I really want to learn to do my own bodywork since that is pretty much the only thing I can't do with cars. But I'm at a loss on where to start. I can't really justify the cost of a big compressor to run the necessary air tools and paint guns. I have plenty of dents and dings I could practice on. Both bumpers need resprayed, a door is either tweaked or out of adjustment. Eventually I want to respray the whole thing and do a color change. But that isn't feasible right now. How can I get into it without spending a ton of money? What can I do to progress til I can justify buying more equipment? I don't mind if my daily driver (an '03 Liberty) looks like it has leopard spots from all the primered repairs. So I'm not in a huge rush to get to the point of repainting. And I don't want to start collecting every imaginable body tool. I don't plan to open a shop or do work for others on the side. I just want to get to where I can make my cars look presentable, if not show quality.

Visit the Info Center and learn all you can. Then view all the Sticky Posts a the top of the Body and Paint section, from there move the Welding and Metal Fab section and read the Sticky Posts there.
Information is free and plenteous and what you learn will save you $$ when it comes to putting it into practice. Also, look at some of the member's projects that have gone from start to finish.

You are approaching it wisely by not running out and spending a bunch of money first and then asking questions later.

http://www.autobody101.com/content/arti ... ould-know/

There are hundreds if not thousands of Youtube videos on auto body repair. I would start there. You can read all you want but seeing someone else do a repair makes it much easier to learn.

I've been reading about bodywork for about as long as I've been tinkering on cars. And I am still reading and watching videos. But I can't practice and learn without tools. Is there an entry-level dolly set that could get me started? Or something else I'd need to fix minor dents? Is a sanding board from the parts store decent enough to get started?

I don't want to buy junk because I know junk often makes jobs harder. But I can't afford top-shelf body tools anymore than I can afford for the Snap-On truck to come to my house. So I'm looking for "good enough" body tools just like I have "good enough" wrenches in my Harbor Freight tool cabinet. I figure I can always upgrade later if my skills develop enough to justify the expense.

Harbor freight sells everything you need to start doing diy auto body. You can get a DA sander fairly cheap. They have a hammer dolly set for like 30 bucks. They have a long board for sanding real reasonable. The only thing you might want to get is some durablocks from your local auto body supply and maybe a small block for wetsanding. I would buy all my sand paper in 3m or Norton brand. You can use Harbor freight but it wears out too fast. There paint guns are not real good but will get the job done if you cant afford a good one.

Thanks. I was looking at the HF kit. Seems it would be hard for them to mess up something as simple as a hammer. I think I'm going to go tomorrow to see if my local store has the glue puller in stock. Just watched a video of it working on a bike gas tank. The glue in the kit is useless, but with better glue the tool worked fine. And glue pulling seems like just the thing for the small dents I want to fix first.

This is kind of an adventure for me. Been a while since this old dog learned any new tricks.