Tour Car Bodywork

Notice the smooth and flat edges, with no visible "dimples" from the hammer and dolly work. That's the right way to install a door skin. You can also see just how flat and smooth Goodmark's panels are. Great pains are taken with the tooling that strikes each panel, as well as the way each item is packaged for secure shipping. There's nothing worse than buying a new piece of sheetmetal, only to find that it needs body work right off the bat (!).

A "guide coat" of light-colored primer allows a body man to better verify panel alignment and overall fit. Dark-colored primer makes it more difficult to pick up high and low spots, and body line consistency.

Our body specialists at Metal Finish U.S.A. continued by hanging the door assembly and bolting the hood on. The more you put a car together and pull it apart, the better you'll get your gaps and character lines to appear. Spending the extra time here will pay dividends, if you plan to have car show judges review your work.

Shown here is a panel flange punch, used to make a series of holes for a better weld to the respective mating surfaces.

A standard drill is used to make a neat row of holes in the B-pillar, or lock post area. Note: The large hole in the panel is for your lock post vent. When your door is slammed against the weatherstripping, and the window is in the up position, the pressure created has to be vented somewhere, otherwise, you'd have to roll the window down slightly to let the pressure escape.

B-pillar fitment is critical, as each piece of inner construction must be aligned properly, otherwise, the panel would never fit correctly.

When each mating surface is securely located, it's time to clamp your new piece of sheetmetal in place.

A few strikes of the "gentle adjusting hammer" were necessary in the upper lock post area. Notice how smooth and flat the metal is, and also, the neat row of holes to be welded securely to the inner wheelhouse.

Next, the back panel is fitted in place, with careful alignment to each rear quarter. Don't forget, if this step is misaligned, it'll throw off your quarter(s) and most likely, your deck lid alignment.

With the back panel aligned and fitted, it's clamped in place, and then it was time to crank up the welder.