Body Filler and B Pillar Wrap

[daniel11]

Hi all,

I have had my 58 plate Aygo platinum for about 10 months now and have decided it is time to do something with the interestingly located dent it came with on the B Pillar part of the drivers door. You can just see in the attached photo. A PDR guy quoted £100 to do it however being a student I don't really want to spend that much on it.

I have a theory that I can fill the dent and then wrap both B Pillars matte black like on the 2009- facelift models to avoid faffing with painting it and the dent should then become invisible. 

My question is:

a) Which filler to use? - ideally it needs to make the least mess possible and be fairly easy to remove should I want to remove the vinyl wrap in the future. Also, its a fairly big dent so the filler needs to be able to cope with a large hole. Would polyfilla work as it will be totally protected by the wrap?

b) Where to buy proper quality matt black vinyl wrap? There is a lot of wrap on eBay however I am unsure of the quality and don't know whether it would stand the test of time.

Thanks in advance,

Daniel

[FROSTYBALLS]

Polyfilla isn't designed for car body repairs -it isn't flexible enough,will crack, and come away from the dent.

Need to use a proper automotive body filler such as Isopon P38 or similar - e.g.. http://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-body-repair/fillers-preparation/davids-isopon-p38-easy-sand-250ml

 

[Agent Orange]

Hi Daniel,

First of all, I'm not a "Body Shop" Guy but I have filled in a couple of dents in my time  and as a starting bit of advice....Don't go near the polyfilla!!!  What you need is a tin of "Plastic Padding" or "Isopon" Car body filler.  If it has to be mixed with hardener you mix a "Golf ball of filler to a pea of hardener"....Thanks to Edd China on Wheeler Dealers for those measurements....You'll need something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/U-POL-P38-250ml-Body-Filler/dp/B000TVM8L4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1503440509&sr=8-4&keywords=plastic+padding

Sand the area and slap the mixture on (Sometimes in a couple of goes as small, thin coats are better than one thick dollop) with a spreader and let it "Go off", in other words, let it harden.  Put a bit too much on and start to sand it down using quite rough sandpaper then finer sandpaper and then very fine sandpaper until the finish matches the surrounding area...This isn't a 5 minute job, it could take hours, seriously!

Once you think the area is flat and perfect, spray the area with some black paint and sand it off after it has dried....If you see spots of black paint, you have got "Low Spots" in the filler, so you will have to put a bit more filler on and repeat the whole process.  Once the area is perfect, spray it.....Silver metallic isn't easy to match but if you are going to wrap the pillars then you should be OK....Just be aware that the area needs to be as perfect for wrap as it does for paint as any imperfection will show though the wrap.

Plenty of preparation and a lot of patience are needed, even for a small area.

As for the wrap, well I have a 2012 Aygo Fire 3 Door and I wrapped the area you are talking about in black gloss wrap, to match the privacy glass on the back windows (Shiny) and I used this (I had plenty on the roll to do the job):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00THL7AV0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Matt black wrap is available and you will need a "Squeegie Tool" (Listed lower down on that page) and a very sharp trimming knife, along with a bit of bravery and a whole lot of care.....Measure 6 times cut once!  Wind the front windows down to get the wrap behind the rubbers and stick a bit on the door pillar, in front of the rear, side windows, so that you don't see a silver "Shut line" when the door is closed.

Don't rush either of the jobs, they are not as easy as they might seem but you can get a really good finished job for not much money and a whole lot of time.

Good luck and all the best.