I used your cut and butt technique welding in repairs panel on a Dakota truck bed... took it to a body shop for the finish paint work...the guy asked how long have I been welding... I laughed and said...man, I'm a puddler...rookie...told him about your video and that it was my first time to try this... he said...I am impressed as hell... all I have to do is skim coat this things and paint it...all because of your teaching Fitz...thanks for sharing...hope you get to 100K subscribers
@@fitzeesfabrications no joke, most body shops here in BC won't remotely touch a rust repair job. With your vids, ANYONE with some basic hand tools and a decent MIG can fix just about anything. Thanks for all your hard work putting this out for the masses. Oh and thanks for the tip on that primer, that stuff is awesome.
@@fitzeesfabrications funny thing is... his wife was convinced that he should junk it...I said, I just wanted something to play with... when it was painted, the owner was approached by a person interested in buying it... I laughed my butt off...I did both left and right wheel arches, made inner fender pieces that was all gone...bottom of driver door was gone, inner and outer... front fenders both totally rotted out near the headlights... owner loves his truck, now it looks great...thx to you...I've been doing stuff the hard way...just for fun. grinding off the welds is the only bummer...
Please don't worry about the length of your videos. The longer and more detailed they are just helps us beginners to better understand and absorb the process. You're a great teacher! Thanks for what you're doing!
He's not just a good teacher for beginners like I said in my words or my paragraph to him I've been doing it a long time and I'm pretty good at it and I learn from him every time I watch it's awesome 👍👊
“We got a grinder. We got a hammer. And a pair of vice grips.” Well there you go again...... all magic tricks require practice to perfect, and a willingness to try new things 👍👍😎👍👍. Thanks Fitzee for another ‘you can do it too’ episode.
Two things: One, I appreciate that you showed failure. Not for emotional or confidence reasons, practical ones. It's not always enough to say "this is the best way" or "you have to do this or these other things happen" or "avoid this", it's good to see WHY something is the better method because other methods just don't work and why they don't work and what happens when you do it (and maybe why sometimes it might still be okay). I learned a lot. Two, this was so much work and it it outlined to me that there is surely an easier way of doing it... but that way takes big tools and big setup and it's complicated. What you did was a lot of work, and a lot more work, so many seams, holes, fitting, etc, but every single piece of it was easy to identify what the task was, and every single piece was achievable by a novice. I can't carve a small wooden house from a solid block, but I can build a lego set. That's why your tutorials speak so much to me. Nothing is intimidating, you just take your time and conquer it piece by manageable piece.
I really appreciate watching your trial and error process and hearing your thought process to address the problem - great learning tool. The hole filling technique was brilliant. Keep up the great work! Thanks.
I so appreciate your no nonsense approach, showing mistakes and how to correct them. No magic just patience and work. Thank you for your great and helpful videos.
I put it in my lathe, turn my lathe on!!!!! YOU'RE THE BEST!!!! LOVE your videos, they give a beginner like me so much confidence and knowledge. THANK YOU Fitzee!!!!
You have more patience than most people...most people would look at the amount of rust and throw it outside. Plus, most people 'want to' but never do...my hat is off to you Fitzee's. Thanks again for your teaching me more patience and ways to do things ourselves...much respect brother.
I spent most of my career as a Union Sheet Metal Worker, and even I learned quite a bit here! I had an instructor when I was an apprentice way back when say "when ya know every thing there is to bending tin, it's time to go meet the Big Tinner!" Thanks for teaching an old dog some new tricks!
Hey Fitz, Being a retired Tool and Die maker this video brought a great big smile to my face. Watching you extrude these panels made my day. Building a die to do this would take a month. Thanks for this video. I wish I kept in touch with my old buddies at work. They would appreciate this procedure as much as I did. Well done!!
@@cooldog60 No I never heard of these shops. I worked in Massachusetts, and South Florida. I worked as a tool maker in Polaroid Tool and Die shop, Marine optical, Raytheon, BE Aerospace, and some small shops as a tool Maker. I also worked as a Technical Illustrator drawing for Polaroid assembly and inspection Manuals. Attended The Art Institute of Boston in 1969 for Tech Illustration. Polaroid paid my tuition. Illustration was eventually wiped out by Computers. Digital drawing was not my bag. :O) I returned back to Die making.
Another great video Fitzee! Watched it all in one go. Not to worry about length.. so many good tips and ideas. I even enjoyed the music! Well done and thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge and taking the time to put the video together. Cheers!
Even if I don't speak your language, I can perfectly understand your explanations and tutorials on making parts for body repairs, thanks for the simple and objective didactics
@@alibro7512 Yeah, Fitzee does super work with no-nonsense! This would be the quality of a great teacher, plus clear instructions and advice are bonus. Would have loved to take a welding class taught by him back in school! And accent-wise, Ireland supposedly has 5 or so dialects/accents, but after living here 10 years, I've found there to be that many in a single city! So it would be hard to tell where exactly, especially if he grew up in one area, and went to school in another. But there's a few things he says that tells me Tipperary, Chashel and Cork areas. I've met only super friendly people in those areas, so it would make sense too.
I go to other body shop videos and am beginning to hear, "I should do this like Fitziee does it but....". Hammer, bang, grind...slap on the putty and out the door is how repairs are done here. Between Arthur and Fitzee, they have ruined my opinion of local repair shops.
Thanks to you I did my first cut-n-butt on an old car hood for practice this morning and it went off without a hitch. Getting ready to tackle an old Jeep project with LOTS of sheet metal work. Thank you sir.
Honestly that was the most enjoyable 48 minutes of RU-vid I’ve watched in a long while. It was fascinating to see how you pressed the metal with just hand tools. An inspiration to all of us whom can’t afford all the Gucci tools. 👍🏻
Everytime I watch your videos I learn something new, I've learnt so much that I've decided to take up a restoration project myself. I'll be putting videos up too, I hope you watch one day fitzee but please don't judge me lol
Still the master even though he made a mistake they were a master's mistake and it came out great. I love the guy the patience the accent all the best to you!!!
Masters are just that through learning from mistakes..... here in Australia we are very limited to panel fab and costs a political pay off to get done by Pros. Thanks to his vids I've managed to salvage what i thought was well and truly gone!
Tal ... the difference is the master saves the mistake and it becomes a resource pile of parts for future salvage operations. Along the same lines... never throw anything out till the job is complete as you may need a small piece of that mistake.
That real time welding was very helpful. It’s one thing to SAY “take your time”, quite another to DEMONSTRATE EXACTLY what that really means. Once again, we learn from the master! Oh, and kind sir, the tips are ALWAYS GOOD!!!😄
I'm 40 something can't quite remember been welding since high school I've welded (super glued ) a lot of metal with a lot of different people I say that to say this YOU an my high school teacher (THOMAS GEORGIAN 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 THANK YOU FOR THE KNOWLEDGE) make it look soooooo easy sooooo simple that it gives beginners confidence to weld. You don't need a big shop or fancy tools to get stuff done Hollllly crap I own several lathes
Thanks for all tips and tricks. I've learned a ton from you. Your techniques have saved me hours of frustration and made my projects go so much quicker. Great job!
Fritz I think you're amazing and I've learned so much I've been a metal man for 35 years and I love watching you I love you humility I love your common sense thinking but on that panel did you think about tipping it over and beating it back and then just shrinking the stretching it looked beautiful when you got that first one pressed out the three of them it just look like it needed to be tipped over and beat down and then maybe shrunk in a couple of spots did that go by you or did you already think of that and there's a reason why you didn't do it that way keep doing your videos I think they're amazing and I learned ferocious amounts thank you so much
Should got into more detail as each section had twisted out of shape. The metal next to each die was all over the place . I tried to straighten it but it just got worse. Problem is thr die was pulling on the metal and not stretching the metal. It couldn't pull it when I welded on the bench
@@fitzeesfabrications from watching you for so long I knew there had to be some more than what was showing and that's why I asked I was not being disrespectful I think you're freaking amazingly clever and being a metal man myself for like I said 35 years I've learned so much watching your little tricks and stuff it's just like so common sense and I thought I was super uncommon Sense until I watch you LOL LOL LOL, thank you brother you are a honor to the metal men trade and keep doing what you're doing watch you almost every night a different project thank you thank you so much, 👍👍👍👊
Good morning, I do like your 45 degree cut technique. It makes for a very desirable finish. Thanks for another excellent video. You take care and stay healthy. Good luck.
Fitzee, my opinion is that the length of your videos is never too long. I am always learning. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and your positive attitude. If you had a shope full of every tool to make your job easier, I wouldn't watch it. Thanks again.
There's a lot of information in this lesson. I'm going to have to watch it more than once. I hope Professor Fitzee gives us a little extra time before we have to take the quiz.
I do body work myself , hopefully these people your working for appreciate what your doing for them ,you definitely go the distance . God Bless the hard working people on the planet .
Two days of trial and error and remaking to get the first floor pan done. With what you learned the first time, it should only take you two hours to do the second one ... well, maybe a little bit longer. Always interesting to see what you do and how you do it, with a good explanation along the way to help other learn. All the best from Queensland Australia.
Because of you I went and purchased a welder, and a hammer and dolly set. Guess we’ll give it a go. I have the Norwegian lathe already. Wife might wonder where all her coat hangers went but she’ll get over it.
That's it for this one! Excellent job explaining your process again Tony. Thanks for the videos. Years ago, i bought a mainland car, just to get the floor pans out of it. Cost to buy vs time spent building from scratch ...
Patience's is the virtue, sort by many found by few. Very true saying that , thanks Fitzee for showing the world how to make something, with skill, your bear hands and more importantly Patience.
Use of your drill lathe is BRILLIANT. I could have used that technique a couple of weeks ago. I always pickup a few bits of great information from every video. Thanks Fitzee!
I have an old Datsun , been sitting in my yard for 25 years , can I bring it over? lol Also your 'TV' show it better than anything else on the tube! 👍😎
Something i use in my mig gun setup 0.23 wire my stinger and cable is for 0.23 wire and pulse you can but weld none stop .You can use a wooden yard stick for a straight edge guide and keep welding .🤠
Hey Frits try making dies with a 30° or 45° and even 60° in them on both parts leaving only the gap for the material your using 12g 14g 16g 18g 20 gage so After you have compressed the die compleetly into the sheet you can continue to flatten the sheet around the top edge of the die stretching the metal flat...again this will remove some extra steps that you preformed in this floor pan. Try Working a little less not creating more welding and grinding work than you need too on the job... doing this in the feild works much better. Just a tip... Union Millwrights Local 2309 Toronto. Nice job..!!!! Mike.
I did something similar when I made a new scuttle panel for my 1959 Ford. Only I planed up a 3 piece of hard wood and routed out another piece to receive the "die". I then carefully heated the sheet and clamped it between the wood blocks - worked as a perfect match of the origin.
I recommended your videos on “Steve Summers” channel. I hope lots of people come for a visit, and stay for a fun, educational experience. I love your content!
a million years ago I had 17 to build a truck to get to work in my ex took my blazer while I was out of town for work. I had a pile of old 73-77 Datsun pickups n various states of destruction. I had bout them as a package deal. from a guy. motor from one bed from another good it all together the drivers side floor was made from the service cover from the back of a washing machine. hammer bent . didn't have a welder or touch . no air compressor. slammed it together drove to the combination grocery store and hardware store got there as they were closing and bought 7 big spray cans of industrial gray epoxy paint. went home and painted it. got a couple of hours of sleep . got up late and floored it 35+- miles over one mountain and up another to work. I got stopped by the state patrol. he came to my window and asked DO YOU KNOW HOW FAST YOU WERE GOING? I said as a matter of fact I don't .I then held up the dash cluster I hadn't installed then I told him the long sad story . he let me go. while I was pulled over the guy with the office next to mine drove by and honked and laughing. when I got to work he came to my office and asked how big of ticket I got. I said no ticket just a warning. he turned red as a tomato pissed he said that was his cousin that pulled me over and. his cousin was a ass hole.he had wrote him a ticket a few weeks earlier. he then went to his office called his aunt and yelled at her and cancelled Thanksgiving. love them old Datsun pickups
Genius - Love your "Down to earth" practical approach to what looked like a huge challenge. Great video and don't worry about the length. Appreciate the time you take for our benefit
@Joel L You beat me to it. I hit pause when I heard that phrase. It reminded me of Dan Ackroyd in The Blues Brothers. Fantastic stuff. Appreciate Fitzee showing up the dangers ahead and how he approaches things. At first glance at the multiple rust points I would have given up-but Fitzee lights the way
Man another great one. I was wondering why you were putting all the work into that cab. Glad you chose to put all the effort into showing us how to do it.
I would just like to add to comments that have been made, never worry about the length of your videos. The first thing I check every night is to see if there is another Fitzee video the next thing I look for is how long it is and for me the longer the better. Your approach and teaching ability is very in tune with what, (I was going to say in tune with what beginners want) however I think there would be a lot of professionals out there that would also learn a lot. Needless to say I think your methods are excellent and I have enjoyed every episode so far. Thank you.
Man, I'm 53 and just began to learn to weld with my son for some frame and body repair that we have for his first truck. RU-vid recommended your videos and you tackle some very unique projects that require high level skill and very task specific tools. It's always satisfying to watch a true master at work in his trade, when he has his head and his heart in his work. 👍🏼👍🏼
Brilliant. Thanks so much for making and posting these videos, Fitzee. I'm new to welding and metal fabrication and learn a ton every time I watch you work. I hope someday my welds will look like yours! :)
You really have a gift to see things alot easier then most!...I've been watching since your 3rd video soooo...thanks for making these video...they have really help me out alot with with some problem areas on y foxbody
I love your sense of humour, Tony! "I gots this small piece I welded a coathanger on, now I sets it up in the lathe...." Eh? What? That's a drill! Hang about! Hey - it did the same job though! As you always say mate - "Simple tools gets the job done. You don't need nothing fancy. Use what you got". A drill is a lot easier to have room for in a garage than a ruddy great lathe, that's for sure! That press for the indents was a brilliant idea too and the finished product will be stronger than factory the way it gets attached. The secret? Another of Tony's Tips - Take your time. You are a great teacher, my friend. It's your way of explaining things that makes it easy to understand WHY things need doing a certain way and what happens when you don't. Understanding the entire process and the properties and characteristics of the materials you're working with leads to less mistakes, so don't ever worry about "long" videos. I have not fast-forwarded one yet!
I feel like I'm an apprentice in your shop. You make everything look amazingly easy. You are a very good teacher. Love your videos and seeing Canadian Tire stuff. Thanks for sharing all this knowledge.
This is exactly what I've been looking for. I'm restoring an old J-series pickup truck and have already cut out huge sections of rust from the floor pan. Unfortunately, nobody makes floor pans big enough to cover the hole I had to cut out. Your 48 minute long video taught me more about sheet metal fabrication than I've ever learned. The best lesson here is that I need to slow down. I've been a mechanic for over 15 years and my problem with body work is that I always want to work faster. Thank you. This is exactly what I needed to get my project going again.
Hi Fitzee, what a great teaching video. You made a jigsawpuzzle into a solid panel. Great succes. With basic tools get the job done. Only possible with your years of experience In my view.
