A friend and I want to learn how to paint and do body work. Can you guys suggest some good books or anything like that that can help?

I know the best way to learn would be to take classes at the local tech school, but the classes at the university only gives us a month or between Fall and Spring semesters to learn. We have a practice car and we know how to follow directions well, so I'm hopeing some books with good instructions, and a couple trys on the practice car will let us know the basics.

Please post any suggestions or comments.

 

The best advice i could give you is its very difficult to find a school that teaches you body work so, i would try to find a body shop to work at part time and watch those guys. Thats the best people to learn from. Ask a lot of questions and learn from them.

 

Sure, if you have the car, and the tools, just go at it yourself. Just get some books, and start reading..you can ask around at the auto body supply shops for the latest and greatest aids and ideas.

I learned what I know just by reading books and practicing.

 

i would say read a good book on it and then try it out on someones beater. ive been practicing painting right now on an extra fender layin around at my house. heres a good page on how to prep a car: http://dreamwater.com/puter/gtpaint.html all i can say is look it up on some generic search engine and you should get plenty of good pages to start with

 

If you have the tools, and a "practice" car, get some of the various books available at your local library and/or automotive parts store and read up and then tear into it.

Now, there is body work and "bondo work".....a good body man will use very little or NO filler. This requires lots of specialized tools, torches and welders, etc. A car done by a professional will pass the 'magnet test', meaning a magnet will stick to everywhere he worked on, meaning no Bondo.

Painting is an art unto itself. You need quality spray guns and air supplies. Lacquer sprays differently than enamels, polyurethanes are even more fun. Preparation is the key here, the paint WILL show any defect or shortcut done during preparation.

I am a pretty fair painter and a very average body guy, I use Bondo...a lot! Which is why I only work on secondary cars, I simply don't have the talent or experience to do first rate work.
I would NEVER attempt to work on a car like an FD.......it just wouldn't look right.

Ya gotta know your limitations.....

 

Any recommendations on what books to get? Any book with a step-by-step breakdown of the process would be great.

Any one want to tell me how to shave off door handles and side moldings? This is on the to do list for the project as well.