Anyone DIY body work?

Try it out, let us know how it works...

Negative. I’ve always been a high miler. Things start getting expensive with repairs about the same time bodies start going. Interested though as we do have (and with WFH will continue to have) a low milage vehicle.

Yeah you should try it out and show the results However these kind of repairs, even when done by people you pay to do them, a lot of times 2yrs down the road or so it just starts rusting again; or other areas start rusting. I'd say repair it, hope it looks good, get rid of the car quickly after while it still looks okay.

KevinM56081 wrote: ↑Negative. I’ve always been a high miler. Things start getting expensive with repairs about the same time bodies start going. Interested though as we do have (and with WFH will continue to have) a low milage vehicle.

ES_Revenge wrote: ↑Yeah you should try it out and show the results However these kind of repairs, even when done by people you pay to do them, a lot of times 2yrs down the road or so it just starts rusting again; or other areas start rusting. I'd say repair it, hope it looks good, get rid of the car quickly after while it still looks okay.

IcarusLSC wrote: ↑ Try it out, let us know how it works...

Yah I'm going to give it a shot and give y'all an update! My weekend is done.. So if weather permits, I'll do the project weekend coming up!

UrbanPoet wrote: ↑ Yah I'm going to give it a shot and give y'all an update! My weekend is done.. So if weather permits, I'll do the project weekend coming up!

I used to do similar repairs like in video, when I worked at a cheapo body shop during high school summer holidays.

The actual body work is not that hard. I wouldn't repair the panel like in the video, I'd cut the panel out at the seams. Then form a new panel, pop rivet it place. The rest is just filler and paint. You can weld in place but rust forms quickly beside the weld beads, unless you can get behind it and spray it.

At the least, you'll learn some metal forming skills.

The method shown in the video is good. That will hold up for years. I have repaired 2 of my cars (past and current) in a similar manner, almost 10+ years had gone by and the bodywork still holds up. Only the paint had begun to flake on my current car, since I used straight laquer at the time and no clear coat. I recently wet sanded it and used enamel, looks good as new. The takeaway is to use short strand fiberglass as he did in the video, then follow up with traditional Bondo for a top coat to smooth everything out. It's all in the prep work! Get fussy, fill and sand as much as you need to get everything straight.

It can be hard to DIY and not have it come back within 6months, heck seen many crap 'pro' jobs not last 1 yr. Its hard to find good work anymore, or you gotta pay.