

Cool Austin. I look forward to it. Not enough info regarding this important aspect of 928 ownership.

Well, in reality, not many folks have the resources available to do this kind of work themselves. Not only is an air compressor a must, but there are A LOT of expensive tools involved. Expensive tools are not necessarily required, of course, but it's just like chemicals.. You get what you pay for. My most recent spray gun purchase was nearly $700; An Iwata LS-400 "Supernova" with a 1.3 fluid tip and hybrid air cap. It's so easy to spray that ANYONE with fair hand-eye coordination could watch me use it once and then immediately do it themselves with very similar results. Most auto painters favor Iwata for c/c as they atomize the material the best, thus making the art of laying down a slick paint job a matter of child's play. You don't want to be cheap about a spray gun purchase IMO.

I like a basecoat gun to put out a little more material, so I have a 1.4mm fluid tip fitted to my Devilbiss Tekna Pro-Lite. It's a very ergonomic gun and super easy to clean and maintain. Again, it's very user friendly and can easily handle the most tricky of metallics without leaving blotches or imperfections. I differ from most other painters in that I do not keep a "sealer" gun. I don't use sealer unless over new parts. When I must, I shoot sealer through my Devilbiss. I can't justify designating one spray gun to a product that I rarely use.

Another curve ball for the DIYer is the absence of a spray booth. It isn't a must, but it makes life far easier to have a little positive pressure air movement going around the car to keep trash out of the paint. The lack of air movement can also be dangerous. With all the solvents in the air, all it takes is a little static electricity to ignite your garage and car into an inferno. If anyone would like instructions on how to best replicate the effects of a positive pressure spray booth in their garage then I can provide those steps. If it serves no other purpose, it will at least provide safety.

As far as body work is concerned, a DIYer can just about do any of this at home with tools they might already own. You don't need a frame rack or floor pull system unless you're doing collision work. If you already have mechanics tools, then you have most of what you need aside from power sanders, sanding blocks, body hammers & dollies, body clip tools, and a primer gun. Again, this all starts with an air compressor.

[AirtekHVAC]

Very cool thread. I am not planing on painting mine myself, but was wanting to learn a little by doing as much of the prep work as I can....

[Danglerb]

928 group has more than a few skilled body and paint guys, maybe more will chime in.

My only suggestion, practice on junk parts.

[MPDano]

Originally Posted by Danglerb

928 group has more than a few skilled body and paint guys, maybe more will chime in.

My only suggestion, practice on junk parts.

He is, it's a 911

Totally joking, for all the 911 guys out there.

[Fixer]

If anyone would like instructions on how to best replicate the effects of a positive pressure spray booth in their garage then I can provide those steps. If it serves no other purpose, it will at least provide safety.

Please do Austin, I enjoyed reading what you wrote.

also we should mention the health hazard (to lungs) of the paint's organic components. Need Ventilation!!

It's not tough to set a a clean spray area (with heavy mil plastic) and a large window fan and improvised filtered vent.

It's also easy to set up your compressor in a clean area (out of your homemade booth) and have clean air supplied to your mask..

You can also by a decent HVLP paint gun for under $300. Go to
Autobodytoolmart.com

I bought a Upol gun for $175 and love it.

Doing this work is not out of the question for the DIYer, as my Grandmom Aida Vivianni always said;

"Where there's a will, there's a way"

Leo, LOL, when i saw the practice on a 911 comment!