Research Project

How to repair a dent

Apled 121
Corbin, Justus, Mason
What is a dent?
• Deformity or misshaped in the metal and plastic of
a vehicle
• Recognize the size of dent and how long it will take
to repair.
• The picture on the left is about a 16-hour dent .
Tools required
Da palm sander
80 grit sandpaper DA
120 grit sandpaper DA
180 grit sandpaper DA
Roloc
Panel beater or stud gun
Body filler with catalyst
Sanding blocks with sandpaper listed above (Long)
Body hammers
Dolly's
MiG Welder ( in case you puncture a hole with panel beater.
Plastic welder (uses nitrogen)
Plastic strips to melt
Heat gun
Rotary Dremel tool
Where to start?
• Make your plan
• Sand with block (120 grit long)
• Clean surface • Sand with block (180 grit long)
• 80 grit da sand your dent and 2 inches around • Feather around dent with DA 120 grit
• Pull dent with panel beater or stud gun • Feather around dent with DA 180 grit
• Blow off surface
• Use roloc disc to remove marring marks from panel
beater or stud gun
• Work your metal with body hammers
• Get ride of highs and lows
• Overall goal is to be a hair low with no highs
• Blow off surface
• Apply body filler with 2% catalysis
• Sand body filler with block (80 grit long) make it feel
straight in every direction.
Video
• on pulling and working metal
• He using stud gun, keep in mind if your go to hot on a stud it will poke
a whole and will have to be welded(MIG) and grinded down.
Plastic bumper repair
and dent in bumper.
• If there's a dent in a bumper, grab a heat gun and work and form the plastic back to
the original shape. Without melting the paint.
• Bumpers are mostly made of polycarbonates, polypropylene, polyamides,
polyesters, polyurethanes, and thermoplastic olefins or TPOs.
• Identify whether it’s a one side repair( only damaged one side of bumper) or it’s a
two-sided repair that goes through both sides of bumper.
• It’s a bit easier to form your plastic rather than forming metal. It’s a really similar
process just a little bit different.
• Start with sanding your bumper with 80 grit DA down to pure plastic. (plastic
welding only works with pure plastic)
• Make a “V” with a rotary Dremel tool.
• Grab your plastic welder and use plastic strips to melt plastic into “V” then Iron
your bumps nice and flat
• This where you do the same process of feathering paint back with 80, 120, and 180
Grit DA
body Filler and
challenges
• This is one of the final steps of the dent repair
process, this insures a smooth finish for primer,
paints, and a seamless repair.
• Followed by feathering paint back with 120 and
180 grit DA.
• Its important not apply too much filler or too
much catalyst. Too much filler will bring forth
harsh chemicals to top of the filler causing it to
chip away, not last as long and look not as good.
Cracks on paint, or wrinkles. And potential rust
problems.
 Conclusion
• We explained materials, tools and challenges that may occur. The kind of finish you
want to achieve with the repair process. Along with the other processes such as
paintless dent repair, plastic bumper repair, and body filler criteria. These should be
the basics for anyone who wants to try their hand at dent repairs.

• Thank you for your time and sitting with us throughout our presentation.