How do you shave tail lights??

[JoshGentry]

I've saw it done on a couple aleros and some other cars. I just want to know how to go about doing it. It looks clean. Especially with an led bar molded in for the brakes. What would be the best way to do it. If you know. Include details. Lots! Lol.

[bdyman]

well for starters knowledge on body work, knowledge in welding, knowledge in metal shaping, knowledge in "bondo", knowledge in painting, im basicly saying ya need the experience

this isnt a weekend job, this is more of 2-3 weeks of work at leats it was for me, i work slow and take my time, to go into details would include pages and pages of info, its impossible for me to type out almost 20yrs of experience

for techs that do it for a living its easy to a point, but its still difficult for us, i have problems, had problem doing my own car, dude for me to say "oh well all ya do is make the metal weld it in and bondo it shut"

its not that easy it takes yrs of experience to weld metal fab, everything about body work.....................save your money do it right the first time and dont do it like pimpalero for the love of god please dont

[cavaliers60]

bdyman is the guy you want to listen to. He knows his stuff.

[clutch1]

I'd do something easier first.. shave the handles or something like that. Takes lots of patience to weld it up tack by back... and for tail lights you'll need a lot of skill to make the metal fillers fit in well.

Then ya gotta block it all flat. Ohhh man!

[heineck]

U wanna talk about a lot of welding, ever shave the door mouldings off a 95 honda civic? Good god! And yea joshgentry, Have a shop do it, its takes skills and experiance u can't even begin to fathom. Wuts with evrybody thinkin they kno how to do body all of a sudden?

[cherrington17]

I did mine over the course of a weekend. A soldering iron, snow shovel, crate of beer and some model clay.

It looks fantastic. I don't know why bdy takes so damn long...

[JoshGentry]

I was just asking how to do it. And i appreciate all the input, but there isn't an answer in any of it. The only real question is how do you shape the metal? And what type of metal to use? Can you answer that? I know bondo, welding, and painting to a decent extent. Its all about learning. And if something does get messed up, ill just take it to a professional.

[cherrington17]

Quite often, it depends on the type of metal you want to use... and the metal is shaped with specific tools. (Machine/body shops usually have their own equipment for such)

Obviously heiny and bdy can elaborate with this.

[heineck]

could but wont, kid this over your head, take it to a pro

[worknprog.99]

send drime a message maybe you can borrow his sex jelly

[heineck]

lmfao


+ rep

[clutch1]

Welp, if ya really wanna try it..

Take off the tails and get out something to make a template, cardboard probably. MAke the cardboard template fit flawlessly, then trace it onto some sheet metal (same thickness as the body is.. dunno what that is). Cut out the metal and shape it (if you have metal shaping tools, use them, if not... figure something out). Keep on test fitting until it fits in perfectly.

Remove paint down to the metal where it's gotta be tacked in. Tack them onto the quarter panel, and remove the license plate plastic section. Now make a template for that and do the same thing until it fits in perfectly.

If you're going to put in LED tails or something now is the time to cut the hole/ fab a pocket for it/ weld in the pocket.

Once you're happy with how it all fits together, start welding it together tack by tack. Jump around a bunch and take your time.. the metal will warp if it gets too hot, so go sloooow.

Once it's all welded up, cut the beads smooth and start body work... if you did a greaat job of welding it up you won't need much filler. Use discretion, you don't want thick filler on there, if there's big dips beat them out and use filler to final finishing. Once it's smooth and blocked out prime it, paint a light black guide coat, block again to make sure there's no low spots, and when you think it's perfect, paint it.


I'm not a body man, but that's essentially how I did my doors... this is the same thing, just more work, more difficult, etc.

[guiguilandry]

you can do it in fiberglass also, like I did.. but like bdy sait you have to know what stuff to use and how to do it right.... only problem with fiberglass it that may crack if not prepped right, or if you don't use the good adhesive but it's been 2 years and it's still perfect for me....

[bdyman]

Originally Posted by JoshGentry

I was just asking how to do it. And i appreciate all the input, but there isn't an answer in any of it. The only real question is how do you shape the metal? And what type of metal to use? Can you answer that? I know bondo, welding, and painting to a decent extent. Its all about learning. And if something does get messed up, ill just take it to a professional.

dude learning is one thing, you do this and ya screw it up guess what its going to cost you allot more money in the long run, and if saw your car pull up to my shop and this job gone a stray, i would tell you striaght out, that i would have to charge you 2-3 more labor hours just to clean up the mess you made

todays metal is between 16-18 gauge, which is flimsy but yet thick so its inbetween, metal gets it s strenght from shaping heating and cooling all in the same time, so my question is can you use metal shaping hammers??

do you know how to use a torch?? can you use a shot bag to shape the metal on, basic knowledge on metal shaping, and no a you tube video isnt going to teach you shit

do you know how to use a english wheel, metal plannisher, a throatless sheer, sheet metal break, CAN YOU WELD!!!!

[bdyman]

welding is not something you can pick up in a day, or go buy a cheap welder becasue your results will be cheap, what kind of gas do you use with a mig welder, do you know how a welder works, welding is again a very highly experienced trade if you will to pick up

no experience holy hell can you warp a panle, i still do it to this day and im close to 20yrs in lol you have to dial in your machine before you weld all the metal has to be clean of all paint if its not your going to get horrible welds and a weld that doesnt penatrate metal is a bad weak weld and it will crack and break free

welding is another story for another thread one day

like some guy said i would practice, on a flat piece of metal, to shave a door handle, on our cars and most cars out there no door skin is ever flat its rounded and contoured, so your metal has to be the same to match the door skin

i cut the hole out and i again metal shape the new piece i made into the door skin, test fit shape test fit shape test fit shape test fit shape, welding on a door, is tricky buisness, your machine has to be dialed in so your just tacking the metal in the hole, and i use my blow gun while i weld to cool the metal down and i have a smoke and then do it again

take longer?? sure but the end result is real nice, when i did mine i shaped and shaped and shaped tacked tack shape tack smoke shape tack smoke
then i grind smoke grind smoke some more if i felt a low spot i didnt instantly go to the bondo i used my tourch heated up the metal just enough to reshape quenched it low spot gone

^^^^^^again metal shaping experience, i got away with 1 coat of bondo and 1 coat of finishing glaze primed it<<<<<<again yrs and yrs of experience, it took me all day to do one door

dude my point is this is not a novice thing, this is not a weekend warrior project, metal fab is for the experienced, custom body work for the experienced,

[bdyman]

Originally Posted by clutch1

Welp, if ya really wanna try it..

.

If you're going to put in LED tails or something now is the time to cut the hole/ fab a pocket for it/ weld in the pocket.

.

thats called fenching, he asking how to do custom metal work i doubt he can french metal, no offensive, but we all seen his car

another thing you need allot of material d.a. paper, grinding discs, razor blade, scuff pades, paint, primer, clear, a welder a good one too like htp or lincoln or ftw miller!!<< mine was 1,000 but i make sexy time with it

tools, gloves, welding resipator, you breath the gas guess what? its linked to parkinstons diease, spray guns good guns but cheap are sharpes new line, good compressor, grinders, die grinders, gloves welding gloves, a welding helmet mine was 300 bucks i mean the list can go on and on

just to give a example i have 2,000 just in spray guns, over 20k in tools, im not trying to tell ya not to try not to learn but i and other techs cant teach online by typing a repsonse we give advice sure but teaching hell to the no!!!

there is so much to learn shit!! i still learn to this day, all the new products all the new technology, even in metal shaping new tools to make it easier for us,

dude all im saying is this isnt and cant be taught online it wont happen cant happen sorry i wish i could type more but my hands and elbows are killing me right now

in closing if ya want it done i would be more then happy to do it for ya, if not save your money and have a shop do it

[worknprog.99]

bdyman is back... i love how straight forward his shit is... honestly its some of the most educating stuff on here

and joshgentry if you haven already figured this out giv up now

[heineck]

yea no joke evry response of his go into crazy detail, its like lesson in evry post lol

[clutch1]

Come on guys... don't tell him to give up. If he wants to try it, I say go for it. It's not gonna be prefect the first time I'm sure.. but it's something fun to do.

If I listened to people who told me it probably wouldn't work, I'd never get anything done on my car. Some of my stuff doesn't turn out perfect.. but then I just know for next time.

[BlackJack]

bdyman - contact me by email please - blackjak@gmail.com

No how-to questions. I just need a source for an item