Fill holes or dents in car bodywork

Don't pay bodyshop charges to fix small holes or dents in your car's bodywork. Haynes gives you some tips on getting good results with fibreglass and filler.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• rust
• bodywork
• fibreglass
• filler
• cellulose
• paint
• haynes
• car
• auto
• repair
• manual

[DullahanVII]

Not sure if this has been asked already, but what grit sandpaper would you use? Thanks in advanced!

[haynesvideoadmin]

@DullahanVII - you should work progressively from coarse to fine. How coarse you need to start with depends on how smooth the filler is before you start sanding. Finish up with something like a 400 grade.

[Ghostlare]

I'm going to do this to my car, but it's only surface rust, not gone right through to make a hole. Do i skip the fibreglass stage and go straight to sanding the rust off then the filler? Thanks :)

[haynesvideoadmin]

Yes, if there's no actual hole you don't need fibreglass. And you shouldn't need much filler!

[Cruz269]

People keep saying that the rust will return again, but how come?, dosent the paint seal it of from the air so it cant react and rust, or can it still react through the paint?

And also whats the fibregalss filler for? can you not just use normal filler, or is that to seal under the whel arch?

Sorry if these questions are obvious, im no expert on this.

[haynesvideoadmin]

Normal filler isn't strong enough to bridge holes of any size.

[luvofcountry]

How long will a repair like this typically last if I take the extra effort to remove as much rust as I can and use Rust Converter? (2 years would be fine with me.)

Seriously, I understand that the metal should be replaced, but the car just isn't worth the cost of a pro job, and I'm on a strict recession-budget -like most people.

[BlackMetalWarewolf]

just leave it, rust and damage give a car charicter.

[TheMirrorEyes]

@CaseyMcLaughalot

Bondo only doesn't work if you don't know how to do it right. I have a friend who restores cars who swears by bondo, it's never cracked or shrinked on him and the first car he worked on he still has and it's still fine where he bondoed it. Even on my car I used filler on a hole using this method and for almost a year now it still looks perfect.

[A10WarthogsAreSweet]

@CaseyMcLaughalot ok i could get all of the metal in the world but how am i going to get it on the car if i dont have a welders license?

[A10WarthogsAreSweet]

@187MIAMIBOY if painting your entire car just go rent a sand blaster for like $300 (currency differs on where you live obviously) and sand blast it, trying to strip paint with only sandpaper would take about a year to do, and dont paint it with spraypaint unless it says it bonds to primer or metal, and make sure its high gloss to unless you want a matte finish

[harvey1126]

what a load of utter nonsense. What about etch primer?what about a rust treatment?

[CKS5000]

that was the best video out of the last ten or so that i just got done watching.

[187MIAMIBOY]

My car has some scratches on it the rest of the body paint is decent., do i sand the scratches with 100 grit? and then apply putty and sand it again with 80 grit? and then the whole car with 400-600 grit for the base coat and then wet sand it before applying the clear coat? i need help am trying to paint my car.

[madpuppy100]

@baddtxchevy I'd give it a couple weeks before it pops out. But I agree, cut out and weld or just get a different fender.

[jakezburns]

@Ohmygoditsjordan

The Metal surrounding the hole needs to be cut out, leaving a bigger, but rust-free hole.

Then cut a piece of metal bigger than the hole and weld it on.

I'm no mechanic but that's what I would do.

[craveman85]

@Ohmygoditsjordan if you cant replace the body panel then maybe you can put a piece of sheet metal behind the hole. then weld it in place. use filler as needed. ive also done this with jb weld and sheet metal when i didnt have a welder. make sure everything is clean as you can get it. then clean it again.

[Ohmygoditsjordan]

So I literally have a "HOLE" in my car... like 2-3 inches in diameter... How the hell do I fix that...