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Unpopular opinion: not every dent needs filler. I see guys slapping bondo on quarter panels that could be pulled out in 20 minutes.

Was at a shop in Phoenix last month helping a buddy catch up on his backlog. Guy next to me spent 2 hours sanding filler on a door dent that I could have popped out with a stud welder and a slide hammer in 15 minutes. I get that filler is faster if you don't have the tools or the practice, but it seems like half the cars I see coming through now have thick layers of filler where metalwork would've been fine. Costs the customer more later when it cracks or rusts. Anyone else notice this getting worse?
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3 Comments
grayc27
grayc2710d ago
Oh wow, I used to be one of those guys slathering filler on everything because that's just how I learned it. But then I watched an old timer pull a nasty crease out of a fender in half the time it would've taken me to sand bondo and it totally changed how I think about metal repair. I still use filler sometimes but now I always ask myself if the metal can just be straightened first.
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jenniferw82
That "ask if the metal can be straightened first" applies to so many things, like trying to fix a wobbly table before just grabbing a napkin.
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blake691
blake69110d ago
Read an old-school metalworker say the same thing @grayc27, made me rethink everything.
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