In this video I install bed side repair panels and add body filler then paint. I attribute my successes to god and give him the glory. Part 1: • 08 Chevy Silverado bed...
Thank you so much. I have the exact same problem with my 2009 silverado, same blue color. Now I know what to do. I didn't realize paint technology had gotten so complex with retarders, catalysts, etc. I just though it would be color over sanded primer, then simple clear coat. Oh, by the way, in part 1, the term for mixing the "bondo" is called folding,, as in folding the ingredients of a cake. Limits air pockets. Kind regards, Craig
I have a hard time going slow when I’m welding. I actually went too fast with this and had some warping. So don’t let it get too hot it warps easy with a large panel. I might do the same thing on my dodge bed after I change it to try and sell the one I take off. It might not be cost effective though.
I’ve been looking more into the painting, and body work process and I’ve been looking at the southern polyurethane paints. They seem to be pretty good. They suggest applying there epoxy primer on first before body filler and it seals the panel from the absorbency of the body filler. Seems like a good thing to me. Also a different technique of welding together panels is to use their epoxy primer after you drill your spot weld holes in place of weld through primer, let the panel dry for a few days if you can, and just remove the primer from the spot weld area the size of the hole. This is something I’m going to try on my next project so I figured I would share my newer findings. There’s many different ways to do it, but food for thought. I heard about a pig epoxy primer called cre which is supposed to be corrosion resistant. I haven’t used either of these yet but I figured I’d mention them.
My 2013 from the factory has waves in it, what you did came out really good. GM did a terrible job over the rear wheels with paint and steel. My tail gate also has waves.
Well I appreciate the compliment, thank you! Believe it or not recording the videos actually takes some of the chore out of doing the jobs. It changes the way I look at the work and makes it feel less like work. Thank you for watching
Thank you. It’s a shame you can’t get away from the rust. I’ve embraced the winter vehicle logic. I used to get picked on for it but over the years with trucks costing 50-70k it starts to make sense.
I would recommend using a guide coat and block sanding the body filler with a long foam block before painting. I didn’t do that in the video but it will give you a smoother end product.
Personally I would have masked the tail lights erc...then I would have shot the entire panel...you almost did anyway....always hold your gun square to your panel
Looks good man I’m in RI I have an 08 Sierra and I’m dreading doing this so I think I might just sand it down and use bondo and then paint rather than use panels to weld. Great video and thank you for sharing your information
I just had a guy suggest using fiberglass body filler instead of the regular body filler. I guess it’s waterproof. I used it before on a fiberglass motorcycle tail section and I thing it might be harder to sand but will hold up better. Something to think about anyway. Also there is an epoxy glue for gluing body panels together instead of welding. You put the glue on then you can clamp or use self tapping screws to hold the panels tight and remove them later and fill the holes in. Bondo is fast and easy but won’t last too long so I wouldn’t get expensive if you go that route. That is a long name. 👍
If you go panel bond route, make sure you fill in the screw holes with either fiberglass or some of the panel bond, do not use bondo for filling in any holes or it will suck every drop of moisture up and before you know it your paint is bubbling up with rust.
Really nice job on these fender flares, I think I might have put in some of those oversized Fender Flare covers and called it good! Anyway thanks again for posting this video this was a great job.
That’s nice of you to say. It’s far from a professional job but every time I do some body work I get it a little closer to presentable. I should have used a long foam block and some guide coat and it would have come out better, but it was kind of like lipstick on a pig. Lol. The paint does match pretty well in the light so I’m pretty happy with that. A good spray gun does make a big difference. This was a devilbiss and I have my own devilbiss Tekna prolite, it works pretty good. I first got a 2 pack set from Autozone for 99 dollars to paint a Jeep I had and a few other things and I couldn’t get them to spray right. The finish was always dry and wouldn’t flow right no matter what I did. I tried a bunch of different pressures and full fluid flow different distances and fluid tips, nothing worked. But the new spray gun did the trick I was very happy with it. Anyway Thanks for watching.
Haey man pretty dam good job for not being a body guy and thanks for the video because I have to do mine and I'm dredding it lol this video helped me a lot thanks again!
Thank you I appreciate the compliment. The key is to have patience when welding it in so the panel doesn’t warp. Also you will probably want a foam sanding block and use a guide coat to finish the sanding to get a nice straight panel. I didn’t have one for this video but it will make a big difference.
What do you do about the inner wheel well? Didn’t see if you attached it to the new arch panel. Anything that can be done to the back side (inside the bed wall) to prevent it from rusting again quickly?
I didn’t replace the wheel well panel. You can get panels here bodyshopprice.com/ it looks like they have them. All you would need to do is continue cutting out the spot welds on whichever panels you want to replace. There are treatment methods to keep the rust from returning as quickly, like oil undercoating, wool wax, and fluid film. There is body and cavity wax as well. The weld through primer is supposed to help with protecting the panels from rusting at the weld seems. I just replaced the bed side panel and didn’t attach it to the wheel well. The rest of the truck is pretty beat up and not really worth the work. We haven’t had any problems with it not Being attached. To do it right you would want to replace the wheel well panels though. I did cut corners with it.
@@JasonTheMunicipalMechanic thanks for replying. Yea I am trying to line up a truck (bad time for that) that I’m sure won’t be worth going crazy on as well. What, of all those treatments you listed, do you think is best? Thanks
The cavity wax is expensive I hear, the fluid film seems to seep into cracks better than the wool wax but the wool wax seems to stay on better because it’s thicker. I’ve seen a technique from the southern polyurethane forum that people were fully painting the panels first in the southern polyurethane epoxy primer and using a flat drill bit to remove the paint where they were putting the spot weld to remove the paint and then welding. I guess the paint can withstand something over 300 degrees and they were saying it was better than weld through primer. I haven’t tried it but I think I’m going to next time I do this. As for the rust treatment I would try and paint what you can get to and use fluid film or the wool wax on the back of the panel at the seems.
@@JasonTheMunicipalMechanic Thanks. I will give it a go. I’ve been putting off this purchase for a decade, there’s no way to win. You could spend 40 grand on a new one and watch it rust out before you’re down to owing 20 or spend 5000 and then immediately wish you rented a truck instead LOL One more method: I have a 71-year-old car, they used to change the oil and put the waste into a sprayer, and completely cover underneath the car. The owner was then instructed to drive fast down a dirt road. The car has 3/8 of an inch of an oil/dirt coating underneath, and at 71 years old up in the rust belt still has shiny metal under it when you scrape off the crap. I can see the EPA bringing back draw-and-quartering if this becomes popular again
I have thought about the old oil method. I have seen people say they do it. I was going to try transmission fluid because I heard it expelled water but I never did. I had my wife’s Tahoe sprayed with the nhoil undercoat. It was ok but the salt would dry it out in the rear and it would flake off. I got a 5 gallon bucket of wool wax I’m going to try this year and see how it holds up. It’s hard to argue with a 71 year old car though. What is it?
There was a bit of a valley where the weld was due to me welding it too fast and the heat distorting it so I skimmed the whole thing to make a smooth transition into the original panel. It would have been noticeable if I didn’t go as far.
You need to weld the panels very slowly by just making spot welds and jumping around. Don’t let the panel get hot and give it time to cool. It will probably take hours to weld them so they don’t warp. Grinding can warp them as well from the heat from that also, so keep that in mind.
If you tape it you will get a hard edge that you will be able to see and feel so you would either have to leave the edge, sand it down, or use a special tape that looks like a foam that will smooth the transition. Or you can roll the tape over and make a tube out of it and use it as a transition tape. Yes The reason I didn’t tape it was so I would have a smooth transition. Generally all the paint blends I’ve seen the masking was outside the paint area and only really precautionary to keep paint off the rest of the vehicle that is not getting paint. If this was not a work truck that was going to get beat up I would mask off the cab. I’m not an expert at any of this so I’m always learning and vehicles like this are perfect practice to try different techniques. I showed the rest of the truck and there was no need to make it perfect. I always try to do the best I can when putting my name on something but the only way to get better is to do it.
You beat yourself up for not making it perfect, but honestly the bedside probably would have looked weird perfectly flat and straight against all the dings on the rest of the truck. As turd polish jobs go, you did good. Cheers!
been looking for the right video on how to do this for awhile, all these other videos are so full of themselves its pathetic, they talk about there stupid dogs for 5 min or act stupid like people give a shit about there stupid pet tricks before they even remotely get into fixing anything this video gets right to the point. thank you!
I’ve actually never really priced it with anyone so can’t say. I’ve heard it can be 1-2 thousand depending on what you want done, but it was around 4-500 for the materials. The panels were around 300 for both. Paint can get real expensive but there are usually cheap paints you can get. The advance auto I got the panels from had a universal panel that reforms the edge and fans out and you use a lot of body filler to fill in the side. Depending on the condition of the rest of the truck those might be the way to go, they were a lot cheaper. I guess in the end businesses need to make money to stay a business but I always thought they charge too much so I do everything I can myself. In my life I’ve only hired 3-4 people and I’ve never had a good experience with anyone.
I don’t really know what this type of repair cost because I never really priced it. It would depend on if you want the panels welded in or just a body filler and paint job. It was about 500-600 for the materials that I used.
@@JasonTheMunicipalMechanic FOR BOTH SIDES OR JUST ONE ALSO WHERE DID YOU GET THE PANELS FROM i WOULD ALWAYS GO WELDED WHAT YOU DID WAS CALLED DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY IN MY BOOK!
That was for both sides. The panels were about 130 a piece. I got them from advance auto because we have an account with them but I’ve gotten panels off eBay for myself. Or you can get them from carid.com or body shop prices.com. I usually get panels offline where I can find them. I got the paint from advance auto also but you can get that offline also if there isn’t a local paint supplier in your area. I only needed about a quart for the bed sides.
You could honestly, and very possibly find a rust free take off bed for close to the price of having these put on. Body work is very expensive and they charge per hour, plus paint time, plus parts and materials. I would almost guarantee you would be looking at $2,000-$3,000. Try to find you a replacement bed first
I went to autobody school, and we were taught to use dura glass on all wet locations. That includes wheel well. It's water resistant. Just a thought...
The advance I got it from is also a commercial location with body and paint supplies. I called them and they mixed it for me. I’d look for a paint supplier in your area if they dont carry paints. You can order auto paints off line too.
Next time make sure to use short strand fiberglass filler. Most importantly the fiberglass filler is water proof and the lightweight body filler you put in is not. It will be rusting again soon as water will penetrate it. Saves on you having to do this again. Also get some rusfre cavity wax to spray in behind the panel you welded in to help prevent rusting right away again. I'm guess you had ghost lines not long after doing this project.
No filler is water proof .I have been a certified i-car tech for 20 years ase certified in body for 30 years. There is no magic filler for rust prevention. Sealing up the exposed areas is the only way to hold off rust.
@@dondavis9735 seriously? Fibreglass is waterproof. Bathtubs and boats are made from it. I have years too I can’t believe you say this lmao. Always always ALWAYS USE fibreglass trends before body filler as it is 100% waterproof. It repels water. Does not allow moisture to penetrate. If you diasagree that’s an opinion. Fact is it works