Body damage repair/repriming, need help

[rich_e777]

Some jackass decided to back their truck into my Cutlass awhile back, not to bad can still drive her but it doesnt look good. The main damage is on the driver side just aft of the door and over the wheel into the body there. The plastic molding is ok but hangs off the back end and bothers the crap out of me. But its a `94 so its got damage all over the place because i live in apartments and Vietnamese refugees have no respect for anything the only viable option is to strip and sand her down to fix all the damage and primer it up.

 

My question is what materials and products are going to be needed to strip the paint, fill in the dents and damage, and re prime the car. I`ll get her repainted again one day but i would really like to leave her in the primer coat, easier and cheaper to fix as all my money is going to performance parts right now.

[Dr.J.Hyde]

I wouldn't strip it, if you're not going to paint it now, besides if you do strip, you're committed at that point to do everything at once. Stick to one problem at a time or you may be overwhelmed, and that leads most people to do a rush, less than adequate job. If the wheel well is pushed in, remove the interior panel and see how much access you have to push it back out. This will require leverage and the right tools, and do a little pushing inside and a little pulling outside. Post a pic and I can tell you more if you want.

[Garrett Powered]

strip the wax and grease off the paint to primer it is necessary, but you can't primer a bare metal panel without finishing it because it will corrode through the primer. unless you have a primer sealer, the stuff is kind of porous and you would be better off just using a glossy spray paint the same color as your car. enamel is easy enough to sand back off when you go to repaint it.

[Crazy K]

I vote for paint on top of paint that is there....

[rich_e777]

I wouldn't strip it, if you're not going to paint it now, besides if you do strip, you're committed at that point to do everything at once. Stick to one problem at a time or you may be overwhelmed, and that leads most people to do a rush, less than adequate job. If the wheel well is pushed in, remove the interior panel and see how much access you have to push it back out. This will require leverage and the right tools, and do a little pushing inside and a little pulling outside. Post a pic and I can tell you more if you want.

 

The metal can be bent back into shape on the well, its on the lower part of the drivers side door going all the way to the rear part of the rear wheel. I can get at the main part of the damage from the inside as there is a hole already there from the factory. Im sure a dent puller will pop it out, but after that i want to get it ready for a new coat when i can get a good deal. but i want to do all the prep work myself to save me some money. Im sure i can do it, i used to do similar work with antique wood, its not the same but the filling and painting basics seem close. I`m going to start with the hood and wing just to work out my technique and because i can get another one if i mess up. The entire acar is in need of a new paint job, the fore and aft bumpers are fading, the wing has the clear coat and paint flaking off, on the top the paint has started to weather off, and there are countless little nicks and dents that i want to fix. I`ll post an old pic before most of the damage occured that tried to explain using the PAINT program, sorry i dont have a camera anymore.

[rich_e777]

strip the wax and grease off the paint to primer it is necessary, but you can't primer a bare metal panel without finishing it because it will corrode through the primer. unless you have a primer sealer, the stuff is kind of porous and you would be better off just using a glossy spray paint the same color as your car. enamel is easy enough to sand back off when you go to repaint it.

Thxs guy, this is the exact info im looking for.

[rich_e777]

Sorry about this, but i dont have a camera, but here is an old pic and ill explain the best i can.

At point 1 there is a deep scratch with dent across the door about 6" long going all the way into point 2. Goes all the way to bare metal, shallow enough to fill.

At point 2 the plastic molding hangs but can cover up alot of the damage associated to the scratch/gouge from the door but the little pins that hold the molding up are broken off and the metal needs a hole or hole drilled into it and then pulled and hammered out.

point 3 the plastic well flare was broken off and the metal it was fixed to is warped to much, i got plenty of clamps to fix this and i ll just get another plastic flare, wish i could get some bigger ones

point 4 the damage ends looking like the metal bumper from the truck got hooked on the rear part of the well and pulled the metal out.

 

The reshaping of the metal is i believe not going to be a problem. So lets pre tend the metal has been worked back into shape as close as can be done. There are parts in the damaged areas with exposed metal all around the car, just little places. No rust.

Im wanting to paint her Black before the years up(Not me, Ill get this done professionally) but i want to do all the repair, and prep work because its something i feel i can do myself and id rather feel up my car than pay some stranger to do it. What are some recommended products to do this? grits of sandpaper, cleaners, sealers, primers? What else? I know not everything needs to be sanded down to bare metal but what needs to be done to the parts that are exposed? Thx guys I`ll try and borrow a camera from somebody.

[Dr.J.Hyde]

Hey Rich, sorry I've been out. Thanks for your comment on mine, I hope to see the same on yours, of course there's the small patent royalty fee, LMAO, I wish! It will be cool though to see if some people like it enough to do it.

A couple of important questions directly related to the order and size of parts of the project to do. Do you still drive it daily, have a place that's covered to work on it, and a time or money limit weekly or monthly? Not too far off from wood, or anything else for that matter. I can put a mirror shine on almost any rock, metal, sick glass, plastic, wood, or whatever, if I have the right tools, material, and time. The first two are money and availability related. The third is obviously important to place priority on whether you do parts, or all at once. Again, if you choose to do it all at once, I can almost guarantee you will be overwhelmed, which leads to short cuts, or even abandonment. I'm sure you haven't attempted a project this large on wood, so be careful. I'd go small, small stuff at first, for small victories, and build experience. A little dent is about the same amount of work as a big one if your looking for perfect. A really good bodyman can apply the right amount of bondo without low spots, and minimal high spot removal, in one lay, sand, prime, and glaze, and move on. That's extremely difficult! Most will not get enough in some parts of the lay, and too much in others. Minimize the amount of lays by doing two things. First, be sure to put on a little more than you think is enough, and don't keep sweeping and smoothing with your spreader, it seems that it gets worse not better, so have more than enough to cover it without having to scoop some more and add on, and as hard as it is to do, spread it over in 5 or less strokes, leave it high, and walk away. Stay away for a few minutes. Monitor the set up time with the left over, while cleaning your spreader. You should start cutting your spot with the proper rasp while it's still soft and warm, but not crumbly. In other words, your rasp should be cutting through just like mild cheddar cheese, nice strips, if it crumbles or sticks to the rasp too much, it's too early, and you will likely pull up chunks and peel edges before it's able to grab on, and basically makes for a waste of time. Have a variety of rasps for larger, softer cutting, down to small sharp cutting especially for the times that you wait too long and it gets really solid. Never rasp it down to the level that it looks good already, cause that means you've likely gone down too far, and becomes increasingly difficult to get the amount on. Rasp it down to shape and leave it high, and move to a coarse paper(60), once it's completely set up(when it doesn't stick and build up on the paper), and that will depend on whether you put enough hardener.

I gotta go for awhile, I'm a one finger typist, and this little bit took, let's just say, too long to write. I'll give you more input later if you want it. Good luck, Steve

[Paul79UF]

I feel your pain.

 

Some drunk $%# actually "ran" over my car while I had it parked in a college residential area.

 

The entire roof collapsed. I was able to push most of it back up, but it looks like crap and rain water pools in sections.

[rich_e777]

Sounds like its time to put a hit out on some people. Got a camera going to take some pics today.

[rich_e777]

OK pic time!

 

Glad the detail came thru, shitty camera only holds 3 pics at a time. I like the color but after the damage has been repaired theres going to be alot of places to cover up and this particular color seems like it would be more expensive than black, besides i'm kind of wanting to leave her in the darkest shade of primer i can reasonably get my hands on. You can see the color of the truck on my rim. Or if you guys know a good body shop that will do the repair job for a good price. Everyone I talk to will only do the full job costing around $2k. I just want it sanded down(I can do) dents pulled out and filled(not so sure if i can) and the entire car sprayed in a dark primer. What do you guys think?

[rich_e777]

Update, found the guy and he no longer has the truck Ok im going to start with the hood to hone my technique and if i F#$% it up pull apart is down the road. But heres my process and please correct if im wrong. 1. sand damaged area to almost bare metal. 2. drill holes and pull dents out with puller. 3. reshape metal as close as i can to original. 4. Bondo? or is there something that goes on before the filler? 5. primer sealant? 6. then primer. Did i miss something? Thanks guys

[white4d96]

Honestly, if you can get behind the dent, just pound it out. Drilling holes just makes things that much harder to make look good later.

 

If you can't, the proper way to do it would be to weld a stud to the dent and use a slide hammer to pull it out. But I'm guessing you don't have access to a welder, much less a stud gun. I suppose then drilling a hole would be your best bet, unless you can find someone willing to pull the dents for cheap.

[virtuetovice]

There is a slide dent puller out there that instead of using studs and drilling holes, you glue small pieces to the panel and it locks on to it.

 

Found a video!

 

 

 

[video=youtube;5VDA8yIvOJg]

[Chvcmrrcr1969]

I vote for paint on top of paint that is there....

 

I agree, Just get some Scotch Bright Pads and Scuff the paint really good till its dull and you'll be okay to repaint. Etching Primer is only needed for bare metal and Filler primer is for smoothing the body out for blocking.

[Garrett Powered]

I pulled out a dent like that with a suction cup and it came out almost perfect. no, not one of those harbor fright ones. it was one of the pump-up kind.

 

they have the hot glue ones where you turn the threaded knob thing too and it pulls it. paintless dent removal.