I just couldn't resist the urge to knock out the dent on the rear fender of my 64. Got it pretty straight too, compared to how it was, used a rubber mallet & a rubber sanding block behind and was surprised how easy it popped out.
But there's always a catch. Looks like there's a thin skim of filler under the paint, or maybe a couple a layers, and its cracked and peeled off. Its only a couple of inches thats come off but the whole bit where the dent was looks a bit loose, probably about 6 inches diameter.

So I was thinking of sanding back the area (would 80 grit be OK??) till I get to bare steel, feathering the edges back to the paint thats still on properly, so it will probably be a bit bigger than the problem area. Then prime, filler, sand (what grit?) & repaint with a touch up gun. The fun part will be getting the colour right with the right amount of fade!!

This aint gonna be no show car by the way, just want it neat.

Am I on the right track?? Suggestions pls.

Get the grinder out with 36 grit paper and grind / sand the whole area back bigger than it is or to where u can see other cracks in the paint .... sand back to bare metal

then get some BOG n fill it up again and sand back smooth

[ Edited on 14-1-2006 by vw54 ]

drill some key holes through the metal so the bog takes and doesn't rattle off

Cheers guys, my DA sander & touch up gun just arrived the other day so I'll give it a shot soon.

Do I primer before or after BOG ??

This paint & body thing is new to me, rather practice on this car before I get to the Oval...

Sand back to bare metal further than the outside edge of the cracks using a fibre disc on your angle grinder. 36 grit is good. Then sand the edges smooth with some 80 or 120 grit. Then body filler over the whole area, then sand that smooth starting with 36 grit, then smoother until 120 or even 180grit. Then some primer filler, then sand that back, then paint. There is a lot more detail in the sticky threads at the top n this forum.

I would not recommend drilling holes as this would have more chance of encouraging moisture to come in from behind the filler and rusting it and letting it crack off without even being touched. If you were doing a bare metal resto you would prime the vehicle with a two pack oxide primer, then filler on top, but that is not what you are doing here, so primer under the filler is not necessary.

Cool thanks hellbus, its been a while since I looked at those sticky's, should have looked there first