Fixing my dented fender

So....I didn't see the cement pillar behind me, in my blind-spot, as I backed out after work. I turned my wheel to get out of the spot I was in and, although going 2 mph, crunched the fender and knocked the mirror off. I got out to see what I'd done and groaned inwardly. It was dark in the parking garage and I couldn't see clearly. For that, and because there was a gentleman staring at me from the drive-up lane to see if I was alright, I snapped the mirror back on, a temporary fix, pulled around the block, hopped out and checked again. Fortunately, the dent didn't block the wheel at all, as I had a long day left for driving. 

And I feel no post-crunch guilt for not seeing it because I was not distracted. I had deliberately put my phone away, settled my purse so it wouldn't fall and looked around. The floor to ceiling cement pillar was simply in my blind-spot--and I was not the first to hit it based on its collection of paint.

So much for my 8 year clean driving record.

I knew I would be unable to reach Simon by phone as he was at work, and didn't want him thinking about it all the way home that night. So, after I got home from work, I took him out to the parking lot  behind our house and said I had something I wanted to show him. He grumbled as we walked out since it was raining and had no idea what I wanted him to see in the rain. As we got to the car I said, "Can you fix it? I gave it a bit of a dent..."

He did a good job and didn't get angry at all. "You did do that pretty well didn't you." From his expression I knew it was worse than I had hoped. I'd hoped my synopsis was wrong.

I took it to several shops for quotes the next few days. The first shop quoted about $1200. A hole-in-the-wall shop quoted $500 (the difference being he wouldn't take the fender off and pop out the dent, and blend the paint instead of repainting the two panels). Simon lastly took it to another shop, which quoted about $1100.

We considered the implications of using our insurance--$500 deductible and accident forgiveness consequently being negated for a possible future accident. 

We decided that Simon could try to fix the dent and if that didn't work, we'd buy a new fender for $80 and paint it. Pillar hit on Friday, quotes Saturday and Monday, final decision Tuesday afternoon. Simon went to work Tuesday night for about an hour. Hour and a half Wednesday. Two hours Friday and then a bit more time Saturday. 

Knocking the dent out with three different hammers and a pry bar.

Some bondo over the ding in the door (door fortunately still opened)

You can see all the high and low points from hammering and then visible after sanding. We needed to get it down to the metal for the bondo to work properly.

Bondo over more small dents and scratches.

On the fender itself and down the fender panel. 

 We then had to sand after each layer of bondo. 

  Ironically, in a year in which we've had very little rainfall, rain was threatening. If bondo gets wet, it retains the moisture and holds it next to the car's body and rusts the metal.

We finished sanding the bondo, masked it off and sprayed primer.

A few drops fell, but not too much and so the car was alright. 

Saturday, a week after the dent, we wet sanded the primer and then because sanding took it down below the bondo line, we had to put on a second layer of primer and then sand it down.

We spend our pioneer day (Tuesday, the 24th of July) painting my car. I'd picked up the paint and clear coat before work Friday, but there had not been enough light Saturday night. We used 2K for the clear coat (once activated, the can only lasts 48 hours--it has a hardener in it that gives the car a glossy look.  Jones Paint and Glass in Provo mixed our paint according to the paint color code on the drivers door and pulled my car up by VIN to see if there were any special modifications to the paint color. They weighed out each ingredient, mixed them together, and then put them in a spray can.

We used masking tape rolls to help blend the color. It worked great for the color but left a bit of a line when we laid the clear coat.

We learned after applying the clear coat that it is a good idea to cover the entire car (windshield, hood, etc while doing this. We got some bad overdrift and spent several hours buffing out the front hood of its bumps and of using carburetor cleaner or some other strong chemical agent to get the haze off the windshield (which I'd just cleaned that morning...). I'd probably use a sheet or two next time to cover the car.

We sanded out the rest of the bumper and relaid clear coat on the entire fender, getting rid of most of the line on the front. Unfortunately we ran out of clear coat and couldn't do it for the door as well. 

This is the color difference. It is hard to see even up close and I think even harder when standing back.

Simon took this picture to show the difference wet sanding buffing makes (foreground) compared to before either are done (as seen on the car's door).

Simon is pointing to where the color difference is. As you can see when lined up with the hood it is not noticeable. 

We were very pleased by the color match Jones Paint and Glass achieved.

If we'd initially blended the clear coat up the entire fender panel, there probably wouldn't be a slight line (we did ultimately extend our clear coat up the front). If we'd blended the clear coat to the door line on the passenger front door, you would not see the line there.

Total cost:

Rust-oleum (primer) and bondo $18.66

Sandpaper and spatula for bondo $4-ish

Paint: base and clear coat $54.81

New mirror (I broke the clips) $29.99

Total time:

One week to fix the car

Probably about 15-20 hours.

Lessons learned

1. Sheet or other way to cover entire car.

2. Don't touch paint till it dries.

3. When pressing the spray nozzle, watch for paint or clear coat that may build up on your finger and drip into the line of spray, causing splatter.

4. The tape roll works very well, but if you paint to it, you will still get a line.

5. To blend, concentrate most of the spray in the middle and taper out as you reach the tape line.

6. Use the tape roll for the color and then coat the whole panel with the clear.

7. Lightly sand (2000 wet) the clear coat for the panel to aid with blending and to avoid peeling (the top layer will peel back if it only has a smooth surface on which to fix itself.

8. Wet sand with 2000, then buffing those scratches out the car eliminates the 'orange peel' look in the paint.