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Having done extensive body repair on my own car just by myself some time in 2001, it would be nice to share here on how to do it. By the way, I also owned and operated an auto repair shop for 7 years in the 1980s.

If one were to consider in doing-it-yourself auto body repair, you should have some basic interest in working with metal sheets. To do this kind of metal working the basic tools needed to repair dents and small rust holes are:

:

1. Ball peen Hammer
2. Rubber Mallet
3. Metal dolly
4. Tinsmith's Spoons
5. Wire brush, steel or bronze

Working on dents does not necessarily mean hammering the body part to its original shape. All that is needed is to work back the dent to about at least 1/8 of an inch to its original shape. Making it shape to almost original will be completed by applying body filler and putty. In the process of gently hammering back the dent, paint will either chip-off or crack. It will be necessary to do the following:

1. Sandpaper away the paint and surrounding areas up to about 2 inches away from the exposed metal. Try to "feather-off" the paint meeting the bare metal to allow proper adherence of the body filler to be applied. Use 120 grit sand paper for this. Wet sanding is advisable then wipe thoroughly dry.
2. Dab the exposed metal with rubbing alcohol or anti-rust compound. Make sure to avoid applying it on the painted area.
3. If rust is evident, use steel brush or bronze brush to remove, if possible, all traces of rust.
4. It is at your option to thinly hand paint with primer the bare metal if it is not larger than the size of your palm.
5. Let the area totally dry before applying body filler. If you are a beginner, most body fillers come in two parts. The hardener, usually in a small plastic tube, is the catalyst to harden the compound. Use it sparingly because using too much will cause the filler harden real fast in a couple of minutes. Mix the compound well and apply with gentle pressure in one direction to fill the depression on the body. Apply the filler close to the nearest undamaged paint.
6. After the body filler has hardened and dried wet sand gently with 320 grit sand paper to follow the contour of the body. Make sure that the body filler feathers where it meets with the original paint. Feathering means there is no ridge felt when you run your finger tips on where the ends meet. It takes time to be accurately sensitive to feel this difference to the touch. Running over the ends several times

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