I have never done any body work before, but decided I would give it a try. I guess the good news is that if it doesn't work out, I will not quit my day job, and I can sand off my mistakes....

So I slipped away from the office a little early this afternoon to do a little work on the Ram. Body has some rough spots (but no rust) so I started on some of the worst dents. Will weld on rear lower panels on bed at some point (already explained to wife that I HAVE to buy a welder….)

Driver front fender:







Dent sanded out:




Studs welded on:




Dent pulled out:




Bond applied:





Passenger side bed rail:




Dent in bedrail:



Bondo on bedrail:




Could not get it all sanded as it was getting dark outside. Gotta pull bed off to get this one at some point:



Ands I have to do both of these:



And there is a lot of the clear that has deteriorated like this:

 

 

i envy thee!! wish i had the body working tools and gadgets you have!! i need to get the bottoms of my doors fixed someday soon.....

 

Seems we may need to take a road trip to Eastland, TX

 

How did you pull that dent out? Just pliers? And I've heard that body filler holds moisture and causes your paint to bubble in a year or so, is this true?

 

Filler will hold moisture. So will primer. The final top coat is what seals out moisture (clear or color in a single stage). If you put primer on your body work and not top coat it, it still allows moisture to enter the work.

As far as paint bubbling, it's not from body filler, it's from the lack of proper preperation during the work. I know that most cars came from the factory with some filler. I don't know about the current new cars, though I'm sure there is somewhere.

Also, most "show" cars are made from body filler.

Basically, if done proper, there is nothing wrong with using a "QUALITY" body filler.

 

Pulled dents with a stud welder. You inswert the little copper clad stud into gun, press against body and pull trigger. The pull on stud with dent puller. Stud can easily be broken off. Did not know how well it would work, but thougth I would give it a shot before pulling barrety box and other things under hood to pull fender off. Got to within 1/8", removed high spots and filled.




A man can never have enough tools!

 

Ok cool thanks, I only ask about the bubbles because my dad painted a small portion of our hippie van and a year later it bubbled again in the same spot, he said it was because the body filler holds moisture which makes sense. So pretty much if you put a nice two costs on top of it it will hold the water out?

I like that stud welder, before I google it, do you mind me asking how much you paid for it?

 

Bubles or blisters are typically caused by oil or grease on surface before paint. Properly sanded and primed bondo will not let paint separate like that.

Stud welder came form Harbor Freight. About $100 best I remember. Other places have the same one for $175.

 

Gotta love harbor freight

Thanks a lot for the info, I might paint my truck Christmas week since my neighbor closes his for that week and he has a 35 ft paint booth I could use gotta get my truck out of the transmission shop first though lol

If you could keep taking pictures and maybe writing about your progress it'll be greatly appreciated