There comes a time when just about every car on the road will need some form of rust or body repair. Quite often, if the car is a daily driver for running errands, repairs are never made, and the car eventually ends up in junkyard heaven. For our beloved collector cars, hot rods, and muscle cars, dents, dings, and rust are not an option, and neither is the scrap heap. And for just about any restoration project, the bodywork is by far the most expensive part of the process.
In Automotive Bodywork and Rust Repair, veteran Matt Joseph shows you the ins and outs of tackling both simple and difficult rust and metalwork projects. This book teaches you how to select the proper tools for the job, common-sense approaches to the task ahead of you, preparing and cleaning sheet metal, section fabrications and repair patches, welding options such as gas and electric, forming, fitting and smoothing, cutting metal, final metal finishing, including filling and sanding, the secrets of lead filling, making panels fit properly, and more. It also includes a comprehensive resource guide.
Whether you decide you want to tackle a full restoration project, or just want to save money by doing minor repairs yourself, Automotive Bodywork and Rust Repair is the book to get you through it. 
Great book for anyone wanting to learn body work for a hobby, even a professional may benefit from it, as we can always learn something new.
Good bodywork is essential to keeping a car looking new. “Automotive Bodywork and Rust Repair” is a guide for mechanics to help them touch up on their bodywork repair skills and metalwork. Automobiles naturally rust and are dented through the course of their existence and part of an auto-mechanic’s job is to revert such damage. For a professional who wants a refresher or an amateur who wants to do it himself, “Automotive Bodywork and Rust Repair” is a highly valuable asset, not to be missed.
This book was exactly what I needed to get started on a bit rusty ’83 jeep.
Being totally new to bodywork, I got this book and one or two others to help me restore and old 1966 Impala I got and had no idea how to fix. Being new to all of this, I found the book quite helpful.
This is a great primer for what (and what not) to do when starting out with home auto body work. If you are expecting a complete course in auto body, go to trade school. It is a great overview and place to start.
This guy is obviously a metalworking artist. What he shows and does in the book is simply remarkable. However, my big complaint is that he leaves the really detailed stuff filled with holes. For example, he builds an amazing front spoiler for a car. Unfortunately, either the book is simply the wrong medium, or he needed to include about ten times as many pictures of the process involved. Same thing applies to almost everything covered in the book. I really wanted to love this book, and to learn everything I could, but I was left with little more than a knowledge that certain things may be possible (which really is good) and the notion that unless I get into vintage restoration I will probably do what everyone else does – buy panels, weld seams, and use plastic filler sparingly – well maybe I’ll try dripping some lead here and there sometime. But mostly, the book is a read once then toss. Sorry Matt.
This book so far has provided the information I needed to get started on a welding project.
With book in hand and a new Mig welder I feel confident I can tackle most jobs I need completed.
I picked this up right when it came out and dove into the pages and the project (an 84′ AR Spider). As per usual for Mr. Joseph, the writing is interesting and detail oriented without being needlessly complex. The photography is outstanding and final result is a book that explains the processes and the reason they are used well enough so that a novice (me) can get started and an expert (my friend) can learn a trick or two. If you are starting a project (or just thinking about it) pick up a copy immediately.
I was hoping it would have a large section on rust repair, it did help with a few of my guestions
I imagine this text becoming a classic on the subject. The author wrote plainly. He introduced bumping, filing, filling, grinding, patching, sanding, sectioning, welding, and more. Newer and older repair approaches are mentioned, if only in passing. The author also discussed advantages and drawbacks of an impressive variety of tools normally used in bodywork.
After reading this book, I feel confident enough to tackle rust remediation on my aging Chevy truck. I think this book communicated the principles well enough that I’ll be able to get out of any trouble I might stumble into. And I’ll surely avoid a lot of trouble altogether. Without this book, I shudder to think of the damage I would have caused had I gone straight to an auto parts store and tried to git-r-done.
The author seems to possess a patience and reverence for the work, and what it takes to do bodywork competently. This is not a 12-step plan for slathering filler and spray paint on your ride.
With regard to criticism, I can think of three things that prospective readers might care to know. First, this book does not specifically discuss the latest generation of fancy electric sanders that are now probably finding their way into automotive use. For example, I happen to own a Festool RO 150 FEQ Rotex sander, which I reckon to be suitable for some automotive applications, but this book only addresses pure-rotary sanders of a traditional design. Second, this book does not discuss the application of paints and finishes much, if at all. Presumably, painting is beyond the scope of this book, and deserves treatment all its own. Thirdly, despite talking about welding as it applies to auto bodywork, persons who have never used a welder will need separate instruction.
Incidentally, bumping means using a hammer or similar tool to gently change the shape of sheet metal. I recall being confused about what bumping meant as I read the first pages of the book.