Bodywork Laser Straight Body Lines. Tape Measure Method 

What blocks you using in this video?

This young man is a natural teacher. These are secrets shared only in restoration shops. Subscribed. Keep up the great work!

I worked at a boat yard for 10 yrs doing bodywork & painting custom yachts. In order to get nice straight lines with filler, the crew would hot glue small wood sticks or use various small metal straight edges & glue those to the panel being filled. Afterwards, you could just pull the glued straight edges off then begin your block sanding!! Works on cars too!!

Great channel learning a lot as work thru my 68 caddy rag

Man your vids are AWESOME! Excellent tips for us DIY guys, thank you!

probably best bodywork trick i have learned! just what i need for my car

Probably the very best video I seen yet on sharpening up body lines, thank you

Top notch work again Travis!!

Love that technique. Thanks for sharing!

Very valuable information and much appreciated.This channel is a must for those doing their own projects at home. Many thanks.

I really appreciate the knowledge and u taking ur time to do these vids for us 👊

Great explanation, thanks for sharing your a good teacher

Great job in explaining!

Perfect! Thanks

Thanks my man!

Nice trick with the tape measure. Thanks for sharing.

It just so happens I have a broken tape measure and was wondering what I could use it for. You provided the answer. Pretty cool trick.

Great info thanks.

So cool!!! Excellent idea💪🏽😎

Great lesson

great idea!

Great tip for getting straight lines! I'm glad i kept my broken retractable tape measure :) . Great video. Thanks for sharing. Look forward to your next lesson :)

great tip thx

Another great episode! I’m in this stage on a Grand Wagoneer and it helped define my lines and keep us on track in the body work stage. As always, thanks!

Great Info.....💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾 Weekend Warrior

Maybe I have been around a long time, but extra money was made on a "Protection Package" on new vehicles. This included pin stripping! I have seen guys lay this out slack and tack down with one finger every time and it was not pleasing to the eye! I started at the front, pulled the tape with reasonable tension but simply allowed it to lay down where it wanted to be. Following the body line. This allowed it to be straight look proper and then wiping from the beginning gently to "Stick-it" only to come back and rub in. This is different, yet somehow the same. Great video & excellent info!

Great tip. These body work videos are great. I am looking forward to more videos on painting. How to lay down the smoothest finish, masking techniques for two tone and stripes, etc.

Good trick bro very helpful thanks

sweet video! Doing this on a ford 8n hood. Razor sharp!

Ha, I set my lines up with masking tape best I could...then checked with a tape measure & sure enough they were off slightly. Tape measure is the way to go. Thanks for the vid! Oh, I also cut up a perfectly good tape measure. Ha

This is a really great tip Travis! Once again , and probably many more times to come , thanks for sharing your expertise with average idiots like me!

Brutal ,el mejor tremendo maestro

our shop teacher in 1992 showed us this little trick, it works pretty good, the stretched tape does happen.

Great video.....nice job

Awesome videos. Keep it up ❤

Tricks of the trade. Pretty slick using the tape measure. Necessity is the Mother of all Invention. Thanks for taking the time.

Great trick, keep up the great videos!

Blew my mind with this technique. Been using straight metal but not NOT a tape measure which is much easier it seems. Next up and use on my 1973 Challenger. Thank you for the videos.

De Tomaso, nice! That was helpful in the later tip about protecting your existing good straight edge. It's a tricky thing and time consuming getting it right. Get it wrong and spot it after paint is more than a bit disheartening.

Great video, this will help me greatly on my dart drag car. It's going to be a 70 pro stock tribute car.

Glad you made this video. Not soon enough, Lol, I will be working on the body line on the Trans am. Hope you will make a video of how to round off the body line. I think I have the idea, but no one out there in Y.T. land has done a video on that. If you dont, oh well. Cant ask to much after the time you spent making these videos.

Very good mate from Kiwi

this !!! is brilliant!!!! A FUKN TAPE MEASURE UPSIDE DOWN❤😮

great video once again, ive used masking tape always and i like this method you have shone us, i have a VE valiant in the shop its a Australian 4 dr sedan equivalent to to a dodge dart with the the same lines its not going to be a show car but i always want the lines as straight as possible and i will give this ago cheers again

Awesome video, thanks for sharing. I will be destroying a tape measure this weekend.

Good job on wearing the mask when sanding the filler, I see a lot of guy's not wearing a mask GOOD JOB.

Very different. I normally put a extra high build coat on the style line area and then use tape to establish a line and block to the edge of the tape to get the line straight.

Thanks for this tip, Travis! I have literally spent the last two summers chasing a body line on a, yup you guessed it, a Dodge Dart. I tried everything I could think of, tape, chalk line and metal straight edges. Finally got it where I am happy with it, this would have been a great help two years ago!! 🤣 Love the channel, keep it up!

The tape measure is a great idea. Thanks! Do you have any tips for rounding over the edge of the body line and keeping it consistent on cars that are not razor sharp but also not a big radius?

I would say if the numbers are facing you, it would be straight if the numbers are away from you, it could angle

I can tell ur ocd like myself. Haha. Or I guess we just like to do everything the best/right way. I just found your channel and what’s funny is that I was telling my buddy about one of your videos and he was like I just watched that video also! We both just came across your channel around the same time! Electronics these days 🤦‍♂️

that is a good idea to try i recently did a 70 dart with tape and mirka powder came out nice next project ill try your tape measure idea i also like your style of working i also use rage ultra and the xtra you need time to spread the other thing we do alike is use a lift for bodywork you can only work so many years with your ass on a milk crate you see top notch bodyman making videos on the ground still thats crazy the only thing i would warn you about is letting the car go to the ground just to double check the lines cause some cars like to flex while picking them up

I used the tape measure method and it worked very good! I was struggling with the body line crease that runs through the center of 1970 Dodge Super Bee quarter panels. I really appreciate the videos you guys put out, I have learned a ton from them and they have helped me a ton on my restoration. Do you have a patreon? I would love to pay forward a little to you guys for the all of the help you have provided. Would also love to take classes someday. Thanks!

Great videos! I like your common sense approach to tasks that seemed overwhelming! Any chance you could provide some tips or perhaps a video on how to get your door edges perfect? I'm working on a 1955 Chevy 210 Post and the doors required some steel rod & welding to get the gaps dialled in, now I'm struggling with getting the door edges to perfectly match the fenders and quarter panel i.e. how to sand the body filler to get those edges to match up perfect? Thanks

Hey Travis!! Thanks for all the terrific information clearly presented in your videos. I'm completely redoing a low number rust free Datsun 240Z and currently getting the car to bare metal so I can assess the sheet metal repair needed from several minor accidents. I'm wanting to order sanding blocks as I will need them soon. You have recommended several and indicated that your shop has them all. Is there a set you would suggest that I start with or should I grab individual blocks from different makers in different sizes. I'm not afraid to spend the money for good tools. Also wondering as my car is covered but outside in SoCal and this will probably take a while if I should prime sheet metal and then strip again as needed to minimize surface rust. You also mentioned Gibbs in one of your videos as a possible protectant? Thanks in advance. I might also be interested in doing one of your workshop classes. Best, Andy

And great for stripes

If memory serves me correctly, it’s not easy you have shims in the front fenders. You have adjustable hinges on the doors adjustable latches. Omg I’m a union operating engineer the type of laser you’re talking about is different than mine. I could set it up 10 foot away after you do your tape measure. I would make the car perfectly level to my laser and then I can give you within 1/32 of an inch for the front of the fender❤

First time trying this. Most of the body line is good, I just have one small section that took a little detour so I’m going to try this to just fix that section. Sometime the line can be a little too crisp compared to the rest of the car.

I see in your videos you use body filler to hold doors and decklids in position for filler work and primer to get the sides perfectly straight. At what point do you remove it, and how do you remove it without affecting the perfect sides and gaps?

Great video. Did this tape trick after straight body filled panels for one side of on my 67 Camaro panels and turned out straight, however if u still want a bit of rolled edge what might be a trick to still keep it straight but not such a fine line? Don’t want to lose the straight edge when trying to get more of stock rolled edge.

Please excuse my ignorance but, is this the modern way to do body work? I do have 2 questions if you can answer, question #1-If I understand correctly, you are using a very thin body filler on the entire car to clean up high/low spots and ripples? Question # 2- Is it possible to do body work on a 66 fastback mustang that has some spots that were bondo, to rework the entire car so that there's no bondo? (I'm guessing that it's possible to spot weld metal pieces then grind, then body filler). Thank you for your time and informative video.

Why not leave the tape on while your blocking? Great videos really enjoy them.

How do u ensure the line is the same thickness all the way along? The actual line might end up hilly?

I got nice Straight body lines but to sharp for a firebird. What is the best way to soften the body lines?🙏

I really wish you would showed the complete process with the other side of the body line. I’m still struggling to pull this off.

Having an issue with a 1969 F250, the bed has a soft “concave” style line. There is no landmark to use as a starting point. Help appreciated.

A building lazzer will give you a strat line ,to run your tape on they work vertical and horizonal ,I don't know why more people don't use them 85-100 bucks they work great

Toward the end I would've taped back off the top with fresh masking tape so that when your sanding your line up from bottom you're protecting from that stray block into the top that should be straight and even spaced pressure on the block which is crucial to getting it straight to the top as if top "IS" straight you're sanding the bottom flat and straight to it. Adding more filler to the top is going to give you another wave into the straight smooth top section. Should be straight to start even if slightly below the line you will fill and sand up to it to finish. Might be able to cover difference with primer, but why work twice as long? Sand upwards into top straight section, up to that tape or, tape your metal tape measure tape to the straight top and with the finest last pass sand up lightly to that edge thus never sanding into the top. You can put slight tabs of masking tape ahead or behind where you're blocking just to hold the bottom edge down and move accordingly preserving the line. Also with tape pull it off not out straight which will cause lifting but pull away from work at a 45° angle so in this case up and backwards at 45° and it will be less invasive, won't pull off anything into your work area or cause voids if fill is still elastic enough it will not break out the edge but allow it to give the width of two folds of the masking tape. Once harder that excess can be removed easily as what was once on the tape is still basically seperated from the top (where tape was) and once you sand up to the line closer on top that little bit will just fall off which would be a great time to retape the top or use the metal measuring piece. Just a different approach.

I really hate using filler on a build, or even a repair, so what about getting the body line straight in metal with zero filler?

very well explained video. however, you did not finish the top of the line. I would have liked to see how it was it was completely finished, best of all, how the finished product looked. You see I am a D.I.Y PERSON and I learn a lot from videos. Thank you a lot for your presentation. Apart from my above comments Your presentation was very good and helpful.

Use thinner tape 3/4 is best Less memory and easier to use

Great Idea with Tape measure tape! Look at where you're starting #1. You are NOT including the radius of the rear fender bulge in the front If to try you know what the tape measure would do! Tape is no different. Like your metal tape I would tape to that line point, hold thumbnail there and work the extra length into the radius line of the fender bulge which is a short area to manage. Plus if you cut the masking tape with scissors you won't get that stretching of the tape from ripping it off the roll which does distort your tape for sure! I love the metal tape measure trick but I also incorporate the front wing and rear quarter into that line if it goes the length of the whole car which you can only do with tape and a carefully placed fingernail at start and end points before the cars fender bulges present themselves. When bringing the whole car "Together" sanding I work from Top to bottom. I will work the top down totally straight with the whole car as a whole, then raise the car if not already to sand from bottum up-to near that body line and since the top is totally "DONE FLAT" to the whole car you then tape whole side line to the top, then finish sand bottom up to it without distorting your PURRRFECTLY flat topside where ALL eyes are on! I would use your metal tape in the lengthy center of the car and the masking tape I'd leave on front and back to continue that line and carefully maneuver the ends round the radius of the wheel wells to button up the whole of the car. Love the measuring tape thing!! Very cool idea! Most care I work on don't have body lines but I did a few Mustangs in my time, LOL! Enough said. Fantastic video's Mr. Love the Linear Blocks but also respect your individuality to use what needs to be for the situation at hand. with skill any bodyman will gain much needed knowledge in how to not ruin his work with different items or blocks and unfortunately that all comes with a few mistakes through the years. It is a great thing seeing someone as you and a few others trying to help others and not hurt. I've seen as an instructor it is very hard to unteach bad habits that some are ingrained with! Everything changes when we stay open for suggestions as a smart man will always disect them and see if it's relevant with their knowledge and experience and this is what helps develop new tools or new ways of going about things more simply but much more effectively! God bless you for helping all out there smart enough to have searched the web and found your wonderful lessons. Thank you for teaching this old dog a great new trick, I appreciate the education! Those who know it all NEVER GROW! Always learn from others and you'll always learn what you didn't know and be better for it. As will be your work. Never stop Learning it is how the trade evolves, Best advice I can ever give to anyone.

Not to be "that" guy, but you spelled straight wrong. Haha. Great video though dude!

351 dimebag 😜

Why didn't you use a airfile been doing body work for 53years

Doing restorations for 40 years, and perfecting countless body lines, having a cheat is helpful, but at the end of the day, you have to rely on skills to see the shape. If they could put it in a bottle, anyone could do it.

Use pinstripe tape! 👍

Glad you made this video. Not soon enough, Lol, I will be working on the body line on the Trans am. Hope you will make a video of how to round off the body line. I think I have the idea, but no one out there in Y.T. land has done a video on that. If you dont, oh well. Cant ask to much after the time you spent making these videos.