Table of contents: Treatment of car body scratches 🠇 Repair of dents in the body structure 🠇 Repair of rusted holes or punctures…🠇 Body putty and painting 🠇
Treatment of car body scratches
1. If the scratch is superficial and does not reach the metal, rub the area around the scratch with paint resurfacing or fine-grained abrasive paste.
2. Rinse the surface with clean water.
3. Apply a thin layer of paint to the scratch with a brush and let it dry.
4. Continue applying paint until the scratch is flush with the surrounding surface.
5. Allow the paint to cure for 2 weeks, then sand the applied coat of paint until it is level with the surrounding paint.
6. Finally, polish the area of the body surface using wax paste.
7. If the scratch has damaged the paint and penetrated into the metal of the car body, then using the tip of a sharp knife, remove the rust from the scratch.
8. Apply rust converter according to its instructions.
9. Next, use a spatula to apply putty paste to the scratch.
10. After it has completely dried, paint over and polish the damaged area.
Repair of dents in the body structure
1. When deeply pressing in body structure elements, first try to bend the dent back as much as possible to the normal shape of the body. The body metal at the point of impact is subject to stretching, as a result of which complete restoration of the original shape is impossible. The optimal alignment of the dent is considered to be approximately 3 mm below the level of the surrounding surface.
2. If the inside of the dent is accessible, it should be tapped gently with a soft hammer with a wooden or plastic head. During this operation, a suitable wooden block should be pressed firmly against the outside of the area being tapped. This is necessary to cushion the blows of the hammer and to prevent a larger area from bending.
3. If the dent is in an area of the body where access from the back is difficult or impossible, drill several small holes in the deepest points of the dent, screw self-tapping screws into the holes and pull the dent out using pliers by the protruding screw heads.
4. Remove paint from the damaged area and a 20mm radius around it. This is most easily accomplished using a wire brush or sandpaper on a disc mounted in a power drill.
5. After leveling the dent, apply a layer of putty, paint and polish to it.
Repair of rusted holes or punctures in the body structure
1. Remove paint from the damaged area and approximately 20mm around it.
2. Using a wire brush, scrape away loose rust from the exposed metal surface of the damaged area.
3. Treat the damaged area with a rust converter according to its instructions.
4. Cover the rust hole or puncture with a metal mesh or strip of aluminum foil.
5. Cut a piece of mesh roughly corresponding to the shape of the hole, insert it into the hole so that its edges do not protrude above the level of the panel surrounding the hole.
6. Secure it with a few lumps of spackling paste around the perimeter.
7. Using a screwdriver handle, align the ends of the mesh so that it fits snugly against the metal of the car body.
8. Next, fill, paint and polish the damaged area of the body.
Body putty and painting
When performing putty work, it is necessary to have a wide flexible plastic or nylon spatula to give the putty surface a smooth finish.
1. Level the putty on the damaged area of the body so as to give it the required shape and smoothness. As soon as you have managed to achieve approximately the required contour, stop smoothing the putty with a spatula, because if you smooth it for too long, it will begin to harden, stick to the spatula and roll off, as a result of which the surface will be damaged.
2. Application of subsequent (more subtle) the layer of putty should be applied after the previous layer has dried and so on until the level of the putty begins to protrude slightly above the level of the area being treated.
3. After the putty has hardened, its excess must be removed with a metal scraper or file.
4. Carry out further processing using a set of sandpaper. Start processing with coarse-grained sandpaper and then move on to fine-grained. Place the sandpaper on a flat wooden block, otherwise it is impossible to achieve a smooth surface. At the final stage of grinding, waterproof sandpaper should be periodically moistened with water. This gives the treated putty surface a special smoothness.
5. The filled dent should be surrounded by a layer of clean metal around the perimeter. To remove dust and grease from the treated area, wash the treated area with water and wipe with a degreasing solution.
6. Spray a thin layer of light primer onto the area. This will help to reveal any defects in the putty that may have occurred during processing.
7. Level out any defects you find with a new layer of putty and sand the surface again. Continue this procedure until you get a perfect surface.
8. The repair area is now ready for final painting. Aerosol application of paint should be done in a warm, dry, windless and dust-free atmosphere. When painting indoors, the floor of the work area should be moistened with water to prevent dust from getting into the air. When painting only one panel, the remaining parts of the body should be covered from getting paint on them with newspaper attached with adhesive tape.
9. Before applying the primer, shake the container, apply the primer to a test surface and ensure that it is applied evenly.
10. Apply a thick coat of primer by applying several thin coats.
11. Sand the primed surface with waterproof sandpaper. Remember to spray the sanded area with water and periodically wet the sandpaper with water.
12. Dry the area to be treated before further painting.
13. The paint layer is applied with a spray gun. The thickness of the paint layer is achieved by applying several thin layers. Painting should begin from the center of the area to be painted and move towards the edges with reciprocating movements until the entire surface to be painted, as well as about 20 mm around it, are painted.
14. Remove the protective film and newspapers 10-15 minutes after applying the last coat of paint.
15. Allow the new paint to cure for at least 2 weeks, then use paint refresher or fine abrasive polishing compound to smooth the edges of the painted area to the level of the old paint.
16. Polish the surface.