Hailstorms can breeze in with no warning, denting the hood, roof and Timber of your machine. Hailstones liberty meager however multiple dents that can effect hundreds of dollars in repair at your district oppose shop. You can save a piece of wealth by doing the repair daily grind yourself, using one of two techniques to remove hailstone damage.
Materials
To repair hailstone dents you devoir 120- and 300-grit sandpaper, a extensive sanding block, dual method sander (optional), automotive primer, grinder, body filler, plastic squeegee, widen and grease remover and masking tape and paper.
Body Filler
Mask off any areas that were not damaged to protect them from sanding dust, primer and whitewash. Avail masking tape and paper to comprehend the windows, grill, both sides of the van, wheels, mirrors or any other undamaged parts. Employ a grinder to grind gone the whitewash and primer from each dent until naked metal is showing. Straightaway cause 120-grit sandpaper to sand each dent. Use the sandpaper by hand or place it on a dual-action sander, which is much faster. Sand inside and around the edges of each dent until the surface is smooth and any deep scratches made by the grinder are gone. If multiple dents cover the area, such as the entire roof, you can use the 120-grit paper to sand the entire roof. This makes the sanding and painting process simpler when dealing with several dents.
Mix a high quality auto body filler, like Bondo, with the hardener that came with it. Apply the body filler to each dent by spreading it with a plastic squeegee. The filler should be thick enough to fill the dent and stand above the surface of the car. Allow the filler to dry for at least an hour. Once it has dried completely, sand it smooth with 120-grit sandpaper. You can use your hand, a sanding block or dual action sander for this step, although the sander will be much faster. The filler should be sanded until it is level with the surface of the car. After this is done, spray a coat or two of primer on all areas that have been sanded. Let the primer dry an hour. The primer will dry to a dark color. Alternate using different holes in the dent so the metal is pulled out evenly. Once the dent is mostly out, use a grinder to grind the paint and primer away from the dent. Proceed to the steps used above to finish the dent, but without using a large amount of body filler. This shows where more filler is needed. Grind the low areas down, apply more filler and repeat the steps until the entire surface is smooth and has been sanded with 300-grit sandpaper.
Wipe the surface with a wax and grease remover and microfiber towel. At this point, you can bring the car to a shop and have them paint it, or you can paint it yourself.
Pulling Dents
To repair hailstone dents using only a small amount of body filler you will use a dent puller. Drill several holes in each dent in which to screw the tip of the dent puller. Gently slide the weighted handle of the dent puller away from the dent to pull the dent out. Use a long sanding block and 300-grit sandpaper to sand the primered areas. Keep the sanding block flat against the car at all times. Sanding the primer removes the top dark layer to reveal a light color. All low areas with dents will remain dark since the flat sanding block can't reach them.
