Well, time to get rid of some dents, only prob, never done it before. The car went into a ditch and rolled. The ditch was full of snow so damage wasn't as bad as it could have been. It was dented on both sides, drivers obviously worse then the passengers. I need to do this myself as I have no dent removal allowance so I need help and suggestions. The thing that I am not sure if it can be corrected is that when it dented it opened a gap between the rear door and the quarter panel, i am hoping that when the dent is popped out or whatever that the gap will fix itself. I am open to any and all suggestions, advice or techniques.
Thanks for any help, heres the pics.
I'd try from the inside with a 2x4 or whatever you can get in there and pry or use a hammer (gently!) to get it at least close to the right shape. pulled that stunt on a rabbit that was hurt a lot worse than that a bunch of years ago.
I'd find a good shell and move the good bits from that vehicle to something a little straighter. But that's me. Did someone rear-end you?
On the other side of that panel there is a inside piece of sheet metal the plastic trim hooks too so there is no way to actually hammer the dent out.
However there is a opening in the bottom of it near the lights where you might be able to slid a bar or piece of wood in to pry on.
I don't think there is an easy way. If I had to work on it I would get some of the suction cups or slide hammer and then body filler. Or find some clean rear 1/4s and start drilling the spot welds out. I personally hate body work now and would get a new body
Dents are one thing, the creases are what is going to cause problems. The metal will have stretched quite a bit, and when you pull it closer to the original shape and pound out the creases (assuming you can access both sides) it will stretch still further. You will have to do some shrinking if you want to save the existing metal.
Are you experiencing any door / fit issues? If the only concern is the relatively cosmetic gap change you mentioned then I think you need to decide what you want to accomplish.
-return to as good as original? I think your only options are cutting and replacing or extensive metalwork involving a lot of shrinking. Either is going to be labour intensive and as a result expensive if you are not doing it yourself. Is the car worth the investment to you?
-cosmetic coverup? if you just don't want it to look like a car that has been in a wreck (for a few years anyway), you can get it close and then use some type of filler.
you mention shrinking, how is that done? do you have a thread or site with details?