body work advice

[superman3405]

alright, time has come for the body work portion of my partial restore...I need some advice. I have no body work experience but have decided instead of paying some shop a small fortune to do it that I would invest that small fortune in TOOLS and do it myself..
i guess I need an air compressor and a sander. Is their any recomnedation on size of compressor that will work, good sanding gun? Sanding pads whattexture is best. overall my truck is in fair condition. Surface rust on the floor boards, needs new rocker panel and doors, Typical stuff. I am trying to stay away from bondo. Is their a good rust remover to use. When priming do I use the spray paint or do I need a spray gun. Can the truck sit outside while I do this??

[Bus Ted Knuckle]

you need the biggest compressor that you can afford. Air sanders are some of the most air hogging tools made. Shoot for at least 15 CFM. You might get by with less, but you will wish you spent the extra $$$. Look for an older used NAME BRAND compressor (Champion, Quincy, Ingersoll-Rand, etc.), that is where you will find your best deal on a great compressor. Try to get a two stage compressor, they give you more bang for the buck. If you do buy new, stay away from oiless (they are noisey and short lived). And don't get a 3 phase compressor unless you have 3 phase and if you do have 3 phase, you know you have it

Buy the nicest straight sander you can afford. Snap on (etc.) is nice, but pricey, most any name brand will do great.

For rust remover what about an oribital sander?

You say you need rockers and door bottoms, you might want to think about buying a flux core wire welder (no gas needed). A Craftsman would be about $250 for one that will do good on sheet metal. You would also need a cut off tool or some other way to remove the old sheet metal (I use a Sawsall for 90% of my removal).

I think the re-occuring theme here is stick to name brand stuff here when possible.

Absoloutly you can paint your truck outside. The better quality primers will always be in spray gun type, but if low budget is what you are after, go the rattle can way. HVLP paint guns make painting easy, you will want one of those guns to do your painting. HVLP is High Volume Low Pressure. Wait until a moderate day with little to no wind and go for it. Prep is the key (good body work, sanding, residue removal, all that stuff). If you are talking about keep the truck outside during the process of working on it, yes you can, just make sure that all bare metal is primed when you stop work each time.

Lots of info on the NET on all of this. Google will give you lots of stuff to think about.

Go for it and have FUN doing it. It will be a great experience to do your own body work.

Geesh I just wrote a bunch...