When we left off with the Danchuk '56 Chevy, it had just been stripped down and was residing at Huntington Beach Bodyworks in Huntington Beach, California. The crew there had already sent the entire car out to be walnut-blasted, and had begun work on the rusted-out frame.
Once back from the blasters, like so many other cars, the '56 wasn't what Danchuk and HBB thought it was. What was thought to be a rust-free California car with no major body damage wasn't exactly the case. Regardless of how bad the car was, however, Art and Dan stayed true to the plan, and insisted on metal-finishing the car. For those of you not familiar with metal-finishing, it is exactly what it sounds like. When bodywork is carried out, filler is often used to correct the imperfections in the body. Back in the day, bodymen used lead. By heating up the soft metal and spreading it with a wooden paddle, users were able to file, grind, and work the malleable metal to create a straight body. Although some bodymen still use lead, most have now switched over to a plastic-filler, known as Bondo. When metal-finishing a car, no filler is used. Instead bodymen bang, pull, and shape the metal using hammers, dollies (metal blocks held behind the sheetmetal while hammering), body files, and sometimes heat. Although it is a painstaking task, Art and Dan wanted the car to be 100 percent metal-a true symbol of art and craftsmanship.
Rich Evans, owner of HBB, was brought in to metal-finish the '56. Because metal-finishing does take some time, the Danchuks had Evans' mentor, Willie Newman, a 35-year metalworking veteran, flown in all the way from New Zealand to aid and speed up the process. The duo worked countless hours massaging the body to as close to perfection as possible. In cases where the body was rusted, Evans and Newman cut out the rust and patched the areas. If the sheetmetal pieces weren't worth salvaging, or couldn't be found, they used NOS parts (when available) or just picked up the Danchuk catalog and ordered new sheetmetal; there really isn't a part you can't order from Danchuk. Once the body was repeatedly worked over, it was sprayed in primer and blocked to perfection. With the flawless body, Evans is then going to spray the car with PPG basecoat/clearcoat urethane in Tropical Turquoise and India Ivory. The paint for the project was supplied and mixed by Auto Color in Westminster, California. From the factory, the underside of the '56 Chevy was either the body color or red oxide; the Danchuks decided to go with Turquoise. As for the frame, it was powdercoated semi-gloss black, and put back together using a judging handbook to ensure everything was color-coded correctly.
 In case you can't quite figure...  In case you can't quite figure out or imagine the tools used for metal-finishing and basic body work, here's an 8-piece body tool set. Among the set are body hammers, a body file, dollies, and a spoon. |  Because Dan and Art want absolute...  Because Dan and Art want absolute perfection, jigs were built to hold the fenders, hood, and trunk lid. By mounting the sheetmetal onto the jigs, Evans and Newman can rotate them where desired, allowing them to work the sheetmetal from various positions. |  To the naked eye, the bare...  To the naked eye, the bare metal fender looks straight as can be. But as Newman runs his hand along the fender, he can feel the high and low spots (a high spot being a protruding bulge, and a low spot meaning a dip or pot in the metal). |
 A basic form of metal-finishing...  A basic form of metal-finishing is banging on the metal using hammers and dollies. By placing the dolly on the backside of the fender and hammering down on the dolly, high and low spots can be removed. If Newman hammers directly on the dolly, it will smash the metal and remove a high spot. On the other hand, if he hammers around the dolly, he can bring up a low spot. Once he has made a few passes, Newman pauses and feels the metal with his hand to see if the metal is straight. |  Another tool used is a slap...  Another tool used is a slap file. The slap file takes the place of a hammer in certain situations for a few reasons. One is the coarse "file" aspect of the tool will dig into the metal and stretch the metal as you "slap" it. Another reason is the file leaves marks in the sheetmetal, allowing you to see the area being worked on, which is beneficial during the finishing aspect of the job. |  Once Newman feels he has removed...  Once Newman feels he has removed a high or low spot, he runs across the sheetmetal with a body file. By filing the area around the job, the file markings will show if the metal is straight. If the area is still low, there won't be file markings, and if the area is high, only the peak of the high spot will have file markings. The body file is like a checking tool. |
 In some cases, the metal needs...  In some cases, the metal needs to be shrunk by using heat. Heat is mainly used when it's not possible to get behind the sheetmetal and hammer it out. By heating up a low spot, or dipping it with a torch, then cooling the area off with water, the low spot shrinks and becomes straight again. |  In areas of the car where...  In areas of the car where the rust had its way, Huntington Beach Bodyworks used new pieces of sheetmetal. One area that was not worth salvaging was the rear splash pan. |  In other areas, rust was simply...  In other areas, rust was simply cut out and the area was patched with new sheetmetal. |