So I finally picked up my dream car. 2001 ITR #201! Anyhoo, it has a single door ding. I am going to have someone take it out. I don't know much of anything about dent removal and I want to know if there are anything I should ask or be aware of before choosing someone to do the work. The last thing I want to do is have to repaint my quarter pannel or whole car becuase they cracked the paint.

Has anyone had a horrid experience with ding removal or am I just paranoid to let anyone touch my car?
Thanks!

 

as long as it's a reputable company that stands behind their work, it shouldn't be a problem. I've got a guy here in town that does it on the side and he quoted me $125 to remove 5 hail dings in my roof. I've seen his work on other cars and you wouldn't know it was dented previously

 

im also interested in knowing the answer to this question.. have a deep ding next to my antenna that annoys the **** out of me

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pr-Type-R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im also interested in knowing the answer to this question.. have a deep ding next to my antenna that annoys the **** out of me</TD></TR></TABLE>
Ask around our area. A good man can make those dings disappear and NO paint or bondo.

 

I have a personal friend that does it for a living. It is quite the art, and like what was told to you a couple posts up, reputable company is key, not some Mexican in a Home Depot parking lot looking for work.

Any pictures of the R? Welcome BTW, congrats on the pick up, keep her safe.

 

I have seen people remove small dents with dry ice.
Google it.
It really will work, and in fact is the technique used by alot of paintless dent removal guys.
From what I have read as long as the temperature is warm outside, and the dent isnt too bad, this will work "like magic".
You should be able to get some dry ice on the cheap locally.
Wear gloves.

 

Interesting~

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by andyt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have seen people remove small dents with dry ice.
Google it.
It really will work, and in fact is the technique used by alot of paintless dent removal guys.
From what I have read as long as the temperature is warm outside, and the dent isnt too bad, this will work "like magic".
You should be able to get some dry ice on the cheap locally.
Wear gloves.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

ask if they can remove the ding without drilling holes in your car. I know they fill the hole with a plug.

 

I have a close friend that has his own company and does it all for me! I got hit at the bank on the door by a door and ran over to him and he pulled it right out! Most dings are done by slipping tools in behind the panel and working the panel back out. Minor ones don't need drilled or repainted!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pr-Type-R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im also interested in knowing the answer to this question.. have a deep ding next to my antenna that annoys the **** out of me</TD></TR></TABLE>

Same here, I have a nickel sized ding right on the curve above my left taillight, man I was so pissed. It should be easily popped out, or at least i hope Im thinking of doing it myself since its so small, i gotta do more research on it.....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITR010342 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Most dings are done by slipping tools in behind the panel and working the panel back out. Minor ones don't need drilled or repainted!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just make sure it is somebody that has done it for a while and not in training.

For the majority of dings on a door, they will be able to insert their tools between the window and the weather stripping seal in order to knock the ding out. When the ding is on a rear quarter/roof/etc., they usually drill a hole into your door jamb/hatch jamb/etc., insert their tools, knock the ding out, and plug the hole with a black rubber plug(I have seen the plugs range anywhere from pencil sized to dime sized). If the ding is anywhere else that they cannot easily get their tools behind the ding, it will require drilling.

If I were getting PDR done, I would do whatever I could to allow them to work the dent out without drilling a hole into the car. So, I would remove the interior quarter trim pieces if the ding is on your quarter panel, roof liner if it was on the roof, wheel liners if it is on a fender, etc. Keep removing stuff until you can see the ding from the backside of it. With some dings, there is no way around not drilling a hole (if it is a hood ding that happens to have bracing under it which covers the ding up...in other words, you can see in ding on top when the hood is shut but not on the bottom when the hood is open).

I used to watch the guys do it at car auctions where 16,000 cars would be sold in 4 hours. You would be amazed at what kind of miracles these PDR guys can preform and how fast they are (which is why they drill holes instead of removing panels).

Find a good guy, prepare your car before hand, and you will be happy.

 

Heres another trick.
I am actually going to try this one when I get home.

Get a regular hair dryer, and a can of compressed air.
Put the hair dryer on the hottest setting and heat the dent for about 1 min.
Turn the can of compressed air upside-down and spray it on the dent.
Yep, it should pop out.

youtube has some nice videos of this.

DIY forever.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by andyt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Heres another trick.
I am actually going to try this one when I get home.

Get a regular hair dryer, and a can of compressed air.
Put the hair dryer on the hottest setting and heat the dent for about 1 min.
Turn the can of compressed air upside-down and spray it on the dent.
Yep, it should pop out.

youtube has some nice videos of this.

DIY forever.</TD></TR></TABLE>



This works with any plastic bumper too. If you ever get a dent in your bumper, you apply heat (hot, but not to the melting point) and then immediately apply cool air to the dent. It will pop right back into its original mold shape

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98 ITR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">



This works with any plastic bumper too. If you ever get a dent in your bumper, you apply heat (hot, but not to the melting point) and then immediately apply cool air to the dent. It will pop right back into its original mold shape </TD></TR></TABLE>

Are you serious .... I am going to try it on my RSX. I have a dent on the bottom of the bumper.

 

Thanks for all the info. I'll be taking off my hard plastics and Dent Doctor it is. I may test out the heat and cool on another car first, but good ideas.
Thanks!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98 ITR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">



This works with any plastic bumper too. If you ever get a dent in your bumper, you apply heat (hot, but not to the melting point) and then immediately apply cool air to the dent. It will pop right back into its original mold shape </TD></TR></TABLE>

unless the dent has been that way for a while, then the paint will have a wrinkle to it, this is for plastic, never tried the hot/cold on metal

 

My local Acura dealer provide this service for $25 per (small) ding/dent.

 

had it done a few times

 

i had a bunch done when I purchased my car and it came out very nice, cant even tell. as long as they are nice at it you should be all set. the guy who did mine was able to get a couple really hard ones on my car above the front windows from thiefs trying to pry the window open. he got them out threw the grab handle holes inside and a little bit of drilling.