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Dent Repair

Rehabilitating those dang dings

If you drive, your car will eventually get a dent. Body damage is one of the most frustrating parts of motoring, because our eyes always seem to lock onto dents.

Choosing to live with dings can be a big mistake. Unless the body is fiberglass (Corvette, for example), plastic polymer (Saturn) or stainless steel (DeLorean), the damaged area will eventually oxidize (rust). Once rust starts, it's tough to contain. The bottom line is that the sooner you deal with dings and dents, the better.

Paintless Removal

For small dimples that literally don't scratch the surface, the best option might be to hire a paintless-dent-removal professional to do the job. Using specialized tools, these people can bang many dents back into shape from inside the body panel.

Sheetmetal Repair

Repairing body damage that goes through the paint is a different matter. The job often requires specialized tools such as pullers, hammers and dollies. Body filler and primer are also part of the deal. Skill and experience are also helpful when attempting to bring damaged metal back to its original shape. The overview here is intended to describe a few of the tools and techniques.

If the dent is too large to fill with body putty, use a puller and/or dent hammer to bring the sheetmetal as close to original shape as possible. When using a puller, file the access hole edges until smooth. Fill the hole with a MIG welder if available (adding a patch piece of sheetmetal behind large holes), then grind the slag smooth. A non-welding alternative is to apply mesh tape to the inside of the body panel behind the hole (if accessible), then fill the hole with body putty.

Next, remove any surface rust and flaking paint. A hobby tool or small drill fitted with a wire brush works well. Soft, dark and/or bubbled metal means rust—remove it down to shiny metal with a sander or a metal grinder or all your labor will eventually rot away.

Mix the body-filler compound per its instructions and use thin coats of filler to bring the body back to its original contour. Allow each coat of filler to cure completely before adding the next. Check for high spots with your hand or by lightly misting the area with black primer. Use a cheese-grater body file to knock down large high spots.

Sand the cured putty smooth with medium-grade wet/dry sandpaper, then go over it with fine and extra-fine grades, feathering it into the undamaged areas. Clean the repaired area with soap and water and allow it to dry.

Priming

Use a wax-remover product on the afflicted area for better paint adhesion. Mask around the damage with masking paper and tape—newspaper can release fine fibers into wet paint. Cut a mask out of cardboard about the size of the repair area, and hold it about an inch above the repair.

Spray a thin coat of primer on the area, following the instructions on the spray can. Continue to apply thin coats, allowing the previous one to dry first. Once the primer is completely dry, sand it with 400-grit wet/dry paper, then wash the area. The repair is now ready to be painted.

Shopping List

> Dent hammers

> Dollies

> Rat's-tail, "cheese-grater" and flat files

> Dent pullers: suction-type or hammer-type

> Variable-speed hobby tool or small drill fitted with a wire brush

> Fiberglass repair kit

> Steel wool

> Body filler (such as Bondo)

> Sandpaper (medium/fine/extra-fine, wet-or-dry)