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Dent in metal front door - how do I fix this?
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Posted by
mommabird (
My Page) on
Mon, Sep 6, 10 at 13:41
| I have a metal front door with leaded glass inserts. It's formed like a 6 panel door. While moving furniture to the upstairs last week, it got poked with the corner of a piece of furniture & now has a dent about 3"x2".
How do I fix this? It looks terrible! I have no idea how to get the dent out, or how would I fill it in? What would stick to the paint & metal? It's painted white with gloss paint. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Dent in metal front door - how do I fix this?
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| Clean all the paint off the damaged area (wire wheel in a drill) use Bondo to fill the dent, sand flat, and paint the whole door. |
RE: Dent in metal front door - how do I fix this?
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| That suggestion is about the only way you are going to fix the dent to where it would look right. Just like fixing a crease in a car fender. I'd say overall, it'll cost you about $10.00 in Bondo and sand paper and about an hour of time if you do it yourself. Add the cost of paint on top of that. |
RE: Dent in metal front door - how do I fix this?
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| Experience with body work helps. The area must be coarse ground to bare metal without grinding through. The Bondo holds well to that surface. I use a Surform to shave off most of the excess Bondo as it nears being hard. Then sand and prime. I then use glazing putty and let it dry for 24 hours. Wet sand with 600 grit. If satisfied with the repair, prime again and paint. |
RE: Dent in metal front door - how do I fix this?
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| Thank you - I'm rather intimidated. I've never even heard of Bondo and it sounds like something that's rather expert. Is there a "specialist" to call for this? An auto body shop? Should I take the door off the hinges and take it to a body shop? I KNEW this door was a bad idea when we bought it! THANKS Everyone! |
RE: Dent in metal front door - how do I fix this?
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| "An auto body shop? Should I take the door off the hinges and take it to a body shop? " A small shop with little work might be interested, but they are liable to charge almost as much as a new door. Bondo is pretty easy to work with (it smells bad though). It uses a catalyst to harden up the material (styrene monomer with fillers). You would scoop out a small amount of material, apply some catalyst, mix thoroughly, then smooth over the clean damaged area with some plastic putty knives.
The smoother you can get it before it sets, the less work in making it flat. |
RE: Dent in metal front door - how do I fix this?
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| While we're on the subject of body shops, one of the paintless dent removal services might be just the ticket. If you bought your car from a dealer, ask your salesman to find out what day the ding guy comes around. It's usually once per week. Stop by and ask him if he'd would take a shot at your door and what it would cost. I'm thinking $40-$50 would be a fair price. Then take the door and a couple of sawhorses so he has a place to work. |
RE: Dent in metal front door - how do I fix this?
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| Unlike a vehicle that has nothing on the other side of most of the sheet metal, a door has a filled core (often foam to increase R value). If you simply pull the metal back to flush you are going to leave a hollow area behind that will be very easy to damage again. |
RE: Dent in metal front door - how do I fix this?
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| mommabird -- you can buy the appropriate filler at your local paint store - its a 2 part material (mix 1 part "a" with a small amount of hardener "b"). Rough sand the door. Spread on with a plastic spreader. sand lightly (look at the directions for long before doing that), then apply a second coat and sand with finer/fine grit. a little primer, then repaint the door. this is done all the time. |
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