Patch dent in metal door?

[jeffnc]

I have a door that is metal. It's primed white, and I'm going to paint it with a semi-gloss latex paint. It either came from the store with a dent and I didn't notice it, or I dented it somehow. It's a scratch of about 12" long that made an indentation of only about 1/16" to 1/8" depth. How can I patch this flat? I want something like spackle that can easily be scraped flat, but that sounds too fragile, and probably won't adhere well. Epoxy can't be scraped flat when applied, and I don't think there's any good way of getting it perfectly level with the door surface. Any other option that's like wood filler, but for primed metal? Thanks

[Speedy Jim]

Automotive body filler: BONDO

Jim

[Colbyt]

Bondo. Sold in automotive departments just about everywhere. Sand to bare metal. Just rake it off semi-smooth and overfilled. It is very easy to sand, even by hand on a small thing like this.

[TOM KAN PA]

Green Stuff body putty might work. It's clay in a Laquer Thinner base. Dries really hard and can be sanded smooth. I wouldn't use it on anything deeper than

1/8 inch.

[Lawrence Rottersman]

Back when Detroit made real cars that gave autobody men something to work with, dents deeper than 1/8th of an inch were filled with body solder, which came in a stick shaped like a rule and was squished on with a torch. I don't know but solder can be probably still obtained that way, although I would think any plumbing solder and flux would work. I have used the technique when restoring cars was my thing, about a lifetime ago. I don't remember it being especially tricky to do.

n article , [e-mail] says...

[Tom J]

The flat surface of the door would buckle with such a repair 100% of the time. The Bondo repair suggested is the proper repair.

Tom J

[Lawrence Rottersman]

Not sure Tom is right, although it is true that heat on "tin" shrinks it which matters when hammering out a dent stretches it. Again, I'm really rusty on this stuff, but I seem to remember that heat disforming the metal only came into play when I was welding with gas. Anyway, bondo or fiberglass does work.

[Stephen]

That takes me back a few years :)

IIRC this technique was called "leading". The solder sticks usually contained lead and they were often used to seal or fill in seams on vehicle construction, including Rolls Royce.

A large industrial type soldering iron was used to fill in pot holes created by what was called "lead blowing" when previously leaded areas containing air pockets popped after going through the spray ovens.

Steve.