Best way to repair dozens of small dings in door
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I am repairing a door on a 90 Firebird. The right door (above the molding) has dozens of small dings, much like hail damage above the molding. What is the best way to repair these dings? Do I have to fill each one individually or can I wipe the entire top of the door? Can I sand with 180 or so and fill with putty or do I need to take it down to the metal?
It would help to pull the dings and work down the highs before filling, unless they’re super small. But yes, grind the whole area down to metal, fill and block the whole area.
work out what you can and fill what you can’t :pcorn:
[quote=”a1handy” post=17761]I am repairing a door on a 90 Firebird. The right door (above the molding) has dozens of small dings, much like hail damage above the molding. What is the best way to repair these dings? Do I have to fill each one individually or can I wipe the entire top of the door? Can I sand with 180 or so and fill with putty or do I need to take it down to the metal?[/quote]
just wipe it with mud an be done;) 😉 😉 😉 just block it all down tight an she will be cherryYep, just like these guys said. Work any highs/lows. You definitely don’t want to fill anything deeper than 1/8″. Remove the paint to bare metal, then skim the entire area. Filler may be better than putty depending on how deep they are, how you work it and what product you are using. Skimming the entire area is faster and will allow you to get the panel straighter (if done properly).
Just be careful when grinding the paint off so as not to create too much heat and warp the panel.
I have had really good results with [i]U-Pol Dolphin[/i] finishing putty.
You can fill dents up to 3mm deep with it, and it is meant to be used on top of (suitably keyed back) 2 pack finishes…so there’s no need to go back to bare metal with it. No shrinkage either.
Cheers,
SimeWhen you get dings the metal stretches and to fit this additional amount of metal in the same amount of area it bows outward surrounding the dent these are called highs. they should always be smoothed out before applications of filler otherwise you’ll be trying to level out little hills and it will take a lot more filler and work…
Bondo wouldn’t know this, he doesn’t actually do stuff he just slaves his little brother. :whistle:[quote]You definitely don’t want to fill anything deeper than 1/8[/quote]
Interested in anyone else, who would care to admit that their repairs may be over 1/8 deep on occasion.
This is often not achievable on certain areas, strong corners on pickup beds, where the overall area may not be vast the depth can exceed 1/8
I was having a look at the rage products data sheets an did not see any mention of maximum depth though i do realize filler must not me over deep, more so on certain areas hoods for one as some can be quite flexible and are often dropped from a fair height to close.
In an ideal world most of us would prefer to replace more and more panels rather than mud them up, but in interests of keeping competitive and customer retention i would personally sacrifice the 1/8 rule, and have done on many occasions. Been doing this job for over 20years and never had a filler failure yet.
Take for instance the tailgate on this vehicle new gate $1,108.57 USD plus painting and fitting maybe another $400-$500 thats what maybe $1600.00 dollars for the poor old customer.
Think i would offer them a repaired tailgate for around $800.00
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[IMG]http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp299/dunsdale/tailgate.jpg[/IMG]I completely agree with you Nick. I dont like the idea of putting a finishing glaze on very thick but I have seen mud built up quite a bit and not fail. It would likely be impossible to repair anything more than a ding if it couldn’t be more than 1/8″. There is a time and a place for everything.
I agree with ben. You need to grind the entire area down to the bare metal. When the grinding is down then mix up some bodyfiller and apply.
Do not make the bodyfiller more then an 1/8″. After it dries sand it with 80 on a block then apply a second coat of bodyfiller. Sand this also with 80 on a block
with a guide coat and get as level as you can. You can also use 120 to clean up the featheredge.[quote=”nick@dunsdale” post=17799][quote]You definitely don’t want to fill anything deeper than 1/8[/quote]
Interested in anyone else, who would care to admit that their repairs may be over 1/8 deep on occasion.
This is often not achievable on certain areas, strong corners on pickup beds, where the overall area may not be vast the depth can exceed 1/8
I was having a look at the rage products data sheets an did not see any mention of maximum depth though i do realize filler must not me over deep, more so on certain areas hoods for one as some can be quite flexible and are often dropped from a fair height to close.
In an ideal world most of us would prefer to replace more and more panels rather than mud them up, but in interests of keeping competitive and customer retention i would personally sacrifice the 1/8 rule, and have done on many occasions. Been doing this job for over 20years and never had a filler failure yet.
Take for instance the tailgate on this vehicle new gate $1,108.57 USD plus painting and fitting maybe another $400-$500 thats what maybe $1600.00 dollars for the poor old customer.
Think i would offer them a repaired tailgate for around $800.00
.
[IMG]http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp299/dunsdale/tailgate.jpg[/IMG][/quote]Obviously everyone applies it thicker in certain circumstances, but you don’t want to unless you [b]have[/b] to. If I have something deeper to fill, I will use fiberglass re-enforced filler for the added strength.
But in regards to door dings, there is definitely no reason why the filler should be more than 1/8″ thick…
[quote]Do not make the bodyfiller more then an 1/8[/quote]
I am all ears and interested
what happens after 1/8…. 3/16 or 1/4 what will will/could happen on repairs of this depth
It you over an 1/8″ the bodyfiller can crack
[quote=”nick@dunsdale” post=17808][quote]Do not make the bodyfiller more then an 1/8[/quote]
I am all ears and interested
what happens after 1/8…. 3/16 or 1/4 what will will/could happen on repairs of this depth[/quote]
nothing 😉
I would venture to say it is almost impossible to repair a stretched panel without going over 1/8 somewhere.
[quote=”bodymanhelper” post=17809]It you over an 1/8″ the bodyfiller can crack[/quote]
Is there any documentation from company’s that sell filler, that state this in their data sheets.
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