Often, as a result of accidents, hooligan actions, careless and inept driving, various defects, scratches, chips, minor and major damages occur. You can restore the appearance and structure of the body using body repair techniques.
Necessary
- - sanding paper of varying degrees of abrasiveness;
- - aerosol can with car enamel;
- - polishing paste with an abrasive component;
- - rust converter and anti-corrosion compound;
- - primer, putty, epoxy;
- - body straightening tool;
- - drill, bolts, pliers, screwdrivers;
- - aluminum or plastic tape or mesh for patches
Instructions
Step 1
Try to eliminate minor defects and damage yourself, even have very little experience in body repair. These include light surface scratches, small holes, priming, painting, and corrosion repair. Entrust major defects to professionals until you gain enough experience and repair equipment. Try to start repairs as early as possible, without waiting for the deterioration of the consequences. First of all, determine the extent and area of the damage. Find out if only the paint layer is damaged or metal is touched. The latter can cause corrosion.
Step 2
Most often, you will encounter scratches and scuffs. Touch up scratches down to the level of the primer coat with a soft fine-grained sanding paper until the surface is completely leveled and smoothed, then paint the repair area with a spray can with car enamel. After the paint is completely dry, coat with a polishing paste with an abrasive component. Remove deeper scratches and apply a special rust remover. After that, apply the putty.
Step 3
Slightly less often, you will find repairing bumpers that absorb and cushion impacts. Repair any abrasions with a polishing compound. Cover small cracks with a two-component epoxy resin or a special putty for plastic parts. Clean deep, pronounced scratches, apply putty, then primer. After waiting for the primer layer to dry completely, sand and paint the bumper with special automotive enamel, especially resistant to various kinds of deformations.
Step 4
Treat dents on body panels more carefully and responsibly. By aligning and straightening them, do not strive to make everything perfect. It is better to leave a shallow (up to 3 mm) dent than to get a through hole. If there is free access to the damage, leveling is carried out by the method of directional tapping with a straightening hammer from the back of the body. From the outside, be sure to press a wooden block (support) against the dent to insure against accidental bulges.
Step 5
If there is no free access to the dent, use the drilling technique. To do this, drill several holes around the area to be repaired, screw the screws into them and clearly grip the metal with pliers. Then pull out the dent. If holes are found, remove the paintwork from the surface, sand the metal and treat with a rust converter. After that, patch the holes with aluminum or plastic tape or mesh. After welding the patch, clean the surface, level it, carry out anti-corrosion treatment. Then putty, prime, paint, sand and polish with a polishing paste.
