My daily driver has acquired a number of unsightly dents over its 11 or so years. The paint is still in great shape though, so the option of stripping the car down, glazing and throwing $5k at a $4k car for a repaint is out of the question. There is a pops-a-dent place that sets up at a gas station every Wednesday, but for $500, I'd rather live with dents and spend the money on liquorish and pop-rocks.

Some of the dents in the quarter panel and can't be accessed, so hammering away isn't really a good fall back either.

So I'm reading up, hearing malarkie on dry ice, air dusters, hair dryers... Has anyone ever tried this before, and does it work? Is it safe for paint?

Any tricks I could do to get some of these door dings out? I'm entertaining the dry ice idea as it seems like the easiest and cheapest option, but if there isn't a chance in hell it could work, I'll save my money.

 

Cruisin' around the network of inters I came across this little gem. Not only is it a little more believable, but goes awry in under one page.

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/fixing-dents-dry-ice-myth-revisited-129398.html

 

susbcribing. id like ot be able to remove a few small dings or dents on my dart. could save thousands on body work

 

I've tried dry ice and notta.. I also tried something MUCH much colder than dry ice, but I'm not going to say what it is.... I heated the area with a heat gun, hit it with this "chemical", it was frosty to say the least, I then heated it with a heat gun again... I tried many different variations, and nothing... I spent hrs trying, and flat couldnt make it work... This was on my F-450, fricken truck was 5 days old, I go outside, wind is blowing 50 MPH +.. I open the door, carefully, wind still ripped it out of my hands.. The door hit the towing mirror on my Dodge Ram, and it dented the damn thing.. Didnt hurt the plastic mirror... The dent is a tad less that 6ft, right behind the glass.. So everytime you go to get in the truck your looking right at it... I keep meaning to take it and have it fixed, I will this winter though..

My "golf ball" ( the F-250 ) was in a huge hail storm many yrs ago, my Dodge was in the same storm.. Cost me 7K to fix the Dodge it was tore up so bad, I never got around to fixing the F-250, but I will, too good of a truck to leave it as it is.. I tried dry ice on it, and the "chemical" on dozens of dents, and not a damn one popped out...


I'm all ears if someone posts up something that works..

 

Nice topic Cox. This is something I have been interested in before but never could find first hand knowledge on how well it works. Someone here is bound to have some info for us.

 

A hail storn blew through this past spring and I used a paintless dent repair. I was very impressed with their work and speed. Insurance paid for it maybe $1800 and 3-4 days work which is much less than a trip to the paint shop.

 

What I have done in the past is get a group of people together and then hire the Dent guy / girl for the afternoon, works out a lot cheaper. Last time she was here 4 hours charged us $200 and worked on 5 cars, that's $40 each and everyone had atleast 2-3 dings / dents. Check around at car detail places or dealerships for the name of someone good that isn't in the retail action, then line some cars up for them like a dealership does and pay wholesale

 

The hot and cold method will work, but dry ice i dont know. I can remove hail damage useing a torch with a small tip and starting in the center of the ding and working it in circle to the outside edge lift the torch and wipe with a cold rag. can do the whole roof or hood with no body filler but has to be repainted. Called shrinking the metal.

 

If you find someone who is real good it is amazing what they can do. I spent quite a few years working for a used truck dealer and the guy we brought in was nothing less than a miracle worker. You might want to check with local dealers to see who they use .

 

That car has real steel in it and will not act like modern econo shit boxes steel we have now days. Your metal is much thicker.

 

will that work on my shoebox dart? slowfox says no, but i thought id ask an expert

 

The reason it works well on hail damage is because it is a round ding with no sharp edge. When trying to strighten a fender with a big dent and a sharp edge you can beat it out with a hammer and dolly but it will be out to far and you can push on it and it will pop back in we call that oil canning like the bottom of a old oil can. Most bodymen today just fill it with filler. You take the torch and heat spots around the outside edge wipe with a cold wet rag and shrink the metal to pull it tight and it will stay in place. when you bend sheet metal you stretch it and the heat shrinks it back. Two kinds of bodymen. metal men & bondo men. Like wine the older it is the better it is . This is one of the reasons i left the bodyshops, old cars have metal new cars barely have any. They stop putting Pigiron in the steel twenty years ago to cut cost and make the metal thinner and and in turn harder to work with.

 

Isn't the thread titled paintless ????

 

+1 That is the best way to go. I had two of my cars done this way a few years ago by board member big jay. Fantastic work and everyone saved a bundle o' cash.

 

Sorry. on the paintless dent removal if they know there shit it works great. My daughter in dallas had it done to her car last year for hail on the roof hood and trunk i remember giving her shit over it and when i looked at it i was blown away it was slick as shit you could not tell it ever had damage took the guy two days.

 

Any MASTERS wanna move here to Portugal and school me...we could make a bundle!!!
EVERY car has a dent or ding...
serious..wives car (97) been here two months on the road and had received more dents in past 2 months than previous 12 years!
my Kung Fu is lacking...

 

Any jobs or work over there if they dont get rid of this nut in the Black House im looking to move.

 

I thought every LOVED him....
...and I'm looking for a job myself right now....Following the wives career is starting to suck...(but it beats going to some desert in some shithole...again)

 

Any fast cars there or any kind of pro shops.

 

Along the beaches nothing but high end pasta rockets and fine Deutche engineering...
Lambos, Ferarris, Bimmers and Mercs