Fellas -

I'm fairly handy with engines, transmission, etc, but haven't tried welding or paint/bodywork. I have a full time job, but I could probably take off up to a week of work (or go at night) for classes. Has anyone done this? Wondering if it's worth it, how much it cost, etc. I'm in Northern VA (Woodbridge) if anyone has any experience with shops in the area.

Realize I could probably teach myself, but I've got plenty of vacation time built up at work, and think I would enjoy taking a class and learning a new skill from some experts (would also be nice to have an excuse to buy more tools...).

Thanks!

Scott

After my last estimate of $15,000.00, I bought a welder, hammer and dolly set, compressor, paint guns, etc. etc. and bought a $250.00 parts car to practice on.

You'll NEVER get that from a course at school.

How much were you willing to spend on tuition and materials? That should be the start the shopping list!

They did have classes at NOVA (alex campus)for bodywork and paint but I think they moved them to the Manassas campus. The paint class I took was on sat but they had others in the weekday evenings. Check on the NOVA website for classes and dates.

I took two classes at my local community college for Body Work and Paint.
They were informative and helpful but to be honest the best advice I received was from this site:
http://autobody101.com/forums/index.php

For MIG welding I purchased a video that explained how to set up and weld automotive body panels.

The rest is practice on old parts until your confident to work on your car.

Schooling can only teach you so much. The more hands on it is, the better you learn. The more you actually DO the work, the faster you learn and get more comfortable. I would reccomend taking classes to learn the basics and some good skills, then practice on some old panels or whatever and learning the details before hitting your car. If you have a metal shop maybe the outside needs painting? lol. Seriously, the painting, while it can be intimidating, is the last step in a good paint job. The body work comes first.

I actually took a body class and a paint class from the local tech school at nite. They were $125 each or $250(sorry cant remember) each for a about 5 classes each. The body class had one evening on how to mig weld (a bare bones overview and a few hours of practice). We learned how to hammer and dolly, the proper way to mud and sand and pull dents with a stud welder. Overall it was pretty good and the instructor was willing to teach us whatever we wanted to know.
The paint class taught us about the different paints and equipment, how to mix paint, read cups, P sheets, etc and how to paint. How to use a gun, setting up the gun, how to shoot paint and how to shoot clear. Got some info on fixing mistakes as well. In that class we had the opportunity to paint a project but not necessarily a whole car. I did not have anything ready, but did get to paint a hood. Learned color matching as well. We painted in a paint booth and it was nice. My hood really looked good too, so I was proud for my first attempt.
Overall I would say it was a good experience. But if you had a friend who knows how to paint or could give you advice you would probably do just as well. When I was in my paint class I bought a new HVLP gun for it so I would be learning on my own equipment. I have sprayed several small things at home and they turned out well. Last year, I also shopped around and bought a Miller welder. I have been welding ever since. I still would not consider myself a welding pro as it is a skill vs art type of thing. But the more I do the better I get. Welding is pretty straight forward and you just have to be willing to try. I am in the process of doing my first restroration/restification. So have at it, you can never go wrong by willing to learn something new.

Thanks, fellas. Appreciate the advice.

Scott

Lots of good courses at NOVA -
http://www.nvcc.edu/curschedule/schedule...=All&Page=7

Makes me want to go back to school...

Thanks,

Scott