Body & Fender Tools

[Bingster]

You body shop guys out there . . .

I bought the little red booklet about auto body bumping written in the thirties and revised in the fifities. Martin Tools now owns the booklet and their line of auto body tools.

Very good book, by the way.

My question is this: Martin tools are undoubtedly balanced properly and well USA made. They are, however, somewhat pricey.

You can get body shop tools very cheaply as well.

Is this one of those things where the more expensive tools make the job a lot easier or do the cheaper tools do the job just as well?

I'm talking about dinging hammers, dollys, pick hammers, etc.

[Robert Horne]

The cheap tools have served me well when doing body work.

I have found alot of odds and ends hammers, dollies, etc. at flea

markets, yard sales. I use many different steel blocks, sand bags,

tree stumps, etc. for forming metal...

[JohnS48plm]

The book from Martin tools is great. I got it at Hershey several years ago. JohnS

[randroid]

Bingster,

When it came time for me to start banging on Pigiron's tin I went to my local Mom&Pop paint supply house and asked about them. He had one set of cheapo-cheapo hammers and dollies and when I told him I was going to do only one car he said they'd work fine, which they did. Then I was given a couple of excellent DVDs on body work by a forum member and they taught me a lot but I don't have the capacity to burn them and send you copies. Maybe your local library has some or you have a friend who knows how to do it? As Robert Horne said, go for the cheapies.

-Randy

[old stovebolt]

Yes, it is a good book.

Over the years, I have made many of my own body tools.

Spoons can be made from leaf springs, pry bars from Chrysler hood torsion rods, great small pick hammer from 10oz ball peen hammer (sharpen the ball) and one of my favorite a spring hammering spoon from small hand saw blade with the teeth ground off. If you need, I could send you some photos of the

tools.

[Eneto-55]

I read a post on another forum where a guy said that he uses river stones for dollies - cheap, and lots of different shapes.

Neto

[Rodney Bullock]

Hey Bingster. The thing about body and fender tools is being able to stand the test of time and remain true. The cheap hammers will develope dimples and pits. If you are doing just one car in your life(unlikely) Then use them. I have some tools from the 1940's They are as they were. I was taught to clean them and true them up. Spoons and pry bars are most important as they contour to body and fenders. I have worked with tools that almost do the job by themselves. A problem I see most repairman do is over hammering of metal.They ruin the metal. When I worked on my 1941 Studebaker (heavy metal) Hammer and dollie work was easy. The Plymouth not so much as somebody had hammered on the top of the fenders so much that I could not get it flat so I had to use putty. Experiment with an old fender you will be surprized at how good you get. The tools you get look to having them for ever:)

[Rodney Bullock]

The book is a great start but putting your hands on the metal is th way to go. I use to think having gloves on was good but all the old metal men I learned from said the touch of the metal told you more then your eyes could. They were right. Starting with clean metal makes everything easy.

[Bingster]

Thanks guys! I was amazed at how much you can do with the tools.

Do they still use all these tools on the thin metal today or has the trade gone over to more Bondo than metal bumping?

[Robert Horne]

Bingster,

It depends on who is doing the work. Body shops are more into replacement

parts when doing insurance jobs. Do it yourself guys go with the "less Bondo, the better". . My 48 had a spot on the rear fender about the size of a football, where Bondo was very thick, 3/4 inch. Rust had formed under the Bondo, so I cut it out, put in new metal behind, mig weld slowly, and so on. If this was an insurance paid for job, a new fender would be installed.....

[Plymouthy Adams]

Thanks guys! I was amazed at how much you can do with the tools.

Do they still use all these tools on the thin metal today or has the trade gone over to more Bondo than metal bumping?

what does the book say?

[Plymouthy Adams]

The driving force behind a total loss..even if it is superfical damage to an older car..the availability of a repair panel or ease/ability to source quality wecking yard parts pushes these cars to beyond economical repair. Majority of these cars are repairable..and if one does their own work can save the car..but accept the insurance money and today even with quality bolt on parts and new paint, zero structure damage you still get stuck with a 'salvage' title..so you now repair a car that is sub value in resale regardless of its servicability...ie..take the loss and move up to another car..