[Dr_Drache]

this is going out to body guys..
ok, I know alot of you have seen my pictures by now,
but here is a repost
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dr_drache/
the dent pictured on pics #28; 29
anyone have any clue from the pictures how difficult that will be to fix?
(and possable the going rate) the dent has no creases, it's a "smooth" dent

maybe a process to attempt to do it myself?
the body seems good, the handling/suspension never changed after the accedent, so i'm thinking it's not bad at all

 

[rex2nr]

well, the good news is you can get at it pretty easily from inside the car. Tap it with a rubber mallet, and it may spring back into place. The top of the dent looks like it would still need to be filled, but a lot of it should be able to be worked out.

I would tap it along the ridge, light quick jabs. Another option, that will probably make the actual body guys cringe, take a section of 2X4 and hold it perpendicular to the dent inside the car, and then tap on that with a ball peen.

Theres a couple other options too, but I need to go plow... be back on in a few hours...

 

[rex2nr]

Ok, so back to dent repair...

You can also drill into the quarter and use a dent puller. Another option would be to weld a washer on, and then pop it with vise grips. On a dent of this size, I would not try to use one of the suction cup pullers, though if it was smaller, that would be another good option.

Tapping it out with a hammer seems to be your best bet in this situation. You may need to work on it from the inside and outside. I'm not sure if you are going to attempt to do your own bodywork, or if you are just planning on pulling it as much as possible and then handing it over to a professional. Remember, its better to have the metal low, since it can always be filled.

 

[Dr_Drache]

I would attempt it (might still) to as least make it simpler for the body guys, I could do all the work, but my time is less than i wished it was, so, I might take your idea and pop it out (of course, how do you get it from the inside??) then let a real body guy do it...

i don't know though, it's debatable, based on the cost of the repair and paint matching...

 

[rex2nr]

Just remove the interior trim, rear speaker (if equipped) and you can't miss it.

 

[godruler]

i'll tell you this, don't touch it, don't try to pop it out in any sort of way because its not gonna come out without wailing on it with a hammer and stretching the F*ck out of the metal. Lets look at the problem from a distance, your car was rear ended right on the re-bar, your "frame rail" has a kink in it and it needs to be pulled in order for that "dent" that your seeing to come out. The quarter kinked as a result of the rear end being hit. i'll warn you again that its not gonna come out without destroying and oil canning the hell out of your quarter. On the bright side i've seen dents like that pop almost completely back out on there own when your pull the rails almost to the point where the average person would'nt notice anything ever happened. So all in all, get it to a body shop, have them square the car up, should take any decent frame guy no more than an hour to set the car up, pull it and watch that dent walk most of the way back out on its own. good luck

 

[pokey69]

Get one of those suction cup dent pullers. i just pulled one on my car today with one of those dealies. mine was almost exactly the same size, but on the really curvy but between the rear quarter glass and the back of the car. tiny bit of a crease, but it will look alot better than a huge dent for now.

 

[coz]

:greenbanana:

 

[coz]

:greenbanana:

 

[godruler]

pay attention to my post, its the only way to go about it, i do this for a living, trust me

 

[exxed]

He's right. get that thing on a frame machine.

 

[coz]

:greenbanana:

 

[msinsky14]

i got the same kind of dent on my car too, and it was rear ended, but not even that hard. how long should it take a frame guy to pull the frame rail back out?