Body Building Technique

[RW57]

I have had good luck w harbor freight electric shears had them for 4 years used and abused them if they quit tomorrow I have got my money out of them you can catch them on sale for under 50 bucks. Since you have a brake you are good to go it is really a big advantage if you have old panels to go by. If you lay it out right you can get 1 side per sheet hood and filler will take 1 sheet fender tops sail panels roof post will require 1 more . If you are gonna do your own spoiler you might can get them out of scraps 5 sheets total with no major foul ups I ain't that good though one thing I always screw up is if I use color on white I always make something with the color the wrong way my advice pay the little extra and get color on color that makes it dummy proof for people like me.

[Kwoods25]

even if it is color/color you can still screw up, was making a LR quarter a couple weeks ago turned into a RR real fast lol. i started writing front or back to keep me in check. you can deff. mess up any min. if your not paying attention. also harbor freight shears do work great. got mine on clearance $30

[zeroracing]

Tip I have found is on cut lines I need straight use a scribe to mark the cut line. You only cut as accurate as your line. Since I started doing the scribe over the marker on cut lines I have noticed much straighter cuts. Make dang sure your line is correct though once she is marked she is marked.

[tin man]

I use a pair of Bluepoint 9a snips. Snap on duckbill pliers to do the hems on the wheelwells and a homemade shrinker made from a pair of visegrips and some dowl rod.

[cumminsman08]

Alot of great ideas listed, I'll just add to it, once you get yourself a good body that fits how you like it take the extra time and make some templates..local supplier gave me a few sheets of aluminum that got dinged up which made great material for my templates. You might have a little extra time in making them but will save you time,money,and aluminum later on down the road..

[7uptruckracer]

Last question how are they cutting such perfect sail panel openings. some of these new ones are almost all the way open I don't see any hems, and such perfect radius's. Are they using a hole saw to start or nibblers? Are they still hemming them and I just missed it?

[RW57]

Use a hole saw on the corners then cut to corners

[Kwoods25]

They ones you see on the big teams are waterjetted. I got a set they are awesome. They are a 2 piece deal. Were the window it self is like.080 and then a thicker piece of metal rivets to the back for strength. Very nice work

[dirty white boy]

Kwoods25 give me the K-fork special price on a set of fenders and a hood,..dont matter on color!

[Kwoods25]

I probably got enough red to do it. I have been trying to except your request all day but it won't let me. You got you a crate car now?

[TLM4t4]

Simplest thing to use on your wheel openings is get you a piece of ½" or ⅝" square stock, use a saw and cut into it a ½". Once you do that, grind a radius on either side if it. That way when you start working the material over it still has a nice crisp edge as breaking it and once you get it over so far the radius will roll with the material. Just be sure you do a little at a time because if not you wish risk tearing or breaking your hymn which will weaken it and it will have a jagged look. I do bodies for lots of people and found this the best way, it takes two people to bead roll the hymn for me.

[dirty white boy]

got bout half of one...nuttun fancy tho!

[Punisher88]

It is a pain to do the first pass on the bead roller for a door but I figured out if you start at the back of the door where the top of the wheel well is and finish at the bottom it is alot easier to do.

[keeks]

TLM, are you trying to duplicate that piece Allstar sells?

[A ron]

I have another newbie question (not meaning to hijack but seems like a good thread to ask): when you guys are mounting the sides, what is the best way of attaching the sides to the deck? I've seen rivets and what looked like bolts and special washers. If you guys use rivets do you have a technique for putting back up washers on? The sides on the car I bought were riveted to the sides instead of having the lip that sits on top of the deck, so I'm building it blind. I'm guessing they didn't have a brake.