I am a firm believer in the saying "You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it." I also like to prove that I can fix almost anything. So far I have done a pretty good job at doing just that. The biggest problem with trying to do your own body work is that you will most likely start out by trying to repair a dent. Repairing a dent is the most difficult part of body work to learn or to teach.
I have taught several people that eventually went on to become journeyman body men and women. They all started out removing and installing parts. In almost all cases, it takes several months if not years to perfect the skill of repairing a dent correctly. If you are just going to try to fix a dent to save a little money, you will be much better off working a few extra hours doing the job you earn your money at and use that income to pay a professional body man to do what he does best.
If you are really set on the idea of fixing your car yourself for the shear fact you love the idea of learning the trade or just want to have the pride of fixing your own car, then by all means go for it. Just make sure to research and ask people that are good at it. Many people can do body work but very few can do it correctly.
Now for some of the facts to help you with your decision making process.
1. Most of the repair information you will find on YouTube or in how to magazines is for the most part false or outdated. Check out the author's background to make sure they do full time body work at a quality shop and that they don't just write articles or make videos for a living.
2. Even if you are skilled enough or lucky enough to do a perfect repair job, you will most likely have to paint it yourself because most good auto body shops will refuse to paint over someone else's repair even if it is done by another quality auto body shop. Painting is a whole other can of worms that even the best of us get frustrated with.
3. The cost for the tools and repair materials needed to fix just one small dent will usually cost more then the body shop will charge you. So if you are not repairing a large number of dents it will definitely cost you more to do yourself.
Now let me tell you some of the false information out there and how you can weed out the bad information.
1. If you see someone poking holes in a panel to put a slide hammer and a screw in to pull a dent, throw all their information away. Unless they are replacing the panel and just using the holes to ruff out the panel before replacing it.
2. If they have scratched the paint by hand and not with a grinder or a DA (dual action sander), disregard their information. You will not get proper adhesion.
3. If they put filler on without repairing the metal first, disregard their information.
4. If they use that red spot putty out of the tube (non-catalyzed), they do not do quality work. The problem with uncatalyzed spot putty is it will shrink back in weeks if not days. Look elsewhere for better information.
5. If they mix their filler with the same tool they use to apply the filler to the panel with, they will have uncatalyzed filler mixed in with the catalyzed filler. Again, look elsewhere for better information.
If you do decide to go ahead and do your own repair anyway, please research as best as you can and try to weed out the bad information as much as possible. I believe that more than 80% of the YouTube body tips I have watched are done by people that have little or no knowledge of what they are doing. The good news is there are some very good videos also. I have found the most knowledgeable people are using better safety equipment and informing you to do the same. Today's auto body repair materials can make you very sick and is some cases kill you if you are not properly protected. Please be safe.
