Cost to paint my truck myself?
I have a 2004 Dodge Ram Rumble Bee that is looking a bit faded. I went to autobody before joining the military, so myself and a friend from college will be painting it, have all the tools. I got out and joined before going into the estimating side of it, was curious on a rough estimate what repainting would cost. This is stripping the old paint, couple of coats of primer, the sanding (estimated price for all sand paper, have 3M block sanders that I use with velcro backing), the paint and the clear. Has a few things of rust but all surface, so will sand those and get rustoleum on that. Going to be painted black and will be a quality paint product, most likely something like Sherwin Williams. Anything else you can think of, definitely throw in. Also if you have any tips to sand down and respray my frame would appreciate it. Looking alittle rusted as well and want it to not look so brown underneath. If you can, seperate the amount of paint needed, with rough cost, amount of sanding paper, and anything else. Thanks for the help, and if you no any links that give calculating costs let me know. Obviously I understand it will cost what the supplies cost since I am doing it myself. Curious on the quantity of supplies I will need to use to get the job done and the cost of these. Hell even the quantity would help, I can figure the cost

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At home autobody repair?
So I'm curious, I used to work on small sailing dinghies, and whenever some parts of the boat would get chipped off or smashed off due to some abuse, it was fibreglassed right back up, repainted, and the boat looked brand new. So I was wondering if I could do this with cars, I do not own a welder, so I cant do autobody work with sheet metal, but I do have the knowledge to fibreglass and a siphon sandblaster is very inexpensive, also, I've seen on the internet that fibreglassing cars is not uncommon, and that it is done commonly on performance cars. So I'm curious, if I have a part of my car rusting (for example, some part of the trunk or front bumper or whatever.), and I siphon-sandblast it until its bare metal, fibreglass back the part that rusted off, harden it, paint it, and clear-coat it, will it be a sufficient job? I would think it'd be good since fibreglass doesnt rust, and its reasonably durable, but then again, I havent dont this, so I wouldnt know if this is a smart thing to do. Any opinions?

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Need help on AutoBody tool names?
Can someone help me get the list of tools with names and pictures?, I wen't to school and took the class of autobody, we had to study the names of the tools and it had pics on the papers we were given, including the name of the tool. Also could someone help me finding the tools names with pics that are used for automotive repair(mechanic)? I've searched on google and I still can't find anything thanks!

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HELP PLEASE! Small Car Accident?
I was coming out of my development's drive way taking a left and not concentrating fully. I looked left, saw a gap, and looked right to find a gap. I was halfway in the lane at this point. The driver on my left, was speeding down the hill. I started making the turn before double checking my left again. We connected cars briefly, my bumper and the passenger side of her door. Her car had little bumps along the bottom of the door, light black marks from the bumper, and the plastic mount holding my license plate fell off. Needless to say, it was not a big accident as I was not going fast, she was, and I put on the brakes when our cars connected. Her car had dents, no scratches from what I saw and the bumper marks. We both pulled over. She told me she was in a hurry, and that her husband died and that she was not paying attention. We swapped information (no police report) and I told her I would check in on her in a week if I didn't hear from her. She told me she had a dent in her passenger's door from something else and said overall it was not a big deal. As I was concerned, and felt bad (I had initially said 'why don't you talk to your husband, and I'll talk to my Dad and then we can see how to proceed from there') after finding out her husband died, which I presume was fairly recently. I sent her a card in the mail two weeks after, asking to check in on her. She called me three times while in class. When I returned her call, she said she took the car to her regular auto shop and was sent to another auto body shop. That shop quoted the repairs at $1540. She scheduled the repairs to take place 10 days from our call. She also was talking about getting a rental car as it is said to take four days to fix. The car belongs to my Dad and is insured. I don't know the details of the policy. If I can, I would like to do without reporting it as my parents are not very good at parenting (they are considering divorce on a weekly basis) and will blow it out of proportion. However, I am concerned that I might be getting myself 'hosed' so to speak by not going through the insurance company (USAA). I am worried that a $1540 quote for the damages is rather high (she agreed) she was not paying attention (as she stated) and she mentioned a rental car (no idea what that will cost). 1- What are my options? (I'm pretty sure it comes down to my fault, even if she was not paying attention and speeding. How much of the repairs am I responsible for and do I have to cover the cost of the rental car?) 2- Can I ask her to get another quote from another autobody shop? 3- Is the autobody shop quoting a higher price as they assume an insurance company will pay? (For 6 months at 24 years old, I was uninsured medically. When I paid my doctor visit bill they charged $250 and $90 for a prescription pick up . When they found out I was uninsured, they charged me $70 for the visits and nothing for the med pick up...) 4- As of now, I told her I would contact the auto body shop and place my information with them. I am hoping to see the quote and pay them in an effort to avoid personal/cashier checks to the lady. What else should I do? I am located in Rhode Island and I would like to make this as painless as possible as I'm certain she is a recent widow. Is it possible to call up my Dad's insurance and ask for the scenario 'off the record'? That way I could have a solid understanding of what would happen if I went through them versus paying out of pocket? I'm worried that if I call up for more information, I'll be registering points against my license (regardless of using the insurance company policy or not).

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Do I have to replace my dented hood?
So, today I accidentally forgot to take my car out of drive when I parked, and drove into a truck parked right in front of me. Luckily, no damage to the truck, but I put a good size dent in my hood. I know nothing about body repairs, so I was hoping for some feedback. Here is the link to the pictures of my dent: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17141559@N06/6258826689/ As you can see there is a dent up the middle of the hood, as well as the front. So my questions: Since I know that hoods are designed to absorb energy in an accident as a "crush zone," does this mean I will have to replace the hood, or can they repair it? If so, any autobody gurus out there have a rough gues-timate as to how much it will cost to repair. The car is a 2010 Nissan Altima Sedan

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Does autobody primer go bad over time?
I have a few quarts of autobody primer, Eastwood brand, I bought about 4 years ago that have been sitting in storage. Does this stuff go bad over time or is it still good to use?

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Car door dented in parking lot?
I was in a parking lot and as I was about to leave, a girl just arriving opened her door, and she said the wind took it and smashed into my door, leaving a pretty large dent. I took her number and license plate number and she asked me to get a quote on the damages. So i went and got a quote, and it came out to $1600. I phoned her and she said she just wanted to talk to her husband about the damages, and whether or not they should go through insurance. I was fine with this and waited a week, and after not receiving any calls from her, I called her and asked her what was happening, she said that her husband and her believe the price is a little to high, and asked if her husband could take a look at it. I asked if her husband was a mechanic, and why he'd need to look at it after an autobody shop already had.. But i agreed to it, and i waited another week for her husband to call me to make arrangments to look at it. I talked to her again and she said her husband is out of town for an unknown time, probably around a month. I said that i've already waited a month, and i got a quote from a certified person, rather then just her husband. And wanted to get it fixed, so asked her how she will be paying for it, and she snapped and said it wasn't her fault, and she could have just left... then proceeded to tell me that if i wanted it to be fixed so badly, that i should just fix it myself. So i'm wondering what i should do now, she won't return my calls, should i contact the police or insurance?

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