Auto Body Repair, Dent Repair

By Matthew Wright, About.com Guide

Preparing the Surface

Sand the repair area to bare metal.

photo by Matt Wright, 2008

Before you can fill your dent, you'll need to remove the paint. Body filler doesn't stick well to paint, so you need to sand it down to bare metal. For this job, you can use a heavier grit sandpaper like a 150-grit. You want to get the paint off fast, and you'll be smoothing things out later anyway.

Even though your dent may be only a couple of inches long, you'll need to remove more paint than that. At least 3 inches beyond the dent is needed (you'll see why later). So you'll be taking at least 6 inches of paint off the car.

If you look at the example pictured, you'll see some small circles on the surface. Sometimes it's a good idea, especially if you are dealing with multiple dents, to mark the location of the damage so you know where to focus your repair easily. You should also note that the pictured body panel has evidence of an old repair on it (the beige colored areas are old body filler).