Repair and restoration of the car body: step by step instructions and device

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

Even if you get into a small accident, the price of restoration work can be quite high. It seems that the complexity of the work is small and there is nothing complicated in their implementation. If there is a great desire, a little time, the necessary resources and tools, then restoring the body on your own is a completely feasible process. Let's look at the recovery technologies in stages.

Geometric characteristics

It is necessary to make sure that after an accident or any other negative factors, the spatial geometry of the car body remained unchanged. This can be done by measuring the distances between so-called control points. If there is no information on these points, then they are guided by a clearly visible power part. So, there should be symmetrical distances between the elements of mounting the suspension and the engine.

If the geometry of the body is broken, then the restoration of the car body is possible, but this operation will require a huge investment of money and effort. This is a very labor intensive process. The thing is that for the high-quality performance of work of this level, it is necessary to have a whole range of equipment. This is a slipway on which the body is pulled in the required order.

Naturally, the cost of such a complex is quite high. Specialists in small garages use improvised means and tools. It can be different stretch marks or jacks. With the help of such simple devices, restoration work can be performed, but it is difficult to talk about quality. If it is not possible to use a special stand for work, then there is no point in buying it, this equipment is very expensive. Repair in the service station, where they do body work, will be much cheaper. So, in Moscow, the price for body restoration starts from 4 thousand rubles (pulling minor distortions on the slipway).

How to restore geometry

If you still want to solve the issue with your own hands, then the process consists in the so-called pulling out the point of the damaged area. But first you need to calculate this point, calculate it, and then predict how the body will behave during the impact.

First, damaged body kit parts are replaced, which are cheaper to buy new than to rebuild. It can be doors, bumper, hood, trunk. After that, they move on to stretching.

Corrosion control

You should be very careful about the centers of corrosion. Also, through holes should not pass by the master. If there is only a small spot of rust on the paintwork, this does not mean at all that the metal has not rotted through. There may be no metal under the paint.

If there is a piece of the body in which through holes have formed, then it is completely cut out until solid metal appears. After that, a patch is welded in place of the cut piece. If the rust is not so serious, then the restoration of the body will be a stripping of the affected areas to solid metal.

Small dents

Most often, repair work is started due to a large number of small damages. If there are really small deformations, where there is no metal stretching, breaks and other consequences, then these defects can be corrected without repainting. The shape is restored mechanically with full or partial preservation of the paintwork. But you need to understand that the process will require a huge amount of time. Although such defects are the easiest to fix. Professionals call them "poppers" because of the characteristic pops. You just need to heat the place a little or act on it mechanically from the back. The dent will return to its normal position with a characteristic sound. If welding is needed or there is a need to replace a part, then painting is simply indispensable here. But this has advantages - you can use simpler recoverymethods without the use of putty.

Serious defects

Restoring the car body, if it has serious dents, will require a complete removal of the paintwork. For this, a grinder and a suitable nozzle are suitable. The most important thing in this process is to work so as not to overheat the metal. When the metal parts of the body become very hot, the properties of the metal will begin to change.

If the metal is strongly elongated along the perimeter of the damage (for example, the dent is very deep), then it is returned to its original form. Here it is necessary to make an effort and act along the perimeter, while smoothly bringing the body section to its original form. For such work, a small mallet and anvil are excellent. A metal hammer is not suitable for these purposes, as it will deform the metal. The anvil is applied to the outer part of the dent, and light blows are made from the inside with a mallet. The metal will return to its rightful place.

Restoring strong deformations

When the sections are very elongated, restoring the body according to the above method will not help. The process will be very difficult and time consuming. You will need to completely remove the LCP. Also repairing the damage requires an industrial high power hair dryer and a spot welder.

The welding machine needs graphite electrodes. According to the technology, the restoration of body damage is completely similar to the previous method - you need to straighten the dent, starting from one point of the perimeter, and thengradually approach the center. But they no longer use a mallet with an anvil, but they heat the metal pointwise and then act mechanically. Heated tin becomes more plastic and pliable.

How much to heat depends on the metal. The temperature is chosen empirically. With an industrial hair dryer there are no difficulties. But if a spot welding machine is used, there is a risk of burning the body almost through. The electrodes have different shapes and are selected depending on the type of damage and the shape of the dent. Round deformations are corrected with a thin electrode, long ones with a wider one.

Using spot welding

Repair, restoration of the car body, when you need to return to its original shape, can be very labor intensive. It is far from always possible to get to the damaged area from the reverse side. In this case, you can try to fix the defect from the outside entirely. In order to do this, they grab the metal with the welding electrode in the area that needs to be pulled out. Then, using special tools or a reverse hammer, the metal is pulled out. Then the graphite electrode is broken off. The place of welding to the metal is polished.

Soldering metal into a dent

In this case, the defect is not pulled out. Body restoration is done a little differently. This does not imply strain extrusion. A special solder is soldered into the resulting dent. This method allows you to almost perfectly remove any defect.

The result will be amazing. The thickness gauge will not be able to detect traces of repair. For this procedure, you need solder, flux and acid, as well as a fairly powerful soldering iron. The working surface should be carefully cleaned and then tinned. Next, the rest of the volume is melted. The most important thing is that there is enough solder. When the process is over, the surface is thoroughly washed. Flux is a chemically active substance. A completely ideal surface restored in this way will not be. It is necessary to additionally grind and remove excess solder. They also form the correct shape. Next, the place is polished, and only then you can get a good result.

Conclusion

As you can see, restoration, body repair can be done in various ways. Naturally, it will not work to solve a serious problem in garage conditions. But it is quite possible to cope with small deformations.