Scotty562

So here is the story of my first accident. Sleeping over at the girls place and didnt I wake up at 9:30 and take a shower. So far so good. About half way through my shower the water goes cold, bad omen i suppose. Well needless to say, 3 minutes later her mom comes bawling in saying about how she wrecked into my car and there was this HUGE dent.

Around now I got that sinking feeling in my gut and just anger... i dont know how to destribe it other than pure anger just overwelmed me. I coudln't hardly stand it. The car i worked so hard for for so long dismembered in one brief moment of someone elses stupidity.

After I heard about the news I put some clothes on and went straight outside to check out the damage. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, there is a decent sized dent, but no paint chipped. I got into the vehicle that hit me and looked in the left rear view mirror, all i could see was my car.... The only thing she said to me was that she was sorry and she couldnt see my car because she was too short, which obviously means she only looked through the center rear view mirror.

Granted, the culprit feels terrible and is going to pay for everything,and it's really not that bad since it didn't even chip the paint. I almost feel like I should pack this thing away and cover it with 12 feet of bubble wrap just so it never gets hurt. Maybe I should just get a beater car haha.

Anyway, i'm sure we've all been in this situation one time or another, the first time is just the hardest.

I cant get ahold of any body shops right now, how much should be expected to be paid for this?

Thanks guys.

jay92,85,79

iTrader: (1)

i would fine a good paintless dent repair shop. Look in the yellow pages. Ask to see some of there work. The guy that comes to are shop would get that out and u would never know it was there.

NEEDforSPEED

i have the same thing, its 75 bucks to get mine out mines a bit bigger then that tho , i just think after the red irocs done, all just fix the dent thats in blue iroc and repaint that.... instand of paying the 75 it well work better for me that way,

anyways im going to say 75 to 150 for yours?

scottmoyer

A good paintless dent removal guy will not charge you $75 - $150 for that. Because of the size of the damage, that is more like $250 - $300. A typical shopping cart ding will cost about $75-85. This will be a lot more work and will take more time. You get what you pay for. Pay $100, get a crappy job, pay the bigger $$, be happy with the results.

Token

Pull off the door panel and see if you can't beat it back yourself with your palm. It's worth a shot. Metal will sometimes pop back into place.

scottmoyer

Dents don't pop in! What makes you think it will pop out? Have someone that KNOWS what they are doing look at it. If you attempt this yourself, I can guarantee it will not look as good as it did before. Also, by "beating" it out yourself, you risk cracking the paint at the edges of the dent. Ask me how I know!

92RS3.1L

Anyone try that "Ding-King" dent removal thingy?

Token

I see you work for a PDR company... but pushing the dent in from the back isn't a bad thing. If the paint is going to crack it would have already started to. Metal has a crystalline structure that is only damaged by heat and excessive tensile pressure. A small dent as such is not creased, and will probably pop right back out.

I'm just a collision repair student though, what do I know.

Token

If you feel like wasting $35 of your hard earned money, give it a shot. Just be warned you risk pulling off the paint with the adhesive they give you. Also, in the unlikely case that it actually works, it won't hide it completely in a case like this. I've never used one, however my opinion of one is that if an auto body shop doesn't use them, why would anyone suggest it to a home do-it-yourselfer?

jay92,85,79

iTrader: (1)

yeah don't waste the cash on that dent king thing.. They did a report on it on the news. They tried it on like 5 differnt dents did not work at all.And like Token said the thing is a mess. I had a few dents on my truck bed there was like 5 he charged me 100 busks. And not tell they were there at all.I don't think that dent will just pop out by pushing on it. But u never know it might. Just push with the plam of your hand on it. If anything will make it look a little better

collision repair student token get out now while u still have a chance

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

That dent should be able to be 98% taken out by a competant dent remover. I had a far worse dent in my daily driver and the local dent guy was able to pull it out for $85. No doubt prices vary per person/shop but it shouldn't be too bad for that dent. There is no sweep variance by the dent on the outside of that door skin to warrent severe dent pulling diffuculty.

As for removing the door panel, forget it. You could maybe reach through the inner door skin but you wouldn't be able to get the right tools in there. You risk creasing the metal if you don't hit it right. You are better off paying the $85 or so to have it pulled. To me that is not wasting money.

82knightrider

iTrader: (1)

a buddy of mine got one and it broke...he got a new 1 and it broke too

scottmoyer

Your comment about the paint cracking is untrue. I have seen many sharp dents, some made by a BB that didn't crack the paint. The paint will crack when you apply force in the wrong place causing the tensile pressure that you mentioned. The edges of the dent are what is causing the dent to stay in play. The metal has been slightly stretched. Take a soda can and lightly dent it. Use a pencil and push it back out. I can guarantee that the center of the dent you created has been lifted, but the edges of the dent will still show distortion. The metal needs to be massaged back into shape.

No offense to body shop guys, but that is why body people use a filler. They pound the dent out, beat down the highs left by the edges of the dent and then use filler to give it the smooth look. A PDR technician should know where to push, how hard to push and where to knock down. All with leaving the original paint intact.

Yes, the prices vary from technician to technician, but you get what you pay for. The cheap guy will make it look good enough, but the higher priced tech will make it disappear. I have seen plenty of "hacks" in the industry. If someone else is paying for the repair, get it done correctly.

Oh, BTW, I own the company that is listed in my sig.

305Camaro84

i would just go to a yard and pick one up, there really cheap
i just got a door for my 84 for like $25 bucks, that was a u-pull it junkyard but now i just have to hang it and then the dent's gone

82knightrider

iTrader: (1)

For all we now you just slapped a dentworks sticker n when you see someone with a dent you go ask em if they want you to fix it.

just messin with ya lol

But seriously,in my old beater when ever I drove it around Id get hit up left and right by ppl who had worse cars trying to fix my dent

Scotty562

I took it to a local shop today and he wants to poke it full of holes and pull the thing out, repaint yada yada.

700 through insureance.

400 out of pocket.

So rather than making the lady friends mom pay her deductable I took it up to college (pennsylvania College of Technology.) And they will take it ou for free minus the cost of paint. So it's going to work out pretty well.

The dent also got me into people that will install my LS1, 4th gen dash, and rear ... for free. All in all that dent was worth it!

jay92,85,79

iTrader: (1)

If they said they would pull the dent out with the old way of drilling a hole and useing one of them screw dent pullers. Don't let them fix the car. There are much much better ways to go to fix that... pay 400 and ins goes up hmmmm.. Y don't u take it to a pdr guy (i'm sure scottmoyer could point u to someone)Than u only have to get your womans mom to pay 150. Get in good u know lol... And your car will not be getting holes in it

z2885er

if he's taking it to a tech school i doubt they would drill a hole in the door to pop the dent out. they may use a stud welder. i would agree to take it to a pdr place, it'd be quicker and it could be done for a reasonable price.

scottmoyer

Actually, the sticker is a business card. I hand out business cards at every opportunity. If I see a nice BMW with 2 door dings, I give the owner a card and tell them to call me when they want them removed. That's how small businesses get the word out. I carry cards every where I go! That dent in the door, you want me to remove it for ya?!!

Scotty562

Scottymoyer, what wax did you use on your car? That looks great.

82knightrider

iTrader: (1)

yeah,it looks awsome dude

82knightrider

iTrader: (1)

dang,you gotta a good eye,how did you know I have a door dent lol.Ill post a pic and tell me how much youll charge
heres the best pic I could find...Ill get a close up later

IEatRice4dinner

they charged the chick who drove into it when it was parked 1k to fix it... i wasent happy with the work. i think i could have done better but i spose it depends on how **** u are about that kinda stuff

scottmoyer

That above pic needed to be body shopped. If it was, anything less than a new door skin would have been unacceptable to me.

I use many different products on my car. When the pics were taken, I had used Wizards Polish (www.wizardsproducts.com) on it. I also use Meguiars polish with a top coat of Meguiars #26 wax. It all depends on how I feel when I'm ready to polish it up. I have to admit that it shines like that because I first used a clay bar to remove all the crap in the paint, then used 3M polishing glaze with a buffer at 1800 rpm, washed the car again and applied the top polishes and waxes.

The comment about the good eye...
In my business, you need a good eye. I see imperfections in the metal that others don't see. When I'm removing a dent, the car's owner might comment to me that they can't even see where the dent was and I'm only 3/4 done. I have removed waves in my IROC-Z that Chevy let go thru the assembly line. The problem with having that good of an eye, is the work is never good enough.

Scotty562

A little update on the dent. I decided to wait till I go back to school to get the dent take care of. If I do this I'll be able to have the dent taken out (free) and the entire care repainted for a rediculous ammount of money (very cheap very good work, I just have to supply paint). But wait, the goodies don't end there = D. I was also able to pick up a turbo iroc hood for $250 bucks , and I am getting a hi rise spoiler.

(http://www.americansportscardesigns....ages/s-125.jpg)
Pic of hood

Maybe this dent wasn't such a bad thing after all .

Oh, and what do you guys think of these stripes?

Yossarian14

I completely disagree with those who say that a dent can't be "popped" back out by coming from the back size. One of my friends hit an SUV at 30 mph and went underneith it, only damaged her hood somehow. Anyways there was no sharp crease or ridge in the dent and it was over a basically flatcurved surface so I used a plunger and to my suprise it popped back out perfectly. I can name dozens of case like this and is pretty easy to as long as its not crease or a sharp dent. If you have a curved piece of metal it was to stay with that curve, Im just saying it may not be near perfect but may just pop it out and stop somebody from cheating you out of your money when you go to get any imperfections out.

scottmoyer

OK!!

The ol' plunger technique. I can guarantee you that it didn't "pop" back out perfectly. If it was that easy, body shops would be using that tecnique and I'd be outta business. And some people wonder why they see waves in their door panels or in this case, the hood.

What probably happened here was the hood bracing was probably bent and the hood skin was pulled down since it's glued to the bracing. The plunger applied enough upward force to pull the bracing back in place. Your lucky the hood skin didn't distort from the force applied. Or it did and you just don't know it!

Yossarian14

Nah its wasnt over a bracing luckily, it was right on the edge but my point was that you can still pop it back out but in no way perfect.