QuestionHello, my name is Barroq and I am from Texarkana, TX. My Dodge Stealth recently has become a target for white cars, being involved in 1 accident and two fender benders (both of which were parked, long story). I have several questions and to make it simple I will just categorize them in accordance to the accident.
1. Right side passenger door:
The first accident occurred on my right side passenger door, and was bent inward, knocking a dent into the rocker panel and requiring replacement of the door itself. I found a door at a salvage yard and it has two minor dings, one close to the front of the door and another that is slightly larger above the door handle itself. How would I go about removal of these dings and what would you personally recommend doing. This is relatively minor damage and neither have any creases in them. Also how would I go about removal of the dent in the rocker panel? The dent in it is a little tricky in that the rocker panel conforms to the natural curve of the door and when hit it caused it to curve even sharper with a 2-2 1/2 inch dent in the middle.
2. The rear bumper:
This second accident involved a hit and run parked in front of my girlfriend's house, many body shops have told me the rear bumper requires replacement when the paint job itself was simply spider webbed. I have since removed the bumper myself, stripped it, and found nothing indicating damage to the polyurethane bumper (smacked on back left side of bumper). My question though has to do with prepwork and sanding as I had put a few shallow nicks and scrapes in it when cleaning the stripper off the bumper (I used a chisel, dumb of me and lesson well learned). How would I go about fixing these blemishes to my plastic bumper, and what sanding techniques would you recommend? I had used 120 grit sand paper initially to help remove what I believe was old primer under remaining paint, and 320 grit for final sanding before priming, which brings me to my next question. What exactly would be okay to prime a polyurethane bumper with, a self etching primer, a regular primer, and would it matter what color (my paint job was a dark red pearl and the primer was black)? Is there something I need to do after sanding, but before priming? Also, would it be okay to go with an aerosol primer or one used by an HVLP gun, or would it just be simpler to let a body shop do the priming?
3. Front of vehicle (front poly-U bumper, left Fender, light assembly, hood):
By far the most serious, involved a school's tech van hitting my vehicle while it was parked outside a bank. The Chevy van's rear tire well destroyed my blinker panel (requires replacement, any tips on where to find one a plus), sliced through my front bumper (near clean cut), put a fairly large dent in the front of my fender, right up to where the fender joins the bumper (size of a large person's fist), and bumped the fender into the hood knocking paint off. The popup light also "pops" as it is going up and down, which is more than likely because a bracket holding the fender up was knocked into it. Any how down to the questions (sorry this is so long)
-How would I go about fixing the fender dent? Body shops are split 50/50 on being able to fix it, even though there are no creases in it amazingly. Is there any technique to removing larger dents (working outside to the center of the dent?)
-One body worker said he could fix the slice (clean through) to the bumper itself, which I was a little shocked to hear (guy claims 15 years body exp.) especially considering there are two notable gouges where the plastic seemed to melt from the friction (along the left side below the slice). Do you know how he could probably accomplish this or where I could find a replacement bumper? Unless there's something I have missed I don't feel the bumper itself is fixable, but at the same time I haven't been able to find another bumper in the area. The Hood just had paint chipped, so nothing to report on it, just the fender and the bumper. Any other tips that you could recommend on repair would be very appreciated.
AnswerBarrock, I can't teach you 20 years of collision repair in an e-mail, but I'll try to help- Year One, the restoration parts people, have a book called how to repair and restore bodywork in their literature section. Buy it. Okay, #1-have a dent doctor fix the dings in the door, unless you have to paint it. If you have to paint it, fill the dents. The rocker sounds like it needs professionally repaired, unless you have some frame equipment to pull out the bow in it. Rockers are intensely strong. #2-the bumper was ruined BEFORE you went and really destroyed it. The spider webbing will show back through the new paint, the plastic itself is all cracked, not just the paint. All the things you have done to it thus far was a waste, and you actually did more damage. Get a used or aftermarket cover, or a reman. Even if you foolishly ignore my advice here, you need primer designed for bumpers. Don't second guess a pro with amateur wisdom. #3 the fender- I see amateurs screw up small dents. If shops are split on repair/replace, no way do I believe you can straighten it, or do the filler work. #4-Yes, I think the bumper can be repaired, PROFESSIONALLY, It needs removed, repaired from the inside first with proper bumper repair materials, then repaired from the front. Now, It's one thing to hang a door, it's all nuts and bolts. It's another to repair all the damage you have described. Don't let your confidence become artificially bolstered by the minor success of the door. Amateurs are always better served by replacing the parts, repairing a part is where true talent lies. Repairing is the only thing that is a challenge for me after 20+ years, and it takes constant practice and training to keep these skills sharp. If you are thinking about doing all the body work, then having a body shop paint it, then definitely replace all the damaged parts. We are never impressed by amateur repairs, and will charge you to undo anything you did we don't like. You surely have gotten some insurance money out of this, so spend it on the car. Buy new bumpers, and a new fender. Don't give me this I can't find a bumper garbage, If you found me, you can find parts. Good luck to you. Bill
