Need bodywork Experts - Have a Dent

[4onthefloor]

So I've got a pretty good sized dent on the wheel arch of my car and I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to get it out. My thought was to get in behind it with a ball-peen hammer and work it out from the other side. I'm guessing I would need some thing hard but non-abrasive on the front side to keep it from popping out the other way.

I know it's just a dent but it's quite noticeable and it sticks out.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Pics:

[Rope-Pusher]

Ball peeing hammer blows might tend to make small anti-dents, which is not really what you want. That's like trying to cancel-out bass noise with anti-treble. You need one large anti-dent. I'd try pressing a rounded rock into it from the back side, slowly, but forcibly, until the dent is straightened. If you can't press hard enough to make a dent in it (hah-hah)_, I spose you could hammer on the back side of the rock. If you heat it up with a hairdryer first, the paint might be less likely to pop off.

[theholycow]

I've heard of alternating heat and dry ice; the heat softens the paint and metal, then the dry ice contracts it. Any significant dent includes stretching of the metal, so by contracting it you undo the stretch as well as forcing it to pop back into shape.

I've also heard of using a sandbag or a block of the correct shape on the back of the dent and hitting the front of the dent with a mallet but I never understood how that could work.

Do NOT use a hammer directly on it. I did that to my first car and it looked like this:

[DarkPilot]

I've had some damage like that on my car.

How close a paint match can you get for your car from a rattle can? If you can get a good match this will work.

Get some sand paper, fine and course grit
Can of Bondo
Duplicolour rattle can of paint for your car and a can of clear coat from Canadian tire. (I've found CT to have the best selection of paint, though not all have the same selections)
Isopropyl alcohol (IPA)
A good wax/ polish kit
Patience

Basically, sand the are down to the base metal and clean with IPA. Mix bondo and fill dent. Use rough grit paper to sand to the contour of the panel and then use the fine to clean and smooth. Clean with IPA again. Apply 3-4 coats of paint on top of the bondo, (You can mask off if you wish, I usually freehand). Once the paint has cured for a few hours apply 1-2 coats of clear. Once the clear coat has cured, wax and polish whole car 1-2 times.

Voila, the dent should be gone and depending on your skill with paint and bondo should be next to invisible. The only problem is, you need a day over about 10C to ensure the bondo and paint cure instead of freeze.


Hope this helps, ymmv.

[Rope-Pusher]

The only problem is, you need a day over about 10C to ensure the bondo and paint cure instead of freeze.

Bondo doesn't cure. My uncle ate some every day and he still died of some kinda chemical poisoning.

[AHTOXA]

What about those suction cups that body shops use to pull smaller dents? Will they work on a dent in such a tough spot as above?

[Rope-Pusher]

What about those suction cups that body shops use to pull smaller dents? Will they work on a dent in such a tough spot as above?

Suction cups work better when the dent is more of a tropical depression covering a large area. Sharp creases require concentrated force to revert to they old selfs.

[theholycow]

How about a glue-powered dent puller? I imagine they're pretty worthless but maybe..

[4onthefloor]

I haven't attempted to deal with this yet because I'm freaked out that I'm going to make it worse. I'm going to keep looking into it before I attempt it.

DarkPilot: Your solution seems like it would be more work than it's worth, and with my bondo/paint skills it would end up looking worse than it does now.

I think the best way to deal with it would be to slowly and carefully work it out from the back. It'll never be perfect but I'm hoping I can at least make it a little less noticable.

[eaglecatcher]

I've seen people use blocks of wood. Can be used on the outside to prevent the surrounding metal from stretching, and on the inside to apply the force over a larger area than just the tip of a hammer.

[eaglecatcher]

On second thought, why not just get a paintless dent repair person? That dent would take them 5-10 minutes and probably not cost you much at all.

[beowulf80]

2nd on the paintless dent repair. I had a dent about the size of a golf ball on my right front fender. As best as I can tell, someone with a green car backed into me and drove off. Bastards. Like yours, it was near a hard bend line.

Took it in; they took about 2 hours and charged $165.