How do you go about shaving the door handles and trunk latch?

[sunXet_RELOADED]

title speaks for itself...

[VanishingImage]

check the Body Shop section,i think someone already posted something like this and there were a few responses to it:)

[matts]

yeah, look there, and if you dont find anything come back and give us a holler. it's not something you want to tackle yourself unless you're pretty good at welding, grinding, sanding, and using body filler. :) i helped (more or less watched and was a gopher) a friend shave my tailgate handle.....and it's very tedious work if you want it done right

[sunXet_RELOADED]

I checked the one thread I found and from there I went searching on the net, but I found all different kinds of kits to buy. Though some are cheap and some are expensive, they seem to consist of the same stuff, so I don't really know which ones give the best bang for my buck. Anymore insight is always greatly appreciated.

[VanishingImage]

Yea this isn't for someone that doesn't know much about the work involved and not used to it,plus the car will have to be garaged if its down to the bare metal,which it will have to be,but only in the general area that is being worked on.I've witnessed and watched,it something very time consuming and you'll see why shops charge a pretty penny for the work.But if your willing to do it and have everything needed,welder,sheet metal,bondo,etc... then go for it.

[matts]

yeah, there's not a whole lot to a kit, and he's right.....if you want it done right it's time consuming work. for instance, welding in the blank plate to take the place of the hole you're going to leave......you can't just weld it all at one time. if you do you stand a good chance of getting the surrounding metal too hot. and when it gets hot it will warp......which means then you have even more work to do to get it straight again. but it's an awesome mod

[SonicTron]

hmmm would it be terrible to just use a massive amount of bondo? :) and slowly slowly fill in the gap as you go, just a little more every time until its filled :D

[TA^Guy]

Sorry if this sounds rude, but if you don't know how to do it find someone to do it for you. It's not a job for amatures.

[SC/TGrandAm]

Originally posted by TA^Guy
Sorry if this sounds rude, but if you don't know how to do it find someone to do it for you. It's not a job for amatures.

Im going to have to second this guys. You guys obviously haven't a clue, either do some research, ask somebody that has done it the right way or pay someone to do it. Id hate to see someone on here misinformed and mad in 6 months because their shaving project that they spent 2 weeks on fell apart in a day.

Filling the holes in with bondo is not the way you do it, its all good till it starts cracking out after a few months. The correct way is wielding a panel to cover up the hole griding down the wields and then starting the body work process.

[DowmaceWH99]

yes, like he said, you need to weld in a panel, smooth it as smooth as possible, then if you need to, which you probably will, you will then put on some bondo, sand it it smooth, primer paint, but thats just the asthetics you'll need a door popper to open the door, and thats not cheap, so theres alot of work that most people don't want to do

[TA^Guy]

Originally posted by SonicTron
hmmm would it be terrible to just use a massive amount of bondo? :) and slowly slowly fill in the gap as you go, just a little more every time until its filled :D Bondo (or any body filler) shouldn't be applied any thicker than 1/8". The thicker it gets the more prone it is to cracking. And if you just load a hole up with filler it will just fall out over time.

Here is what a properly filled hole looks like after it's welded.
http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=289880

[TA^Guy]

Here is what the same holes look like with welds ground down and sprayed with some red spray paint to temp. protect the bare metal.

Absolutely no body filler was used.

http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=289883
For more pics here you go...
http://members.fbody.com/chad89z/project.html

[matts]

but john, in all fairness it's a little easier to fill in bolt holes than a door handle hole. same principle........but a lot more room for error.

but it does look like a good finished product in those pics

[jordanGT]

on those spoiler holes was the hole filled with the weld, or was a small patch panel made to fill it...it appears to me that it was all filled with the weld, but i often make errors in looking at pictures, so i thought i'd ask. :)