No ocd. At the end of the day you did not get the repair or quality that you bargained for.
Paint and repair suggestions
- Thread starter Inca03rubi
- Start date
I have done a fair amount of body work and any respectable shop should have been able to repair that without cutting/patching/welding. When a dent occurs the metal is stretched and distorted, as a result you can never truly bring the metal back to the original shape. What you have to do is pull/hammer it back very close but slightly under the contour and then use body filler to do the final shaping. There is nothing wrong with using filler, have you ever seen the body of a show car? They get it to be glassy smooth using multiple coats of body filler/primer and clear coat.
There is however no reason why they didn't polish the imperfections out of the paint afterwards to make it look better.
There is however no reason why they didn't polish the imperfections out of the paint afterwards to make it look better.
I guess how I saw it at the end of the day was that by gaining a partial refund, it was more in tune with the rest of the subpar competition when I got 3 prior quotes. These other guys quoted 700-800 using the damaged panel and doing the same blotch work.
I also felt that with the cost back in pocket, I can wet sand, compound and polishing the panel and hopefully make it look about 90% from factory which would be fine. Hardest part to deal with is that the corner is slightly skewed at the bottom because they apparently never thought to use the driver side as reference to see that the radius was consistent and the adjoining panels are 90* to the radius.
It's a steep lesson learned. But I will attempt to update the work progress as I go on with it in later days if theres any interest in having me document it.
Also, lesson learned.... stay clear of trailers and drivers who dont know how to operate one hahaha.
I also felt that with the cost back in pocket, I can wet sand, compound and polishing the panel and hopefully make it look about 90% from factory which would be fine. Hardest part to deal with is that the corner is slightly skewed at the bottom because they apparently never thought to use the driver side as reference to see that the radius was consistent and the adjoining panels are 90* to the radius.
It's a steep lesson learned. But I will attempt to update the work progress as I go on with it in later days if theres any interest in having me document it.
Also, lesson learned.... stay clear of trailers and drivers who dont know how to operate one hahaha.
So it's fairly normal practice to use bondo filler to cover the dimples and dings from hammering a panel out?
I'd have thought that youd have to get the body hammered out smooth....
I ask because I'm learning and find this whole body and paint subject interesting enough to maybe use some of my post GI bill to take a few tech school classes and learn about the process.
I'd have thought that youd have to get the body hammered out smooth....
I ask because I'm learning and find this whole body and paint subject interesting enough to maybe use some of my post GI bill to take a few tech school classes and learn about the process.
Yes it is common to use filler to blend or shape imperfections. Filler becomes a problem when they use it too thick to cover up poor metal work. When used too thick it can crack and collect water among other things. It is hard to judge the repair from pictures, but they should have made a radius gauge to make sure the repaired corner matched the opposite side. Although the corner wont be perfect the difference should be undetectable by eye.
It may be temping to add corner protection but don't you have to drill holes into the sheet metal? It would seem to me that this would be a perfect area for corrosion to develop (in-between the sheet metal and corner protection plate).
Cutting and patching body panels also brings up problem of rust. If the body shop does not prep the seams and backsides, rust will shortly develop especially in any areas where welding was done.
So on that topic, the radius by eye does look close but upon closer inspection you can tell that the radius decreases as you go from the untouched area to the area they did a repair. Only slightly but it is noticeable. I guess they said that the metal would only move so much without over stretching it. That's the explanation I got from the head manager trying to piece together this whole issue.
As for the panel replacement I was gonna attempt it myself when i returned later next year.
The panels are fair cost from most online shops and the spot weld removal bits aren't too expensive. As for the metal prep and seam sealing, I was told about a paint that you can weld thru along with having a FSM for my wrangler showing the weld points along with the seam sealer locations and such.
Is this not a project you would recommend?
That's definitely some shotty work. I'm having a hard time seeing much of the area that was dented in. I see it in the one picture that shows the underside. Is there another picture in there showing the corner?
I'm no professional body guy, but I've done work on my own. Removing door handles and welding in blanks, body filling and painting. I know enough to recognize a terrible, lazy job. On one of my vehicles, I sprayed it in a very large 3-walled shed, with plastic covering the opening, and I didn't have anywhere near the level of trash in the clear coat like that. I really don't recall it having any trash to speak of. That in yours isn't dust, like they said. That looks more like dirt, or sand to me.
I second the use of body filler as being common. As far as I've known, metal body work that doesn't get filler is uncommon, and more so something that is sought out for very high-end restorations. Even then, I believe a glazing putty is still used to make get it perfect.
I looked at your pictures when you first posted and thought to myself, that's not too bad of a job, I don't think. Some careful pulling of the corner, followed by working the metal with hammers designed for the job. I agree with the paint matching being a nightmare. But, since there is a vertical bodyline on the side, I would try my very best to confine the work and paint to that corner, to avoid having to paint the entire passenger side. Less work, lower cost.
If I was in your shoes with this and decided to work on the corner myself, I would strip it all the way down to the metal, and work the dent from the backside, using the correct tools. If you do that though, you're going to run into the problem of paint matching again. That's a terrible situation they've put you into. This kind of thing is one reason why I take reviews with a grain of salt. Sure, they may have great reviews, but how skilled are they? They could have great reviews because all they primarily do is order a new plastic fender, paint it while it's off the car, then slap the new one on. Not much skill involved. That, and who's doing the review and what level of quality are they content with.
And no, you're not being unrealistic. Not at all.
I'm no professional body guy, but I've done work on my own. Removing door handles and welding in blanks, body filling and painting. I know enough to recognize a terrible, lazy job. On one of my vehicles, I sprayed it in a very large 3-walled shed, with plastic covering the opening, and I didn't have anywhere near the level of trash in the clear coat like that. I really don't recall it having any trash to speak of. That in yours isn't dust, like they said. That looks more like dirt, or sand to me.
I second the use of body filler as being common. As far as I've known, metal body work that doesn't get filler is uncommon, and more so something that is sought out for very high-end restorations. Even then, I believe a glazing putty is still used to make get it perfect.
I looked at your pictures when you first posted and thought to myself, that's not too bad of a job, I don't think. Some careful pulling of the corner, followed by working the metal with hammers designed for the job. I agree with the paint matching being a nightmare. But, since there is a vertical bodyline on the side, I would try my very best to confine the work and paint to that corner, to avoid having to paint the entire passenger side. Less work, lower cost.
If I was in your shoes with this and decided to work on the corner myself, I would strip it all the way down to the metal, and work the dent from the backside, using the correct tools. If you do that though, you're going to run into the problem of paint matching again. That's a terrible situation they've put you into. This kind of thing is one reason why I take reviews with a grain of salt. Sure, they may have great reviews, but how skilled are they? They could have great reviews because all they primarily do is order a new plastic fender, paint it while it's off the car, then slap the new one on. Not much skill involved. That, and who's doing the review and what level of quality are they content with.
And no, you're not being unrealistic. Not at all.
It is hard for me to recommend the panel replacement without knowing your skillset or tools situation. I would hate for you to make things worse. But maybe this is one of those situations where you need to do something to change the otherwise annoying repair. I say go for it and learn something new, but be prepared for some challenges.
What they are talking about is likely weld-thru primer. It is basically a primer with a conductive additive which is either zinc or copper. This allows the primer to be welded thru without totally destroying the protective coating of the primer. You will want to coat all surfaces where welding will occur especially between spot welded panels that you may not be able to coat after the fact.
Be patient with the spot weld cutter, if you push too hard you will go right thru both layers of metal. The idea is to cut away the weld from the top panel and cleanly separate it from the bottom with a sharp chisel.
Do you have a mig welder? You will want one that has shielding gas, flux core wire will work but its not as clean. Also get the thinnest welding wire you can, it will take less heat melt and you are less likely to burn through the metal. A specific resistance spot welder would be nice but its application is limited so the mig welder would be the more practical choice here.
Do not plan on your replacement panel being a perfect out-of-the-box fit. Most of these panels are made in China and they often need to be manipulated a bit. After tack welding the panel into position always assemble any affected parts to check overall fitment. In this case I would be most worried about the tail gate seal and gaps.
I can give you more suggestions for painting but how does the above sound?
I'll grab more photos later on, the back side of the panel shows me that they used a happier with a rounded end. It's got dimple like dings everywhere the dent was. No pulling with weld tabs was ever once used.
The back of the panel was left unfinished so I personally had to clean it and spray primer back there to seal it off.
We dont have very many body shops out in my area and my biggest concern was rust starting. I sprayed some some flat back paint on it soon after the incident occured so it was sealed.
Every body shop o spoke with all spoke up about how great they were but non had examples of their work available to look at.
These folks did spray from my tail gate to my passenger door where the rock guard is. That's the photo of the run in the paint where they joined the paint and clears.
I'm sure it's most certainly sand because the jeep still had a bit of sand in the fender liner when I picked it up. Lack of cleanliness and attention to detail.
But if this paint will hold strong till I ship out and return then I'll have more cash to get it done right. I'm willing to travel to someone who comes highly regarded and make it a little road trip when I'm on leave.
The back of the panel was left unfinished so I personally had to clean it and spray primer back there to seal it off.
We dont have very many body shops out in my area and my biggest concern was rust starting. I sprayed some some flat back paint on it soon after the incident occured so it was sealed.
Every body shop o spoke with all spoke up about how great they were but non had examples of their work available to look at.
These folks did spray from my tail gate to my passenger door where the rock guard is. That's the photo of the run in the paint where they joined the paint and clears.
I'm sure it's most certainly sand because the jeep still had a bit of sand in the fender liner when I picked it up. Lack of cleanliness and attention to detail.
But if this paint will hold strong till I ship out and return then I'll have more cash to get it done right. I'm willing to travel to someone who comes highly regarded and make it a little road trip when I'm on leave.
Not to beat a dead horse, but how far forward did they go with the new paint?
I agree with you. in that the lack of cleanliness and detail was lacking. It's extra steps to take, in this case, but there's ways to prevent or minimize trash from getting in the paint. Pressure washing, masking areas off, wetting the floor, and probably others that I'm unaware of. They just chose not to take the time.
Surely it'll hang in just fine until you return. If you do still plan to take it on once you get back, it'll be cool to see your progress. There's a guy on YouTube that does paintless dent repair. The results are pretty mind blowing with some of the jobs he takes on. I forget the name of his channel, but "paintless dent repair" will probably get you to it pretty quickly.
It sounds like a great start for some learning. I'm gonna practice on some junkyard panels before attacking the real deal.
They went as far as the passenger door seam and down to the strip between the passenger door and the rock guard which is where the run is.
This one is awesome! A little long. Can't believe I found it, it's been like five years since I saw it!
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