Body Work Tutorial

Dents! We all hate em right? So lets get em fixed as best we can.

What happens when something hits your car? Or any metal for that reason? Just a dent a scratch and frustration? Well there is more to it than that.

Lets describe formed metal. I like to say "metal has memory" it likes to be where it is... and when something comes in contact with it, the metal responds by trying to go back to where it was. Also as the metal is stretched it is basically expanding in the same amount of space and tends to rise around the edges.

This is an important concept to understand when fixing a dent. When the object strikes the panel the metal starts to stretch, and move inward causing the dent. After the pressure of the object hitting the panel is removed, the metal reacts by trying to move back to where it was previously. This will cause a slight ridge around the dent "high spot". Here is my crappy drawing of what I am trying to describe.