Body Building Tools You Need For Painting & Repair
FILE SET
Tools don't have to be complicated to work well. A simple file set willcome in handy for many jobs, such as reaming holes, metal finishing bodypanels, and detailing your fit and finish. Make sure you choose metalfiles instead of woodworking tools!
Price range: $5 to $25 | 
SANDING BLOCKS
Sanding blocks are essential when shaping your bodywork. Differentangles, shapes, and sizes can re-form contours, and long, flat blockscan handle long, flat panels, helping get rid of those nasty rippleswhen you look down the side of your car. Blocking is one of the mostimportant techniques to master, and having the block you need, when youneed it, can save you countless hours and frustration.
Price range: $6 to $50 | 
VISE GRIPS
Clamping panels together for welding, as well as hundreds of other uses(and abuses), makes a diverse set of vise clamps a definite must foryour basic tool collection.
Price range: $5 to $30 | 
D/A SANDER
A D/A (dual action) sander can be a real time-saver. It spins as well as orbits, creating a smooth and even cut. When used properly, a D/A sander can be used for topcoats, surfacers, or even stripping paint from panels. It's important to keep the pad as flat as possible on the panels. Avoid digging holes with the edge of the pad. Smooth, even pressure is the key. Electric D/A sanders are available as well, but are not as versatile, especially when wet sanding! DOH!
Price range: $29 to $200 | 
CUTOFF TOOL
There are countless uses for this tool, including sectioning frames,fabricating, rust repair, and general body repair procedures. It'shandy, but potentially dangerous--20,000 rpm can do some damage when awheel comes apart. Hang your safety glasses and gloves next to this guy.
Price range: $19 to $60 | 
SLIDE HAMMER
Old school! A crude but effective way to rearrange sheetmetal. Drillyour holes in the low spots, thread in the screw tip, and take the dentsout! Lots of follow-up work to this, and potential comeback damage onblind panels. Moisture can wick through fillers and contact bare metalto promote rusting.
Price range: $19 to $60 | 
STUD WELDER
The stud welder pulls dents without the Swiss cheese effect. It weldspins to the metal, then you use the slide puller to pull the dent out.When you've shaped your metal, just cut off the pins and prep thesurface for finishing and priming. This is a much better long-termrepair. The stud welder can also be used as a shrinking tool when no pinis used. Great bang-for-the-buck value.
Price range: $215 to $315 | 
ROTARY TOOL
Believe it or not, several all-purpose tools such as a Dremel set canaid you in ways you never thought of. Small cutoff wheels, detailsanders and polishers, plus high-rpm drills all come in handy in thosehard-to-reach areas. Great for detailing.
Price range: $29 to $60 | 
MIG WELDER
If you plan on doing metal replacement, a MIG (Midi Inert Gas) weldercan be a great investment. The cleanest weld will be achieved with asetup that uses an argon/O2 mix to shield the weld from contamination.Flux core welders are effective, but much messier. A MIG welder is notthe only way to replace panels and patch metal, so before you spend yourcash, look into bonding adhesives as an alternative on smaller repairs.
Price range: $150 to $1,500 |
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