Hot Rod Forum banner

Help with a door body line

2K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  rcrobbins 
#1 ·
Hello to everyone I haven't met in my intro thread. My name is Corey and have done a few paint jobs, but seem to be taken back to novice level by a simple body line. Some background on the situation: the car is a BMW E30 M3 that was in horrible shape and the owner wanted it back to original black (diamond schwartz) which is why I need the car as close to straight as possible. After four months of filling, cutting rust, fiberglass work, and paint, I'm left with this door I can't seem to get perfect. I don't have any before pics, but it was pushed into a pole while opened (not by me!) and put a nice crease from top to bottom about 8 inches in from the front. I got everything straight except for the top rail which has been sanded and primed about 3 times. Here is a pic of how it sits tonight (just shot primer again today, bottom is half sanded 320 & top is untouched). I would say its about 95% straight. I was just wondering if some of you have suggestions on how I should approach this and if there's a tool to get these close to 100%. I've tried long boards, inline sanders, taping on top and bottom while skim coating the opposing sides, but this has me stumped. Also, no junk yard will have this door, considering it's off an M3 and other models came with trim. Sorry for the long write-up but wanted to be thorough. Hope you guys can help!
 
See less See more
1
#2 ·
Time to be creative. Have you a 4 foot level you can use for shaping? Have a friend hold it up to the spot that is giving you grief, use it as a guide to fill. A lot of patience will be needed to get this right, look around for simple tools to help, a yardstick, plastic pieces, you get the idea. You can also cut a bondo spreader to the shape you need to help get the fill right. It looks like the problem spot is toward the end of the door where the handle is, it's not going to be easy, be determined or the battle is lost.
 
#4 ·
How about this one? I learned it from an old timer that taught me how to do lead....holy crap, now I'm the old timer,oh well.....its always best to work the metal ...not fill with bondo,car bodies are made of metal...hence "bodyman"= metal worker not bondoman...Agreed?...ok so go to your local home improvement center and get yourself some mason chisels they come in differnt widths from 2" to 8" they use them to break bricks and blocks....take the chisel and place it on the body line from the inside and tap the line out...NOT TO HARD!!! lightly if you over do it you'll really be in trouble...I've been doing this for years,it works every time but I make my own now with differnt length handles and blades some are sharp and some are round yours should be fairly sharp like your line but not to sharp you may have to grind it a little. :pimp: good luck..
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top