How To Repair Dents In Your Car
Getting car dents are one of the annoyances you have to put up with when you live in the city and often have to leave your car parked in huge parking lots along with hundreds of other cars.
Fortunately, repairing a dent is something that most car owners can do themselves without much difficulty.
Essentially, fixing a dent is a one or two step process.
The first step is repairing the dent.
The optional second step, repairing the paint, is only necessary if the paint is ruined.
In the simplest cases, where you have access to the inside of the dent, you can often push the dent out with your hands.
In tougher cases, you may need to press a block of wood against the inside of a dent and use a mallet to gently pound the dent out.
If you don't have access to the inside of the dent, simply drill a tiny hole into the center of the dent and screw a metal screw into the hole.
Then grip the screw with a self locking vice grip and pull out the dent.
In many cases the dent will not pop back to its original shape.
If this is the case, you will have to sand the paint from the dent area and use body filler to fill in the gaps.
Use coarse sandpaper to sand off the excess body filler and to shape it so the car surface is flat.
Finally, finish off the sanding with fine grain sandpaper to prepare it for painting.
If the dent area is small, repainting the area will be a simple task.
Start by taping newspaper around the dent area to prevent paint spray overflow from getting on the rest of the car.
Then, using spray primer, spray the sanded area.
Allow the primer to dry and lightly spray the primed area.
Repeatedly apply light coats of paint to the area until you are satisfied with the results.
To finalize the paint job, take a soft pad and polish the paint job making sure, as you rub, to overlap the just painted area with the older area of the car.
This will help to blend the new paint with the existing paint on the car making it almost impossible to see your touch up.
Repairing car dents is one of the simplest car repair jobs you can do, especially after doing your first one.
Don't make it more complicated than it has to be and you'll be fine.
Fortunately, repairing a dent is something that most car owners can do themselves without much difficulty.
Essentially, fixing a dent is a one or two step process.
The first step is repairing the dent.
The optional second step, repairing the paint, is only necessary if the paint is ruined.
In the simplest cases, where you have access to the inside of the dent, you can often push the dent out with your hands.
In tougher cases, you may need to press a block of wood against the inside of a dent and use a mallet to gently pound the dent out.
If you don't have access to the inside of the dent, simply drill a tiny hole into the center of the dent and screw a metal screw into the hole.
Then grip the screw with a self locking vice grip and pull out the dent.
In many cases the dent will not pop back to its original shape.
If this is the case, you will have to sand the paint from the dent area and use body filler to fill in the gaps.
Use coarse sandpaper to sand off the excess body filler and to shape it so the car surface is flat.
Finally, finish off the sanding with fine grain sandpaper to prepare it for painting.
If the dent area is small, repainting the area will be a simple task.
Start by taping newspaper around the dent area to prevent paint spray overflow from getting on the rest of the car.
Then, using spray primer, spray the sanded area.
Allow the primer to dry and lightly spray the primed area.
Repeatedly apply light coats of paint to the area until you are satisfied with the results.
To finalize the paint job, take a soft pad and polish the paint job making sure, as you rub, to overlap the just painted area with the older area of the car.
This will help to blend the new paint with the existing paint on the car making it almost impossible to see your touch up.
Repairing car dents is one of the simplest car repair jobs you can do, especially after doing your first one.
Don't make it more complicated than it has to be and you'll be fine.
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