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Hey all,

Im looking to get started with my truck and I think as money is always an issue, Id start out by buying body work tools. That way, in the beginning I can put in all my hours without nearly spending anything other than the materials and such.

As I have never done body work before I would love any recommendations on the must have/go to tools to get the body straight. The truck is in decent shape, except for one farmers dent in front of the driver door. (and a few bullet holes out the cab.

Thanks for any info

A good set of hammers and dolly for forming metal is a good start. But name brand hammers/dollys can get expensive QUICK.

I've had good results with the Harbor Freight http://www.harborfreight.com/7-piece-body-and-fender-set-31277.html

Eastwood sell the exact same kit in blue if the HF red and saving half the price is offensive to you:

http://www.eastwood.com/7-pc-body-a...010&gclid=CJLw_uX9scUCFenm7Aod7ggAQA

Did a 42 Ford and two doors from my 1.5 ton so far.

You can pick up good old body hammers and dollies at swap meets, flea markets and antique places for $5-15 each. I probably have 2 dozen body hammers and only bought one Martin brand hammer brand new, a design I couldn't find used. Quality hammers are forged and hardened. Cast hammers are usually soft and don't work nearly as well. When looking at used hammers if the face is marked up a lot chances are it is cheap and not worth the money, same with dollies.

Grigg

What I did while waiting for those swap meets was purchase the aforementioned hammer and dolly set from HF. It gives you something to practice with. Martin is the go-to company for hammers. I use all different shapes and sizes of dollies out of repurposed steel, train rails, whatever I can find with odd shapes. Then there is the Hardy Hole in the Anvil that accepts 3/4" squares that you can weld all sorts of shapes on.

The HF hammers/dollys are a good buy for a one car project.. well unless you are going from flat sheet to a finished panel then probably not... but for $30 you can start to bang on metal and get good results.

I was just at the Carlisle spring show in PA and didn't see much as far as tools go... so waiting for a swap meet (and the $10 parking and the $10 entrance and $30 food bill) to chance upon a dolly or hammer you need may not be something you want to do.

The one Martin hammer I bought was something like $25 new and delivered, that's not a bad price at all.
At that sort of price If I had none I'd buy new Martin if used ones went readily available. Honestly after tuning up a used one and sometimes a new handle you'd be better off to buy a new Martin, but not as much fun..

My favorite hammer I picked up at a swap meet as an unfinished forging. I machined and dressed it, had a friend harden and temper the faces, and I put a handle on it. Round face on one side and other is like a pick except 5/16" round face.

Try this picture
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/DmNJbTjbiaMYKYU0nfSjJ9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Brands are:
Fairmont
Proto
Plomb
Blue-Point
Bonney
Craftsman
Martin
Stanley
Herbrand
Lots with no name

The fellow who taught me some metalworking passed on to me this bit of advice from his teacher. "You can never have too many body hammers"

Grigg

Bumping metal is an art. I never went to school to learn it. My degree is in Accounting and Pre law. But I watched guys bump metal in the 50's when they still bumped metal and filled with lead. It fascinated me and I learned it by the monkey see, monkey do method. Any skill, be it bumping metal or welding is much easier to learn with the very best of tools. I can live with a Chinese 7/16" wrench, but anything more than that, I just don't want it on the place.

Thanks all for the responses. Im heading out tomorrow to pickup my first hammer and dolly set and get to bangin'

Not a bad idea to do a search on 'auto body hammer and dolly work'. There are lots of tutorials on this all over the place.

Eastwood still sells the handbook, "The Key to Metal Bumping." It's old school stuff, having been first published over 50 years ago, but some things just don't change. Not being a 'panel beater' by trade, you can read thru this classic a couple of times and straighten some dents. It's like most skills, some basic knowledge and then practice,practice,practice.