How to Straighten Autos Body Panels

The body panels on any vehicle are what we visually see. They have been welded and painted to make the appearance more palatable. Eventually they will be dinged, dented and perhaps even wrecked. If you can do the repair work on them yourself you can save a lot of money.

1. Pull the dent out of the metal first. Spot-weld metal rods to the damage area. These rods should be about 1/8 inch in diameter and approximately 2 ½ inches long.


2. Take a slide hammer and place it on the rods one at a time. Using the hammer return the metal back to the way it was or as close as you can get to it. Do this until you have the panel as close to its original shape as is possible. One thing you do not want is to have the panel any higher than it was originally. Remember, all high spots will have to be hammered back down and low spots have to be filled.


3. Cut off the rods as close to the body as you can at this time. A good pair of diagonal cutters will do nicely. Any ridges you have left can be sanded down with a grinder or a sander.


4. Use good body filler and smooth the surface. Once the filler is in place you can apply a light coat of glazing putting for the final touch.


5. Adjust the amount of effort you use on this work according to the age of the vehicle. Older models have thicker metal and require more effort than the newer models do. Keep this in mind when working on them.


6. Take care to prevent air bubbles from forming while applying filler to low spots. You can use a flexible spreader to help with that. Once the filler has hardened you can shape it by sanding starting with heavier grits working you way down to the finer ones.