Dent Repair

If you drive, your car will eventually get a dent. Body damage is one of the most frustrating parts of motoring, because our eyes always seem to lock onto dents.


Choosing to live with dings can be a big mistake. Unless the body is fiberglass (Corvette, for example), plastic polymer (Saturn) or stainless steel (DeLorean), the damaged area will eventually oxidize (rust). Once rust starts, it's tough to contain. The bottom line is that the sooner you deal with dings and dents, the better.

Paintless Removal
For small dimples that literally don't scratch the surface, the best option might be to hire a paintless-dent-removal professional to do the job. Using specialized tools, these people can bang many dents back into shape from inside the body panel.

Sheetmetal Repair
Repairing body damage that goes through the paint is a different matter. The job often requires specialized tools such as pullers, hammers and dollies. Body filler and primer are also part of the deal. Skill and experience are also helpful when attempting to bring damaged metal back to its original shape. The overview here is intended to describe a few of the tools and techniques.


If the dent is too large to fill with body putty, use a puller and/or dent hammer to bring the sheetmetal as close to original shape as possible. When using a puller, file the access hole edges until smooth. Fill the hole with a MIG welder if available (adding a patch piece of sheetmetal behind large holes), then grind the slag smooth. A non-welding alternative is to apply mesh tape to the inside of the body panel behind the hole (if accessible), then fill the hole with body putty.