DIY body repair?

[E30godz]

So, long story short.

I left my car up on jack stands overnight as I was unable to finish my front suspension before it rained. I tossed my tools and shit under the car and called it a night.

In the morning i come out to see the car had fallen off the jack stands...HOLY SHIT. Fortunately the oil pan landed on the plastic hydraulic case and came to a slow halt before anything was damaged.

I then noticed that my rear bumper was pushed in a little bit.....and a nice dent above the bumper but below the driver side rear tail light....so my car was hit, pushed off the jack stands, and then the fucker drove away.

So...theres no way i can justify a $500 body shop bill....I was thinking about popping out the dent the best i could and possibly bondo'ing it before taping off and spraying it with a similar black auto body color.

any experience? thoughts? video feeds of the perp?

[ddavidv]

Is the paint damaged where the dent is, or is the metal just pushed in? If the paint is okay, you need to find a "paintless dent repair" guy. He can massage that back out.
If the paint is scraped off or cracked, then conventional repair is required.
Since it sounds like you've never done body repair before, I would advise you dab some touch up paint on it and leave it alone until you have the money to get it fixed properly. You can do more damage trying to fix it yourself by stretching the metal all to hell.
You can substantially cut the cost of the repair later by pulling off the bumper, taillamp, etc before handing it over to the shop.
Black is the easiest color to match, but it's also the color that will show amateur bodywork the most.

[E30godz]

In two places the dent was sharp enough to cause a paint break.

What should i put over it to prevent rust in the short term?

[Justin B]

Anything BUT primer will work for very short term if you'll just sand it away shortly anyway. If you can find it, zerorust, or POR15, that would be best, but that stuff gets really hard and difficult to remove. If you'll be fixing it shortly anyway just some rattle can paint to cover up the bare metal will be fine, but not for long.

[ddavidv]

Sounds like you're describing a simple crack in the paint. Something that sould work, and won't be noticeable unless you really look, is clear nail polish. That shit is tough as, well, nails. Brush it on, get it down in the crack and seal the thing along it's length. Should prevent further decay until you can get it properly fixed.
Paint just doesn't seem to work in these instances. Primer is porous and won't keep moisture out. That's the worst stuff you can use.