Hey guys, my 88 iroc was in a hale storm....(no insurance at the time) it's not real bad but there's about 20 good dings. Can I sand off the paint and bondo them? I need a paint job anyway. Thanks

 

If there's no crinkles in the metal, go to auto parts store, and for $20 they have a dent puller that uses a hot glue and a puller - they work great even on bigger dents and won't mess up paint or anything - it's worth a $20 try. My son used one on his truck and I was truly amazed at how well it worked.

 

I'll have to check it out...thanks. Although the paint is flaking off in the dents.

 

Yeah, but anytime you can pull them out is much better than bondo.

 

The dent king tool does not work! Don't waste your money. If the dents were bad enough to cause the paint to flake off, then you'll need the dents removed the traditional body shop way. If the paint was old and flaking before this, then the glue won't stick to what you have and it'll be a waste of money.

Your best bet, since you need paint anyway, is to work the dents out with a traditional dent puller, spread a thin layer of bondo over the area to smooth it out, sand and paint.

 

i agree with last post

 

Hail damage can be tricky.

 

mine got hailed back in 1998,was pretty nasty-broke my
windsheild,hammered my louvers,bruised my SMC hood,
not to mention the dings....pulled out the headliner for
a recover,when that was out took a hammer and dolly
to all the roof dings-fixed most that way,but there was
one dent about 1 1/2 dia x 1/4"deep that i had to shrink
back using a propane torch and ice
There are a couple dings i couldn't get behind and
haven't fixed yet,but they are minor.

 

Wow... I guess I just thought I would throw on some bondo and sand/paint and be done. I'm not arguing... just wondering? Why not bondo? Is it bad to use?

 

nah i wouldnt use bondo to fix it, id do it the right way. i mean a small dent yea id use bondo to, but for hail damage id use a dent puller or tap it out from behind it with a body hammer and a flat peice of metal, if u dont have access to metal working tools and hammers

 

It depends how bad it is. If the hail just made a slight wave (which is what hail damage is) then yes bondo or high quailty filler will do just fine.

most people say that name brand bondo is junk, there are better options

Also research if you need to go down to bare metal before you apply it

 

yes "bondo" is crap good body filler is what youd need

and iv never seen hail damage im tryna imagine it.

 

I meant to say slight waves are what MOST hail damage is

Post pics. If they are hard to see in the pics, you're probably ok

 

What exactly happens when someone uses bondo? It falls out after a while?

 

if you put it on too thick, it can become detached.

 

Oh... I see.

 

I was always taught that a small amount of bondo is ok to smooth out but at that no more than 1/8th inch thick. Others have tried to tell me that 3/16ths is ok but I would choose to err on the side of caution. Everyone here is right that there are many much better brands than that 'name' brand.

 

If you need to use 1/8" of any brand of filler to repair a panel.....replace the panel. Skim coat at most.

 

Bondo is very difficult to work with. I encountered a bunch of small dings on a 1969 Triumph TR6 which I was restoring. After sanding down the original paint to the metal, I used automobile putty/filler instead of bondo. The putty/filler tends to shrink when it dries, so several coats may be needed. But once fully dried, it sands very easily and quicly eliminates small scratches, dents, etc. After its dried and wet sanded, simply prime over it and paint as usual. I used multiple coats of lacquer on my TR6 with final wet sanding, buffing, and polishing and it came out beautiful....not a dent to be seen anywhere.....and messy bondo was not needed.

 

Well, hail damage can be a pain.
We had some hail over here 2 years ago as well.



Pretty much destroyed over 50 000 vehicles and quite a few buildings as well.

Hereīs a video as well

http://video.wetteronline.de/?t=2008...gel-in-Krefeld

Hereīs some of the damage this did to cars



In such extreme cases itīs cheaper to replace the damaged parts (hood, roof, hatch) and use a puller on any damage to A pillars etc.

In most cases the nescessary repair cost exceeded the value of the cars and only very few had their vehicles insured against something like weather damage. It was a very local occurrence (only the city centre was effected, about a 5 x 7 mile area) but exactly in this area almost no one has a garage.

In repairing such damages you can either decide to fill the holes and paint over it, or, and I personally believe this would be the "right" way to do body repairs, pull/push the dents out of the sheet metal and replace parts that can be replaced if nescessary.

Itīs a bit idealistic to try and restore the sheet metal to a "like new" state, but personally I would not be all that happy knowing my car carries 5 lbs of filler to cover up some small dents.