6 months...Damage

[D4rk3y35]

I think this might have happen at work but not shure....
Six months and this has happened to the accord.....Not much room to try and pop it out, but I think I might be able to get it. I don't know. Any sugestions?
http://65.29.91.201/image/accord/dcp_3531.jpg
http://65.29.91.201/image/accord/dcp_3532.jpg
http://65.29.91.201/image/accord/dcp_3533.jpg

[andysinnh]

Do yourself a favor and don't try to pop it out yourself. Find a local paintless dent removal firm (Dent Wizards, etc) and have them work it out. If they know how to pop it right, it can sometimes come out without any ripples - but they have the tools to make it come out perfect by removing not only the big dent but the other smaller ones that may be left behind. I actually found a local PDR technician that worked on his own after-hours doing repairs for cash under the table. He took out about 15 dents and dings in my son's Civic before I sold it, and it came out great!

andy

[Trip]

sorry about the dings. i agree with andy. have it done professionally. don't want the paint to ripple or crack. its sad and frustrating people do this.

funny, i was just thinking about this today. i don't like the look of the door side moldings on the coupe but for a split second was considering them. then it occurred to me, all the door dings i've gotten over the past few years would not have been prevented by the door strips. they're always on the front fenders ot the quarter panels. and suspiciously high up . . . SUV doors? :thumbsdow

Luckily, no dings yet. I hope I didnt just jinx myself. :paranoid:

[Aviography]

Since there are no sharp creases and the paint is undamaged, it will be relatively easy, but tedious for a PDR person to massage the dent out.

As others have said, don't try to pop it out youself, you *might* get most of it out with suction cups or heat/dry-ice method but it's not well controlled and you just might distort the sheet metal in another manner, then you have to go to the PDR route anyway, so save yourself any further grief and just go find a reputable and experienced PDR outfit to get it done right the first time.

[mdnky]

I agree with everyone else...don't try it yourself. Have it done by a pro. A well-recommended pro with a good reputation.

However I don't think PDR is going to work. Chances are the paint has already cracked and possibly the metal has been stretched. That's a deep one. Replacing the panel is probably the best option in this case for a long-lived repair that's next to impossible to see. There's a factory pressed line where that dent is that complicates things.

[andysinnh]

I agree with everyone else...don't try it yourself. Have it done by a pro. A well-recommended pro with a good reputation.

However I don't think PDR is going to work. Chances are the paint has already cracked and possibly the metal has been stretched. That's a deep one. Replacing the panel is probably the best option in this case for a long-lived repair that's next to impossible to see. There's a factory pressed line where that dent is that complicates things.
My son had a very similar dent in his Civic - where it looked like someone got "butt checked" into the side of his car. He tried to pop it out himself, and created several smaller ripples that I got real concerned about. But the PDR guy got 'em all out without a problem. But he told me that with the bigger dents, if you let them do it when big, their procedure can get the dent to pop the first time with almost no smaller ripples, meaning that the result can be better than if you try the first big 'un yourself.

As far as the paint cracking - it looks like a pretty big but "gradual" dent - meaning that there arent' any sharp edges per se - so with the right expertise, I'm willing to be it'll be like new again without repainting.

andy

[mdnky]

As far as the paint cracking - it looks like a pretty big but "gradual" dent - meaning that there arent' any sharp edges per se - so with the right expertise, I'm willing to be it'll be like new again without repainting.
Unfortunately the cracking in the paint would have happened when the dent was put in the panel. Popping it out just worsens things. It might not be noticeable to the human eye or by feel, but chances are its cracked. The problem from that won't show up for a while, but eventually it will show up. That's not taking into account for stretching, which metal is prone to do.

It depends on how elastic the paint is on the car. The pro-PDR people claim newer paints are elastic enough for this, but that's just talk. Doesn't mean they right or wrong. There's just too many unknowns here to say for sure, starting with the dent and going back to how the factory mixed and cured the paint.

If the original poster does go the PDR method, I would suggest he makes sure that the company doing it has a good reputation and is willing to put a warranty on the work (including the paint). That warranty/guarantee should be for something life five or so years IMO.

[Aviography]

I have had much worse, i.e. near creases from a vertical door edge of another car slamming into the horizontal body crease line, even then the dent came out perfectly fine, and remained perfect even after several years.

One of my friend has been doing PDR for some 15+ years now, he has fixed dents big and small for me 5 or 6 times over the past 12 years, including some big nasty ones on the hood which appeared to be from some drunks falling or walking on my hood, the large one was a good 18" across and 2" deep, all of these came out just fine, and it lasted for years without any hint of paint cracking.

My friend has been in the automotive business for over 25 years, he worked as service manager for a dealership before getting into PDR and has done a LOT of cars over a LOT of marques over the past many years, he's done everything from high end exotics to more affordable everyday cars like Hondas like my car, he has also had several contracts with Jaguars, Nissians, and Honda dealerships and sometime even with corporate head offices.

I trust him when he explained the paint flexibility being the key factor how PDR can work so well, his work over the years proved to me that he knows what he's talking about.

As for the PDR company guaranteeing the paint, I don't think that is fair, if the paint is going to crack, it would have cracked from the initial damage, which is not something the PDR outfit should be held responsible for.