In this episode of Hands on Cars, Kevin calls up a bunch of his buddies to help finish the body work on the 1978 Chevy Camaro Z28 Zed Sled. Unlike your knucklehead friends, Kevin’s friends just happen to be a who’s who of show car paint, body, engine and fabrication guys from around the country. With all of them pitching in together, they get weeks work worth of body work done in just a day. Once the body panels are all straight, and the panel gaps are perfect Kevin shoots the whole car in Eastwood Contour high build polyester primer/surfacer.
Kevin also visits Wheels in Motion, a restoration shop shop in a converted car dealership from the 1930s. There he takes a ride in a low mile, unrestored, 1959 Chevy Impala that was originally bought at the site new by the original owner.
Tag: autobody
Step up your Hammer Game! Using Intermediate Body hammers and Dollies
Back when cars were made of heavy metal and had lots of beautiful curves guys took the time to repair a fender rather than just replace it. Any good metal worker will tell you that you need to match the hammer and dolly as close as possible with the shape of your panel you’re working on. When you’re working on a curvy car like something from the late 1930’s through the 1950’s you will be hard pressed to find a flat panel on the vehicle. This means that you will need to use tools to match. Back in those days the selection of specialty hammers were vast, some being specifically used for one type of car or type of repair!
Stop the Rust- How to Fix Rust Spots on your Car
If you own anything made of metal there’s a chance you’re going to fight rust sometime in your life. If you own a car that’s more than a few years old there’s an even larger chance rust will creep into your life (there’s a pun there). I decided to break down some common misconceptions about rust and give you a broad overview on how to fix those small rust spots on your car.
Another way to Get Perfect Panel Gaps- With TC Penick
As Kevin pointed out, trying to build up the edge of a door panel with body filler is not a durable long term solution. The trick is, to avoid parking lot door ding heartbreak, you don’t build up the panel edge, you build up the solid part of the panel it meets. TC shows us the special easy to make tools, and his special tricks on the bonnet of a classic Jaguar E type, ending up with gaps more uniform than the handmade panels ever had when they left the factory in the 1960s.
How to apply body filler- Fix, Fill, and repair body damage Correctly.
In this how-to session Kevin goes over the various Eastwood Contour polyester body fillers and surfacers, as well as other Eastwood products. He talks about which to use where, how much to use, how to apply it, how to shape and sand it, and how to get it ready for primer and paint.
How to Choose the Right Sanding Block
How to Choose the Right Sanding Block The sanding block gets its name because once upon a time it was just a block of wood with sandpaper stuck to it. The hard, flat block allowed you to sand to a much more uniform surface. Later, the heavy rubber style “alligator” […]
How To Paint & Set Up Your Spray Gun With Kevin Tetz
How To Paint & Set Up Your Spray Gun With Kevin Tetz In September of 2013 Kevin Tetz from the Paintucation DVDs did a live stream and demonstration at Eastwood HQ in Pottstown, PA. If you missed it you can watch the whole thing on YouTube as Part 1 and […]
Save that Panel! Empire Fabrication Brings a Smashed Porsche 356 Fender Back from the Dead
Part of being a good metal worker is the ability to read a panel and what needs to be done to correct an issue or make the metal do what you want. Once you are “in-tune” with the metal you can correct some pretty crazy damage in a panel. This really comes in handy when you’re faced with body damage. In most cases a smashed up bolt-on panel like a front fender would just warrant a call to a sheet metal supplier, a trip to the junkyard, or an eBay search, that is if you have a “common” vehicle.
How to Repair Clearcoat Defects
Since the 1980s the automotive manufacturers have been painting cars with two stage, base coat/clear coat systems. That may not seem all that long ago to some of us older guys, but these cars are now 30 years old and entering prime project car territory. Because drivetrain technology had hit its stride by then, cars like 5.0 Mustangs are still running and driving just fine. But many cars from the 80s and 90s have clear coat paint that is just peeling and flaking off in chunks. Some cars, like the Plymouth Neon, seemed to have paint and clear coat failing before they were even off lease.