Bodywork Restoration

Our in-house welders are fully trained in MIG and TIG welding and experienced in sheet metal work and general fabrication enabling them to carry out anything from light gauge panel work to heavy chassis repairs with confidence. All repairs are carried out to factory standard. In addition to MIG, we also offer TIG welding of mild steel, stainless steel and aluminium. Again, all our repairs are flush fit and fully welded.

For older or rare vehicles, buying a replacement panel is not always an option. Blackline can make bespoke repair panels or sections, either by copying the original or calculating the original shape from the surrounding areas.

With the greatest care our Specialist fabricators are also able to ensure the panel alignment is a perfect fit. We ensure door apertures and panel gaps are straight and true particularly when carrying out major structural repairs, but also for aesthetics purposes.

Following this if applicable, the vehicle shell will be sandblasted to bare metal and then applied with three coats of epoxy then baked and left to fully cure for 72 hours.

The shell is then keyed thoroughly allowing for our filler to adhere to the shell and then perfectly shaped to produce a flawless finish, no filler will be thicker than 1mm over the whole shell. Any panel joints are fully welded and lead loaded, this is to remove any flux or moisture being trapped in the seams and to prevent future rusting.

All panels are fitted multiple times and the doors are weighted to replicate as if they were fully loaded and caught on to the latches. This allows us to ensure that all panel gaps are 4-5mm once the vehicle has been re-assembled.

All external fittings are fitted to the shell at multiple points in the process to ensure perfect fitting of them. This will allow for all bumpers, cowl lights, light chrome, chrome strips, rear light, window frames, bulkhead stanchion chrome covers, door catches, latches and striker plates.

At the spray filler stage, the shape of the car is refined, and all external fitting and panels are checked again to allow for perfect fitting. Once the car has been checked numerous times for the perfect shape, a closed coat of spray filler is applied which will then allow us to move into the primer stage.

The use of two coats of primer allows us to ensure that any minor imperfection has been rectified and allows for a perfect surface for us to apply paint to. This is also another part of the process for us to check and make sure that all external panels fit, and any external body fittings fit as well.

The painting process is broken down into a few different stages to allow for the perfect finish. The car is forced dried and then left to fully cure in a controlled environment before we wet sand and polish. This is done using six different grades of sandpaper and then four different compounds to enable us to produce the perfect flawless finish.

Blackline also has an excellent reputation for tackling accident repairs for classic vehicles. This process can include major chassis straightening and alignment on our Blackhawk Jig, full engine testing, panel replacement and re-sprays to name just a few.

Please contact us to discuss your requirements on 01884 841110 or email [email protected]