I'm trying to come up with a method for verifying the straightness of body work on our 1970-72 Skylark GS', using an original non-NOS fender. Cross filing doesn't seem to be appropriate (file in one direction, then at 90 degrees from the original direction), as one direction will look good but the other isn't. Sanding a guide coat with a paint stick won't catch gradual indentations. Sanding with a 5" circular block has the same problem as cross filing. I'm thinking that the best we can do is use the paint stick method with guide coat. Then apply silver paint and visually inspect for any gradual imperfections?
Paint stick can make a mess if your not careful, your applying psi only where your hand is, I use a 3/8 thick 1in wide aluminum block along with a tool box full of other blocking tools, you can also glue 2 thick paint sticks together or get a piece of Oak planed flat etc, but problem is coming back to your block not being rigid enough
Use both hands and let the paper do the work. Guide coat is a great tool and will get you crazy close, but for perfection proof painting is a viable method albeit time consuming
Thank you so much for your suggestions! Now that you mention it, I have turned the paint stick on its edge for suspect areas, which minimizes any flexing, but of course you're only sanding with the thickness of the stick (1/8"). Following your advice, I now have some aluminum blocks in the dimensions that you suggest, and they're working great! I'd love to talk with the designer of this body, as I'm curious which contours were intentional and which were just a side effect of the progressive die stamping.
