Classic Car Restoration: Body Work

Summary: You consider yourself a car aficionado, but the windtunnel designs these days just plain don’t give you the thrill of a ’57 Thunderbird or a classic Corvette. Even the manufacturer redesigns of old standbys like the Charger and the Mustang can’t compare to the originals. What you need is your own classic, but unless you’re ready to spend a fortune for one which has already been making the rounds at auto shows and race tracks, you will have to do some work yourself. The first thing to do is find the body of a car you consider worth the extensive work involved to restore it. Then you let Expert Village show you exactly how to bang, grind, sand, and patch it back into showroom shape.

In this series of car restoration videos, our body shop owner and hot rod designer shows you how to restore the exterior of that old classic car back into like-new condition. He demonstrates ways to expose rust, grind it away and then repair the body section which rusted. You may find that you will have to replace a whole piece or panel of the body if the rust has really gotten out of control. Expert Village can help you do that, too. Our expert will show you how to use a plasma cutter, welder and metal shrinking tool to design, shape, smooth and weld a new part to cover up the old rusty one. Of course, we want to stay safe on your remodeling adventures, so we include a video clip on keeping your work space safe and clean, as well as one that focuses on welding safety.