Bodywork Thread, Trying to assemble a total bodywork thread...Painting, Dent removal Options

[e30og]

trying to start a thread on painting (all inclusive) and bodywork (removing dents, etc.) because, well I want to learn it and im sure there are tons of viewers wondering/wishing the same thing.

If you have bodywork/Paint know-how, share here!

[CelicaHD2]

Here is the basic process of removing small dents and dings in your bodywork. Please excuse the photos...I have taken them from a couple of jobs I have done on my car. The first few are from my "deleting radio aerial hole" and progresses to some side shots of the car being sanded...but it shows you the process.

Basically it runs like this:

1. Use a de-greaser and remove surface contaminants....sand area down with 80 grit sandpaper. This creates the perfect key for bodyfiller.



2. Again use a de-greaser to remove sanding dust. Apply bodyfiller over area and beyond the repair area to help feather it into body.



3. Start sanding with 80 Grit sandpaper to get bodyfiller roughly flat then progress into 120 sandpaper to feather out edges of bodyfiller.



4. Here you can see the edges are feathered out nicely...the edges start to turn milky (you can see the underneath colour coming through). You can also see the slightly darker colour of the bodyfiller in the middle...this is a low spot in the repair area.



5. The low spot areas need another coat of bodyfiller.



6. Repeat sanding with 80 grit then 120 grit as previous.



7. Next is to use a spot putty or pin hole bodyfiller...this is to fill in tiny little holes in the bodyfiller. These are caused by tiny pockets of air in the bodyfiller, which when sanded through leaves tiny holes. Normal bodyfiller would be too thick to fill without creating alot more sanding work.



8. Progress with some more sanding...this time use 240 to 320 grit sandpaper which is perfect to get bodywork ready for spraying primer. Make sure the edges again turn milky to help blend repair area into existing body.



9. Here you can see the sanding to the surrounding area as well...this is done using 320 grit sandpaper.



10. Tape off the area to be sprayed in primer.



11. Take your time and spray 3 coats of primer...with about 10 mins in between to allow the solvents to flash off (evaporate off). Here you can see the bodywork is still seen under the first coat of primer.



12. Here is the final area in full primer ready for next step.



13. Right so the bodywork looks good and perfectly flat...but your eyes can lie. The next step is to use a "guide coat"...I use 3m guide coat but a light coat of black paint can be also used. Here is the guide coat applied to the area.



14. You need to use a sanding block to sand perfectly flat...sanding in an X pattern will help highlight any low spot.





15. The guide coat is sanded off and you can just make out a low spot in the bodywork where the guide coat remains.



16. Another shot of the missed low spot in the bodywork. To repair this...you can apply a thin layer of spot putty, re-sand and re-prime it.