# DIY: Hood Notch Filling



## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

Ok, I see a lot of these threads and I posted one myself. Now that I have been through the process and it's all done i'll share it with you guys so that everyone can save themselves 400 dollars (which was what my quote was around)
Before I start my grandpa did most of the work on the car and he is a professional when it comes to body work so do all of this at your own risk. Whatever you do is obviously out of my hands. I'm just here to show you how it turned out for me. 

This took about two days because of drying time and lunch and we didnt work on it after 6 pm.
Care for the bottom part of the hood notch is at the very bottom. Do the same for the bottom as you do the top. 
And away we go








First we got a piece of metal to fill the hood. He just used some sheet metal, I have bought the ECS filler piece but he didnt want to use that. (If your going to take it to a body shop it'd be best to let them use that because then they have some idea of what needs to go there like the general shape and size.)








He then sanded the metal piece down to fit correctly and folded it over on itself to create a nice rounded thick piece of metal so lifting up would feel just like OEM. He also sanded down the hood where the notch was in order for it to fit nice. 









Make sure when you clamp the piece in there you get the dirt and such off the part of the hood you'll be welding. It sparks like crazy if you dont. At this point he just tack welded all the way around the hood notch. Used MIG welding for reference.
















After he got all the tack welds on he grinded them all down so they were flush with the hood. Make sure not to grind through them because this will render them useless and you want them to hold the notch there. . . Preferably forever. Make sure you get good tacks all the way around it. The reason he said he was not just welding the whole thing is because he didnt want the hood to warp. 
















Now it's time for some bondo. . . Make sure to let the area cool before doing this and that all your welds are solid. We used evercoat body filler and anther paste called "All Metal" that stuff works great but is a tad bit harder to work with. Bondo will flex and All metal will be more like metal. Since you dont need your hood to flex (hopefully







) You can just use the all metal paste. He did put all metal on the bottom along with the top. He mentioned that they make a fiberglass paste material that is quite strong and flexible but it's harder/messier to work with he said. All three should work fine so it's up to you. I recommend the "All metal".
(In the picture it's just bondo but we did do the top and bottom with the all metal paste. It's metallic looking where bondo is blueish.)








Now you get to sand. Make sure the bondo had time to dry and set before you start doing this or else it wont take and you'll have to do it again. An hour should be fine for this (depending on temperatures) Basically just sand the area until the bondo starts to dissapear and the area is smooth. Bondo's purpose is to smooth things out so if the area is smooth and free of humps/bumps then you should be good to go (and if it filled the welds)








After this sanding it was time to prime it. We cleaned the area up so that the primer would stick and using a paint gun it was time to prime! Just spray a square around the area and make sure you get everything you sanded/bondo'd. Let the primer sit and dry for a good amount of time (2 hours to be safe) It will take longer to setup but it will dry in 2 hours time.

Then it's back to sanding. Wet sanding will save your paper and your hood. We started with (I think) an 500 - 800 grit paper and worked our way to a 1500 grit paper. Make sure everything you sand is covered with soapy water. It will help from scratching anything up.
We did water down and sand (only with the 1500 grit) the entire hood. The only part that got the 500-800 grit paper was the area that had the primer on it. Since the 1500 paper was so soft along with the soapy water we got rid of allll of the grit/grime/dust/overspray from the rest of the project. This is important because you dont want to clearcoat or paint with all of that on there.









After the hood has been wetsanded and the car is taped off and there is plastic/tarp covering the rest of it (make sure you do this. . you DONT want overspray on your car because you were feeling to lazy to do this part.







) he sprayed the car with a glueish paint. It just helps the paint stick to the actual hood without leaving a residue or anything of the sort. 








After a coat of that we waited until it dried mixed up some paint and put on 2 layers of paint and one layer thinned out to blend the paint to match the rest of the hood.









Lastly, 2 layers of clear coat and 1 layer to blend the clear coat and we called it a weekend.








And the final product (hasn't been washed yet)

















Also when your doing the bottom part of the hood (where the notch is being filled. . . not the entire hood) dont leave it out of these steps. We still primered it, painted it and put clear on it. When we were looking at it and sanding it down we did realize that there was caulk which is what creates the little lip under the notch on the bottom of the hood. Now that the notch is not there we did put some caulk under it to make it look like it was made that way.
Hopefully this will help all of you save yourselves some money. . . If you have any questions let me know. Rather than taking it to a shop. Mind you all of this was done with paint guns and he is a professional so do this at your own risk. 
Thanks for looking.
_Modified by shook1db at 8:16 AM 10-19-2009_ 

_Modified by shook1db at 9:27 AM 10-20-2009_


_Modified by shook1db at 9:49 AM 10-22-2009_


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## GroMacProductions (Dec 3, 2008)

watching. . .


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## eatpiealot (Jan 25, 2008)

also watching... looks nice


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## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: (eatpiealot)*

Finished pictures up.


_Modified by shook1db at 9:28 AM 10-20-2009_


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## 2slogetta (Jan 26, 2005)

*Re: (shook1db)*

Wow-that was some old style work there.
Came out good though-
and he didnt start sanding the plastic with 5-800-
ypu would start with 80 then go up from there http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Also, there is no need to sand with soapy water. In fact that would be very BAD


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## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: (2slogetta)*

He did sand with soapy water. Actually the whole time after he primed it, he sanded with soapy water and it turned out great. In one of the pictures you can see the bucket of water and soap at the front of the car. . . 
He did use 500 something to start it wasn't that gritty. . . All worked out great and extremely cheap/timely.


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## 2slogetta (Jan 26, 2005)

*Re: (shook1db)*

After the primer is ok. And to sand the primer...we finish with 600.
But if it came out good,,,thhats all that matters http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## MyCarIsRed (Aug 9, 2004)

*Re: (shook1db)*


_Quote, originally posted by *shook1db* »_
He did use 500 something to start it wasn't that gritty. . . All worked out great and extremely cheap/timely. 

it's not too bad. i can knock out the whole thing from welding to clear in about 3-4 hours. it's a pretty quick job that makes a huge difference. did you blend the paint out or did you panel paint and just hope for the best?
turned out nice http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## prom king (Aug 14, 2004)

*Re: (MyCarIsRed)*


_Quote, originally posted by *MyCarIsRed* »_
it's not too bad. i can knock out the whole thing from welding to clear in about 3-4 hours. it's a pretty quick job that makes a huge difference. did you blend the paint out or did you panel paint and just hope for the best?
turned out nice http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 

He only needs to paint that tiny area with paint, the rest is just clear. It wouldn't make sense to blend the fenders for such a small refinish?


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## MyCarIsRed (Aug 9, 2004)

*Re: (prom king)*


_Quote, originally posted by *prom king* »_
He only needs to paint that tiny area with paint, the rest is just clear. It wouldn't make sense to blend the fenders for such a small refinish? 


i know the process, i do it all day. i'm just curious what he did. i shaved a hood notch on a dudes car a few months ago. he had a bunch of rockchips and dings across the lead edge so i ended up having to respray the whole front. then had a few dings along the middle. i ended up panel spraying it as per his request to save money. ended up dead on and you'd never know it was panel sprayed. it was also a reflex vw.


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## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: (MyCarIsRed)*

He just blended and then cleared most of the hood. I havent got it washed yet but it still has some nasty glue crap on it. I was going to get it washed today but it's raining, I still might just because i dont like all the grit on it.
I agree, If you do it different as long as it turns out well you can call it a day! 
Thanks for comments guys!!


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## bmman93 (Sep 17, 2008)

*Re: (MyCarIsRed)*

ppgs got a hell of a match for reflex silver!


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## MyCarIsRed (Aug 9, 2004)

*Re: (shook1db)*


_Quote, originally posted by *shook1db* »_He just blended and then cleared most of the hood. I havent got it washed yet but it still has some nasty glue crap on it. I was going to get it washed today but it's raining, I still might just because i dont like all the grit on it.
I agree, If you do it different as long as it turns out well you can call it a day! 
Thanks for comments guys!!









i've been told by 1000 people that have been doing it for longer than i've been alive that there is no one "right way" to do it... just lots of "wrong ways".


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## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: (2slogetta)*

He did sand with soapy water. Actually the whole time after he primed it, he sanded with soapy water and it turned out great. In one of the pictures you can see the bucket of water and soap at the front of the car. . . 
He did use 500 something to start it wasn't that gritty. . . All worked out great and extremely cheap/timely.


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## DirtyDubbs (Mar 7, 2009)

you said he used TIG welder... Tungsten Inert Gas.. But in the picture he is using a standard MIG Welder....??


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## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: (AGLI2NV)*


_Quote »_you said he used TIG welder... Tungsten Inert Gas.. But in the picture he is using a standard MIG Welder....??

Thank you for the correction, typo fixed!!


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## DirtyDubbs (Mar 7, 2009)

*Re: (shook1db)*


_Quote, originally posted by *shook1db* »_
Thank you for the correction, typo fixed!!

absolutely!! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
looks good, cheers


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## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: (AGLI2NV)*

Thanks a lot for the compliments guys! He's awesome. I still havent gotten it washed because it's been raining allllllll week long now. Looks soooo much nicer!


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## fschambe (Oct 25, 2009)

Awesome work! One question though... Looks like you went through a hella effort to cover the car so it didn't get spray on it. Was this somehow easier than just removing the hood and working away from the car?


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## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: (fschambe)*

Well to be honestly it only took about 5 minutes to put the plastic on the car. It's all one piece and he already has paper with tape on the side that we used on the windshield so it wasn't bad at all. But I figured it would take 10 min to take the hood off and 10 to put it back on but I figured it would be simpler to just cover it up with some plastic


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## william8251 (Sep 5, 2008)

*Re: (shook1db)*

http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif







http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## Slowbra2 (Apr 11, 2008)

*Re: (bmman93)*

standox is dead nuts for reflex too. not suprised since standox paints a lot of VW from the factory. i paneled my bumper it matches perfect.


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## MyCarIsRed (Aug 9, 2004)

*Re: (fschambe)*


_Quote, originally posted by *fschambe* »_Awesome work! One question though... Looks like you went through a hella effort to cover the car so it didn't get spray on it. Was this somehow easier than just removing the hood and working away from the car?

you never really take a hood off to paint it. even when they come aftermarket or as a replacement, you paint the underside off the car, then install it and paint the top on the hood on the car. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## 16v po boy (Oct 27, 2001)

*Re: (Slowbra2)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Slowbra2* »_standox is dead nuts for reflex too. not suprised since standox paints a lot of VW from the factory. i paneled my bumper it matches perfect.

standox has nuthin for imola yellow.


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## D3hd3nd (Jun 18, 2008)

*Re: (eatpiealot)*

just curious but why didnt you guys take the hood off?


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## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: (D3hd3nd)*

Read up a few posts








It took about 5 minutes to cover the car .


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## ruetzal (Dec 17, 2007)

*Re: (shook1db)*

hey what about your bumper. I am looking to fill in the knotch on my bumper and was wondering some tips


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## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: (ruetzal)*

Since I have a jetta there wasn't one in the bumper. The bumper would probably be a little more difficult because it's not metal. . .


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## ruetzal (Dec 17, 2007)

*Re: (shook1db)*

ok crazy how I never noticed that.


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## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: (ruetzal)*








No problem


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## Slowbra2 (Apr 11, 2008)

*Re: (16v po boy)*

Quote, originally posted by Slowbra2 » 
standox is dead nuts for reflex too. not suprised since standox paints a lot of VW from the factory. i paneled my bumper it matches perfect. 

standox has nuthin for imola yellow
who does have a good yellow? yellow fades out super quick. the pigments are also weak, and trying to cover over a sealer or primer is nearly impossible unless you paint the primer/sealer white or something to make it easier to cover. 
This reminded me of a guy on the GTI forums, he said the previous owner had the front clip "custom sprayed" a different yellow. it was only like two three shades different, the previous owner prolly smashed the front had it resprayed and the shop did a ****ty job.


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## MyCarIsRed (Aug 9, 2004)

*Re: (Slowbra2)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Slowbra2* »_Quote, originally posted by Slowbra2 » 
standox is dead nuts for reflex too. not suprised since standox paints a lot of VW from the factory. i paneled my bumper it matches perfect. 

standox has nuthin for imola yellow
who does have a good yellow? yellow fades out super quick. the pigments are also weak, and trying to cover over a sealer or primer is nearly impossible unless you paint the primer/sealer white or something to make it easier to cover. 
This reminded me of a guy on the GTI forums, he said the previous owner had the front clip "custom sprayed" a different yellow. it was only like two three shades different, the previous owner prolly smashed the front had it resprayed and the shop did a ****ty job.

in my experience, PPG makes the best heavy pigments. cover the best. dupont makes an imola mix, but you have to spray a tinted sealer to get it to cover in a reasonable amount of coats. (which you should really do anyway regardless of paint manufacturer). if you're having issues with fading, you just need to use a better quality clear that blocks UV more effectively


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## D3hd3nd (Jun 18, 2008)

*Re: (shook1db)*


_Quote, originally posted by *shook1db* »_Read up a few posts








It took about 5 minutes to cover the car .

k so i did but didnt' you think it'd also be much easier to buff the hood off the car? and why would you leave the same paper/tape on the car that you primed with... and taking a hood off shouldn't take more than a minute









_Quote, originally posted by *ruetzal* »_hey what about your bumper. I am looking to fill in the knotch on my bumper and was wondering some tips

use fuzor or plastic weld a piece of plastic (the same type as your bumper cover) in http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## shook1db (Nov 27, 2008)

*Re: (D3hd3nd)*


_Quote »_k so i did but didnt' you think it'd also be much easier to buff the hood off the car? and why would you leave the same paper/tape on the car that you primed with... and taking a hood off shouldn't take more than a minute 

It wasnt hard to buff the hood on the car. . . I dont understand what your getting at. It would have been more work to take the hood off the car to be honest. 5 minutes to cover it up and 5 minutes to take it off. . . Less work to cover it up with the exact same outcome. . . It's not hard to buff a hood on a car.
We didnt use the same paper/tape that we primed with. It is the same color. . . Not the same paper though. Usually when you buy things in bulk you get the same color/look of stuff. . .


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## Slowbra2 (Apr 11, 2008)

*Re: (shook1db)*

excuse him he's from wisconsin... taking something off a car to buff it is retarded.. wait for the buffer to catch an edge of the hood the wrong way and your hood falling off of whatever you put it on then really messing everything up...


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## Burnitwithfire (May 14, 2005)

*FV-QR*


_Quote, originally posted by *Slowbra2* »_excuse him he's from wisconsin... taking something off a car to buff it is retarded.. wait for the buffer to catch an edge of the hood the wrong way and your hood falling off of whatever you put it on then really messing everything up...


Yeah you have to wash the car anyway before delivering it to the customer. It makes no sense the remove a hood to buff it.
Plus by doing all the work with the hood installed you can move the car outside if need be.


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## nmjetha (Apr 24, 2009)

What is the easiest way to thin the paint to match the aged faded rest of the hood?
Can spray paint be thinned to match, I have some but its way to dark to match my reflex silver?


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## Burnitwithfire (May 14, 2005)

*FV-QR*


_Quote, originally posted by *nmjetha* »_What is the easiest way to thin the paint to match the aged faded rest of the hood?
Can spray paint be thinned to match, I have some but its way to dark to match my reflex silver?


Thinned? No because it'll just make it more transparent and you'll just apply more coats to get coverage. The color itself does fade a bit but most of the time it's the clearcoat that fades. A good polishing could bring back the paint.


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## nmjetha (Apr 24, 2009)

*Re: DIY: Hood Notch Filling (shook1db)*

After a coat of that we waited until it dried mixed up some paint and put on 2 layers of paint and one layer thinned out to blend the paint to match the rest of the hood.

Just curious what you did to thin out the paint to blend and match the rest of the hood?

thanks


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## Slowbra2 (Apr 11, 2008)

*Re: DIY: Hood Notch Filling (nmjetha)*

thinning paint dose nothing for blending. you gotta tint the color as close to the rest of what your painting, then blend the color. are you spraying a single-stage or a base and clear?


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## nmjetha (Apr 24, 2009)

*Re: DIY: Hood Notch Filling (Slowbra2)*

Well, I was gonna have my whole hood painted but only part that needs painting is the front. I assume a professional can blend it with the rest easily. Don't wanna pay to have entire hood painted when I only need front 2 feet redone, from my f'up trying to spray paint and fix some rust.


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## Burnitwithfire (May 14, 2005)

*FV-QR*


_Quote, originally posted by *nmjetha* »_Well, I was gonna have my whole hood painted but only part that needs painting is the front. I assume a professional can blend it with the rest easily. Don't wanna pay to have entire hood painted when I only need front 2 feet redone, from my f'up trying to spray paint and fix some rust.


Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. The base coat will cover most of the hood (at least 3/4 to get a good smooth blend) then the whole panel has to be cleared.


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## MyCarIsRed (Aug 9, 2004)

*Re: DIY: Hood Notch Filling (nmjetha)*


_Quote, originally posted by *nmjetha* »_Well, I was gonna have my whole hood painted but only part that needs painting is the front. I assume a professional can blend it with the rest easily. Don't wanna pay to have entire hood painted when I only need front 2 feet redone, from my f'up trying to spray paint and fix some rust.

well like black smoke said... at this point, especially because you spray painted, you will more than likely have to do the whole hood.


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## DAS-AUTO (Apr 10, 2009)

*Re: (GroMacProductions)*

i'd need a place to paint my hood for free...im thinking that duplicolor makes uni black spray...but im not sure how that would turn out with my hood's uniblack...


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## spitfire481 (Mar 21, 2007)

*Re: (DAS-AUTO)*


_Quote, originally posted by *DAS-AUTO* »_im thinking that duplicolor makes uni black spray 

that line right there should tell you how it will turn out


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## DAS-AUTO (Apr 10, 2009)

*Re: (spitfire481)*


_Quote, originally posted by *spitfire481* »_
that line right there should tell you how it will turn out

i guess, but i dont wana spend a bunch of money to respray only my hood..


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## spitfire481 (Mar 21, 2007)

its roughly $200 to respray a hood with the rates here at my shop (in Md). just figure that you go ahead and spray bomb it black. then are unhappy with the results. you tack on another $200 to strip the hood because the spray bomb and urethane will react and cause lifting problems. so now you are up to $400 instead of the original $200 to have it sprayed properly. sure you can get away with spraying the front underside yourself with a black spray can enamel because its rarely seen, and most factory underhood jobs are just base with clear overspray so they dont look great anyway


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## MyCarIsRed (Aug 9, 2004)

*Re: (DAS-AUTO)*


_Quote, originally posted by *DAS-AUTO* »_i'd need a place to paint my hood for free...im thinking that duplicolor makes uni black spray...but im not sure how that would turn out with my hood's uniblack...
























uni black is the cheapest paint on earth and doesn't require any blending. duplicolor shouldn't be used EVER unless you just don't care about the outcome or it's for the underside of somethin you'll never see and just need a quick "close enough" sorta finish. pay the $200 and be happy.


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## nmjetha (Apr 24, 2009)

Now how come the shop I wanna get my hood painted at wants to repaint the fenders and hood because the reflex silver won't match if they just do the hood??????


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## spitfire481 (Mar 21, 2007)

Is called blending


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## nmjetha (Apr 24, 2009)

They wanna repaint fenders, hood, fix dent in my rocker, and crack in bumper for $700. Its actually at the college auto collision shop near me. Good price?!?!


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## spitfire481 (Mar 21, 2007)

*FV-QR*

very good price


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## nmjetha (Apr 24, 2009)

You know about body work and painting I take it? Rocker dent is an eyesore, was gonna side skirt it but just as much.


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## im_lower (Feb 25, 2011)

Bringing back from the dead! 
Doing next weekend!


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