Any auto body repair tips?

[Phaedrus]

Look what I did last night in my car. I was coming around a pretty tight corner, and the roads were unusually icy. I knew this, so I slowed down but apparently not enough. As I went around the corner, I was able to slow the car down (brake + downshift) but I still slid lightly into a tall bank of hard, icy, crunchy snow. Those of you up north are familiar with these..it is the banks created when the plows push the snow off the road.

Anyway, I'm going to fix it myself. Not going to involve insurance or a shop. I've done some minor auto body repairs in the past - especially when I used to go off roading with my old truck, I was always banging stuff up. But being an off roadable rig, I usually just "micky moused" the fix. I'd like to do a better job at fixing this.

I am planning on:

1. Cleaning the damaged area

2. Buffing out the scratches and applying some "scratch remover" for the fine parts. Any suggestions on what I should use?

3. Sanding down the more severe spots and then adding some (primer if ncessary?) touch up paint and some clear coat.

4. Replacing the headlight and re-aiming it. I've already been lookong on eBay for one. The light still works, just the casing is cracked as indicated in the photo.

Any tips or suggestions on how to go about fixing this the easiest, cheapest, and best way possible? I also have more pics I can post if necessary.[/img]

[dbNnc]

A good place to ask for tips: http://autobodystore.com/forum/index.php

Briefly, and at the risk of saying things you already know, you might try suction cups that you can buy at auto parts stores to pull out the fender behind the headlight. You can get another headlight at a junkyard, though it may cost as much as a new one from a dealer. Try ebay, too, as you said. Headlights are a pain to get out because they usually have that one last fastener way down under and behind something.

Sand with progressively finer paper, down to a wet-sand with 400 or finer to get the surface as smooth as possible before you paint. Auto touch-up spray paint, the kind you get in a spray can, is lacquer, so get some lacquer thinner to clean the area after you sand it and follow the directions on the paint can. You'll have to wet sand with 1600-grit sandpaper and buff with heavy rubbing compound to get a shiny finish. Don't use clear coat.

You've probably broken a fastener that connects the bumper cover to the fender, so you'll need to replace that. You've likely broken the attachment point for the fastener, too, so you might have to rig up something to reattach the fender to the bumper cover.

[octane]

That's beyond scratch remover my man. Get a sanding block so you apply even pressure and don't end up with finger divots in the sanded spots. Use fine sandpaper and wet sand the entire surface down until it's level or very close to it by touch. Use spot glazing putty to fill the small surface irregularities. Sand again with super fine sandpaper - repeat if necessary. Use color match spray paint from the auto store to cover it up and kind of blend it into the undamaged part. It won't be perfect, but it'll get pretty close. If you really want it perfect you can remove the bumper cover and have a body shop panel paint just the cover off the car.

The fender will be a little trickier if you want that flat spot out. You'll need to work it from the back when you take the light out. You can pick up a cheap body hammer set to help you. Tap it out as best you can, sand it to the metal and bondo it. If you can manage keeping the bondo level down to 1/8" thickness or so you shouldn't have any trouble with it cracking later. Paint it like your bumper and you're golden! Good luck!

[Phaedrus]

Thanks for the tips, guys. I'll prolly even print it out as well as whatever else I can find online about it as a reference. I'll also take some pics of the final result for comparison.

[makenzie71]

I need more pictures.  Iused to do this stuff.

[Phaedrus]

There is another pic from further away

[makenzie71]

Well it's hard to really say for certain BUT to do a propper repair:

The fender will have to be pulled.  That's not a bondo job...dents are too deep and narrow, the bondo will crack out and look worse than it does now.  It'll have to be hammer-n-dolly'ed out to as close to it's original texture as possible, levelled with body filler and sanded down repeatedly then repainted...unless youthink you can handle just having the dents there.  If you can't fix it propperly, you'll regret having tried, I promise you.

The bumper would be a reletively easy fix.  The majoraty of those scratches can be pulled with a little rubbing compound and elbow grease.  You can lay over ther est with nail polish or touch-up paint (hyundais match up with cover-girl and mary kay shades real nicely).  You can get the official color-coded paint from the dealer in a touch-up stick or small can for about $5.

Can't get around replacing the headlight assembly, though.

[jason1080]

use dura glass and evercoat on the fender after you pull it out