Nothing can be more upsetting than seeing a dent in your beautiful car. Damage like that takes so little effort to create but the repair cost can sometimes be enough to make you howl in despair. At the very least, you will experience a great despondency brought on by the bill from the workshop, which could have been avoided if you knew how to repair dents on car.

Of course, this guide is only meant for smaller dents that are more annoying than anything else. Basic knowledge of how to repair dents on car may not be very useful if you’re dealing with a complete side panel cave in.

A dent can be removed with any one of the dent-repair kits available at most hardware stores, but where’s the fun in that? All the same, using suction to reverse the displeasing effect of a dent can be much more preferable than the more traditional method of dent repair.

This involves drilling a hole in the center of a dent with a 1/8″ drill bit and pulling out the dent with a dent-pulling tool. The inverted dent won’t look as good as the original surface before it was dented, which calls for some work with a metalworking hammer on the front of the dent while a dolly for flattening and reshaping metal is firmly held against the back of the dent. Once the metal has been flattened to its original flatness, it has to be ground and filled with body filler.

Once the filler dries, it should be sanded first with 36-grit sandpaper, followed by 120-grit sandpaper for a smooth finish. Specific automotive primer should be sprayed on next and allowed to dry before the subsequent coat is applied. Up to 6 coats of primer should be applied and allowed to dry thoroughly before being sanded again with 600-grit wet and dry sandpaper. Finally, and only then, the area is repainted with matching paint. Coarse areas should be sanded again and repainted until the desired finish is achieved.

If that sounds like too much work, there are alternative methods to repairing a dent in your car such as the paintless dent removal method. One involves first heating the dent with a hair dryer for up to a minute before spraying it for 10 seconds with an air-duster (that uses compressed carbon dioxide, if you can find one) held upside down. This enables the dented panel to pop back out and has no adverse effects on the paintwork. Another uses dry ice that is touched directly on the dented section with the same effect. Make sure to use protective gloves if you do try this! Better yet, visit Harrison’s Body Shop for professional repairs on car dents.