Dent Repair

I started by purchasing more paints from S1ngle Source Paints in Griffin, GA The paint they supplied for the orange Miata matched very well, so I used them again. I purchased some clear coat and color coat to match the green car.

I had some old body filler, but chose to buy a new quart of filler to ensure good adhesion and good final results. Since I am not a body man, having good materials helps. I still did not purchase the very best filler since I only needed a quart. I used Dyna-deLite. I have used it on models with good success in the past.

I sanded the quarter panel with an electric DA sander and 220 grit paper. Then I scuffed the metal by hand with some 60 grit paper.

I applied the first coat of filler. Then the second coat of filler.

I painted the area with filler primer to fill the scratches and sanded it all smooth. There were still some low spots and a couple of areas that needed more build up and rounding, so I added more filler.

Once I was satisfied with the shape and feathering, I filled any imperfections with filler putty. It took about three times to fill all the imperfections properly.

I again primed and sanded by hand with 600 grit paper. It took about three days working off and on to get the area the way I thought it should be. Again, I am not a body man. I just wanted to do as good a job as I could with my limited skills.

A work of caution... the printing on the door jamb label will come off if acetone is rubbed on it. I found out while removing some over-spray from the primer the got onto the jamb. Bummer!

I then waited on a clear morning after it had lightly rained overnight. While the humidity was a little high, the temperature around 70 degrees and it was calm outside. Since I had to paint the car outside, I put a pop-up car cover over the car to keep things from falling onto the car.

I masked the quarter panel and covered the rest of the car with plastic. I cleaned the area of grease and lint.

Then I shot the color coat. It only took about 15 minutes to be ready for the clear coat.

Two small bugs had to find the paint while it was still wet. I picked their carcasses out carefully.

Then I applied the clear coat.

After I had finished it was apparent some small dust particles had gotten into the paint. I also had a small bit of orange peel at the door pillar that needed attention. So the next day after the clear coat was hardened, I decided to wet sand the clear coat with 2000 grit paper and smooth things out. I then buffed, polished and waxed the quarter panel and the rest of the car.

Here are some pictures of the final result.

The color matched almost perfectly. Buffing the entire car brought the old paint up to the brilliance of the new paint. The contour of the bodywork looks good. Overall, the car still looks like it has been used, but it looks great compared to before I started.

I am really impressed with the color match and the bodywork. Thanks to S1ngle Source Paints for the great color match. I still cannot believe I was able to make it look this good!