Auto body questions(ask here)

So anyway, I was going to an 8 AM class, and I see my Riviera from about 30 yards away, with a huge dent in it. Needless to say, I was pretty p!$$ off. I finally decided to get it fixed. Here's what the dent looked like originally:



How did I know that they kicked it? On closer inspection, there was still a dusty bootprint on there. They probably had to kick it twice to get that double-dent look that everyone is going for these days.

Here's a few pictures of the Riv undergoing it's bodywork:





I thought it looked funny without the tailights in there.

The front of the car was badly scratched when I got it, so I decided to get the hood painted as well. I didn't even know that the hood was dimpled there (the scratches were from hitting something). The guy working on my car included the light bodywork on the hood with my original estimate (what a guy!)



Want to see what it looks like when it's finished? ME TOO!!! He's had the car for three weeks (I told him there was no rush, as I still have the Regal, plus he gave me a deal on this work).

I'm getting it back on Wednesday morning. I can't wait. I'm going to put those new chrome Park Ave. wheels on there, install my 3" DP, change the tranny fluid and oil, and hopefully do that chrome grill to accent my new wheels. I'll update everyone with pics on Thursday, Friday at the latest. Wish me luck!

Dusty footprint?

Sounds like a job for.......Riviera CSI....!!!!

OMG, that p!$$ me off soo bad! I don't understand why dickheads do $h!† like that. I can park on the last row and some beater will still park beside me!

Yeah, tell me about it. And my car will look even better this year, so I hope it doesn't attract too much attention.

Unfortunately there were no epithelials found at the scene of the crime.

DentWizard took one look at it and said "bodyshop." I did end up banging the dent out myself, and trying to do my own work. Didn't go so well... Let's just say that I have pictures that I'm not too proud of. At least I tried.

jax95riv wrote:

OMG, that p!$$ me off soo bad! I don't understand why dickheads do $h!† like that. I can park on the last row and some beater will still park beside me!

Don't you hate when you park so far away and there are 10 spots around you and someone still parks RIGHT next to you.

Theres a reason I park so far away.

Here we go! This guy did a fantastic job. He did nearly all the work by himself, he's been doing it for 20 years. Didn't skimp on the paint quality (something he said is common for bodyshops to do) and he re-pinstriped the entire thing for me. Looks sharp as hell. Can't wait to wax (have to wait a few more days though).




And I also put those Park Ave chomes on - AWESOME. I'm so glad I got these, the stock alloys look like total trash. I can't keep those clean for more than a few days, brake dust gets caked on and doesn't want off, etc - plus they make a classy car look a lot more boring than they should be - no offense to those who like the stockers, I honestly hate them. At least I have a set of winter slammers!

Your cleaned up cornering lenses are going to look great along with your new paint and wheels!

I'm glad it turned out nice. Hopefully I'll see it around the eastside sometime.

Good to see it fixed. Feels great to get it back all fixed huh?

I hate the stock rims too. Eventually I'll grab a set of chromes for my winter set. Those are the same rims as the Riv stock chrome right? You should look into getting the center caps with the "R".

How much did those run you?

97Riv-Jon wrote:

Your cleaned up cornering lenses are going to look great along with your new paint and wheels!

Heck yes! The lenses are already on the car, and they look fantastic. I dropped the bolt into the bumper TWICE before I enlisted someone's help to hold down the bumper for me. I'll get some pics up later on today of the completed look.

SpaceBar wrote:

Those are the same rims as the Riv stock chrome right? You should look into getting the center caps with the "R".

How much did those run you?

Ed Morad set me up! When I stopped by his shop for a CASE learn, I saw a wrecked Park Avenue Ultra with chromes that he hadn't even dug into yet. I asked him on price, and he said $400 for the rims, $50 extra for the tires. They are BF Goodrich and are in great shape, so I snagged 'em together. So $450 for everything.

I think he gave me a better deal because I was actually THERE to pick the things up. He didn't have to mess around with shipping them and whatnot.

They have a few small blemishes, but nothing you can see without really getting close up. And yes, they are just like the Riviera chromes without the "R" centercap. Unless I come across those cheap, I probably won't be getting them (expensive as hell from what I've read on here). Plus I'm kinda digging the chrome tri-shield!

Sweet. Glad you have her back!

Yeah, feels great. I changed oil over to synthetic, high-end oil filter, Dexron 6 fluid and filter change the day I got it back. Next day, pipe went on. Having 3 days off from work rocks.

What's up w/ the avatar pic Ben??

jax95riv wrote:

What's up w/ the avatar pic Ben??

Check out this thread:
https://rivperformance.editboard.com/Other-Stuff-c3/Exterior-f12/Leftover-chrome-stripping-Here-s-what-I-did-t1315.htm

It's a picture of my airbox with the chrome strips. The heat from the engine caused them to peel away after only driving for a short time. God, I feel dumb. I changed my avatar to remind me how stupid I am.

Buapo wrote:

jax95riv wrote:

What's up w/ the avatar pic Ben??

Check out this thread:
https://rivperformance.editboard.com/Other-Stuff-c3/Exterior-f12/Leftover-chrome-stripping-Here-s-what-I-did-t1315.htm

It's a picture of my airbox with the chrome strips. The heat from the engine caused them to peel away after only driving for a short time. God, I feel dumb. I changed my avatar to remind me how stupid I am.

:lmao: Too funny, thanks for the laugh. It looked really good though, I liked it.

jax95riv wrote:

Buapo wrote:

jax95riv wrote:

What's up w/ the avatar pic Ben??

Check out this thread:
https://rivperformance.editboard.com/Other-Stuff-c3/Exterior-f12/Leftover-chrome-stripping-Here-s-what-I-did-t1315.htm

It's a picture of my airbox with the chrome strips. The heat from the engine caused them to peel away after only driving for a short time. God, I feel dumb. I changed my avatar to remind me how stupid I am.

Too funny, thanks for the laugh. It looked really good though, I liked it.

Hah, hes going to be reminded everytime he posts something now.

I was wondering how they were going to hold up in the engine heat.

So I've been looking to get my car painted for a few years. It has a few little rust spots that need fixing and the factory paint just looks like sh*t. So far nothing has worked out. Either the quote was outrageous or if the price was decent the deal always seemed to fall apart. So I finally found my new body man... ME. I signed up for a class at our local Voc. HS adult evening program. Class starts this monday. I'm going to start working on my tow rig/family hauler, '96 Chevy G30 van. I have a front drivers door to paint/install, then a few rust spots that need fixing on it. After that, if I like my own work, it will be my Riv.

I think I'm going to paint it black (it's black now) with a dark cherry red flake in the paint.

Just thought I'd share...

thats what class im taking but i was doing body work way be fore that,its a great course makes sure u pay good close atention

Sounds pretty cool, if you can, post work log for the van. It would be interesting to see how it is all done.

oh yeah, I should probably update... So first night I was the only n00b that brought a project, the other n00bs didn't bring theirs.

The front pass. door on my van has a bunch of rot on the bottom edge. I found a boneyard door last summer with all the same options (pw pl) and no rust at all, so I grabbed it for $100. It's the wrong color, so first things first I want to paint that door. After that there is 1 rusty spot on the van I want to fix, and after that I want to start working on the Riv.

So the instructor used my door for his example and showed us how to straighten small dents and use body filler, and how to work the filler back down. The instructor is great, very hands-on (okay, the whole class IS hands-on...). He pointed out three defects in the door I didn't even see. One 1-inch long scratch/dent, one other small dent and a bend-in along the horizontal body line. We pulled one dent with a little welding doo-dad called an Eagle, It's basically a little T-handle that tacks itself with a tiny point onto the dent, you pull the dent then twist the T-handle off, move it, tack it again, pull again, etc etc until the dent is gone. Also we pushed the crease back out to straight with a really long pick-shaped pry tool.

Maybe I'll create a blog page about this so you can skip the boring parts...

yupp its all pretty easy once you know what ur doing

Derek, this is very interesting stuff. Please update us on your progress, and i'll make the thread a sticky. Maybe a few of us here can learn a few things about body work, do our own work, save $$$, etc. Thanks a lot for posting.

my only problem is going to be pictures. I can take before and after photos, but the class itself is not conducive to photography... I'll see what I can do though!

take a camera in any way screw them i did it when i was work on the ferd 1fitty

Oooh, I did not know there were such classes! How much does the class run?

Are you going to be able to paint your car there too?