Hi,

How hard/expensive would it be to set up my own body shop in my garage for personal use. My knowledge with cars and body work is probably 5%. But I would imagine that it would be possible to construct a small room where I could fit bumpers, hoods, fenders and do my own painting. I would be able to buy a body kit and paint it myself.

What sort of stuff would I need? How would I get started? Any books you'd recommend? At the very least it would be cool if I could learn how to buff out light scratches, and cover up small dings. I just don't know where to go to get started learning this stuff. I also would like to learn more about turbo kits, and engine upgrades but I'll post the question else where.

Any help or guidance would be great.

Thanks,

J

 

I hate to say it like this but if your asking the question You won't be able to do it. It's a learning process, especially if this isn't your profession. If you want to learn about some basic body work go to the junkyard pick up a few sort of straight panels and fix them. Fiberglass work(body kit) try to build yourself a sub box. Paint do the panels from before. Tools can will vary enormously in price 20 buck body dollie sent from harbor freight or a couple hundred dollar set from snap on or matco.

 

you need to paint outside or with a ventilated room. no way to safely paint in a small room.

 

It is an art form. You can either do it well, or you do it well-enough and never any better. The people who do it well are expert craftsmen with inborn talent. Mastery comes only with patience, diligence and dedication to the craft. I think I'm pretty qualified to say that considering that I make my living as an artist If you really want to learn bodywork...have at it and have fun doing it!

 

Ive done many cycles in my garage along with my truck. I got to the point where I dont tell anyone that. Most think Im BSing them anyway. Ive done show winning paint jobs in my garage, no joke. I started off in my garage and it was the perfect place to learn. Im not suggesting that anyone try this because paint is no joke. The fumes will kill you and loved ones. Ive done many writeups on painting. If you like I can try and find one on other sites Ive posted. Dont get into it if you think your going to do it to save money. Because it costs a lot to get started. A decent HVLP gun will cost you 100.00 a decent filter setup will cost you about 200.00. Now add in a compressor 350.00 and material. A Qt of base coat will get you about enough for a body kit if you know what your doing, thats about 75.00, reducer for that is about 25.00. You'll also need primer about 100.00 a qt a setup. Now the clear coat, thats about 150.00 a setup for a Qt. Now add in sandpaper and blocks, about 40.00. So now you see its not cheap. If you want more info just ask.

 

^^^NV when you get a compressor for painting... dont you have to get some crazy one.. that will not drop PSI while sprayinjg and you will need something inline with the lines to prevent moisture?

 

I believe they use filters to prevent that. I have a friend who has a body shop and he has 5 inline filters used to catch moisture or other small debris that may come from the compressor. I've tried painting before and its a lot harder than it looks

 

try painting your engine cover, i've spent about $100 on spraypaint/sandpaper/bondo/tape/thinner (i'm doing it a few times). it sounds like alot, but i don't mind since i'm learning a little also. that being said, i don't think i'd consider doing my own bodywork when it costs roughly 300-500 for a pro to do a body panel.

 

if you could post a link, that would be awesome. I want to learn more.

 

its pretty fcking hard

 

With talent, nothings impossible, a booth is only useful for limiting imperfections in the paint from dust etc, but with a good painter can do as good of a job in a well prepped garage as in a booth, and when dirt does get into the paint, then the panel just needs to be resprayed. A good paintjob is less about equipment, and more about talent and time put into it. Most shops put out sub par paintjobs not because they don't have the skill to put out flawless paintjobs, but aren't willing to put enough time to make the paint perfect, because people are unwilling to pay for the work. I know a guy that painted at least a quarter of the cars in the local classic car shows, and he paints out of his garage and doesn't let anything leave his shop with a flaw on it.

 

+1. A lot of time and effort and knowledge and perfection is put into doing body work.

 

More info would be awesome. Are there any websites that I can look at? Books that I can read? I don't mind spending some money just to see what its like. At the very least I will be more knowledgable when it comes to body work. I'm not sure whether I would be good at it or not, but I just want to give it a try, or at least learn more about it. Thanks for the information thus far. Personally, I would like to eventually work on an older muscle car like a camero or mustang just for the sake of doing it. In the process I would like to paint it myself. Not to save money, but because it would be something that I painted my self. I also imagine that it would be possible for me to eventually be able to fix small dings and scratches with what I learn...even if it doesnt look perfect. I'm the type of person that would rather do something myself for the sake of learning/getting better at it.

 

arent there laws against doing this at a private residence? i remember back in the day, one of my friends did the same thing, and got caught by the police. he got a fine from the city, and he had to eventually tear everything down. i suggest researching local laws first. but by all means, im all for people customizing their own cars! good luck!