This vehicle was dented by a piece of debris hurtling down the road in a storm. Damaging both door bodylines so extensively, this was a time consuming repair that required several different repair techniques. They included traditional paintless dent removal, glue pulling and cold glue extraction.
This small dent was created in very common area of the car. Over the last 20 years I must have done thousands of these, positioned right next to the driver’s door handle. Generally, they are made by other car door handles being opening on to them, shopping trolleys or the door itself being opened onto the corner of an object like a window sill.
Caused by an errant supermarket trolley, this long horizontal crease was removed by traditional massage techniques of PDR alongside glue pull extraction for those hard to access areas. Before we chastise supermarket trolleys as a car owners biggest enemy, it’s worth pointing out that many dents happen when the car owner drives their vehicle into the trolley themselves.
Dents like this, within the upper section of the door, can sometimes be a little harder to remove. This is mainly due to there being a box section restricting access to the backside of the dent. Luckily, this car’s box section was slightly above the dent (but only by about 5mm) enabling a smoother repair process.
This kind of vertical crease is extremely common. They are caused by other car doors (be it front or rear) opened onto it when parked side by side. In this case, the customer suspected that the dent occurred at the Porsche Dealership when the car was in for service. I would say this was 100% correct. From the angle the dent takes, not being perfectly straight, it perfectly coincides with the angle of the 911 door, even matching for height from the ground.
This was a very large, time consuming and difficult dent to remove. The top third of the damage was sitting behind the internal box section and impossible to massage out from the back. Adding to the challenge, the customer had already had a good go himself at removing the dent with a hammer and piece of wood on the backside. Using both glue pulling and traditional PDR it came out really well.
Yet another supermarket trolley responsible for causing the damage to this brand new Jeep. Trolleys fully laden do a lot more damage than empty ones, although both are equally as annoying for the customer. This horizontal damage was quite a long repair, taking just over 3 hours.
Front wing dents are one of the easier panels to repair dents on. The access is good, usually only having to remove the inner splash guard fractionally. They also offer good body positioning to work, usually kneeling down, in order to apply good leverage and control of the specialist tooling we use on the back of the panel.
With most of the dents I repair, I provide a quotation having seen several photographs of the damage. Occasionally however, this can catch me out. That was the case with this damage as I hadn’t realised it very stretched. Some dents are clearly visible that they are stretched, others, it’s only once you begin work you realise. Regardless, this dent came out well but took twice as long to repair.
What a challenge this one was. This panel had be hit incredibly hard and had completely buckled the bodyline. As well as this there was a lot of metal displacement above the dent in the small flat section of the panel. This we call either a ‘crown’, ‘smile’ or trapped pressure. A good understanding of how metal moves is paramount with repairs of this nature. Competent hammer skills are also vital in bringing everything back into shape.
Occasionally, we are required to remove different car parts to give us better access to the back of the panel so we can massage the dent out more efficiently. This vehicle needed to have its rear light cluster removed so we could get the required leverage onto the back of the dent. This also meant dropping a section of the bumper allowing the light to slide out.
Probably one of the larger dents that I have removed over the last 20 years. What was in this dents favour was great access to the back of the panel. Once again the light had to be removed which then offered all the room required to carry out a very lengthy 5 hour repair.
This was a dent caused by a group of college friends larking around with one another, resulting in one of them falling into his friend’s rear quarter panel. This video perfectly demonstrates how effective both hot and cold glue can be in assisting traditional PDR massage techniques.
I wasn’t too sure before arriving at this repair whether or not I could access some of the dent from the back. Sometimes, just because you can get your hand on the back of the panel doesn’t mean you have enough leverage to move any of the metal. I opted to carry out a 100% glue pull repair on this panel which can sometimes take a lot longer but is the right option. This repair required a lot of hammer blending and manipulation to further assist the glue extraction.
A straightforward repair made all the easier by removing the petrol flap. Glue pulling this repair from start to finish was definitely an option but sometimes just taking the extra time to remove a part of the car causing an obstruction can save you a lot of time in the long run.
This video perfectly demonstrates how important it is to be good with the glue gun. 20 years ago I’m pretty certain I would have turned down this repair on the BMW’s double skinned rear arch. With zero access to get a tool on the back of the panel without drilling an unnecessary hole, glue pulling was my only option. This is an example of the more complex and time consuming repairs I take on and definitely one that required a lot of experience to perfect the desired outcome.
A fairly basic repair for paintless dent removal. Once again there was no access to the back of the panel without needlessly drilling holes so the extraction method of glue pulling was used. Whilst only a small dent it was significant enough to annoy the owners into calling me on a relatively new vehicle.
This dent repair was rejected by another paintless dent removal company due to the fact that this panel is double skinned. However, providing the paintwork is original and still intact, another method of repair can be very successful in removing minor cosmetic dents. This technique is called glue pulling and is an extraction method using hot glue compared to the traditional massage principles of PDR. If done carefully and correctly this method can produce fantastic results and avoid a costly repaint at the bodyshop.
This video highlights what can be achieved when opting to use paintless dent removal over a traditional bodyhop paint repair. Because the paintwork was still intact and the tailgate provided ample access to the backside of the panel, it turned out to be the best option in order to repair successfully. A great deal of heat was used throughout this repair so not to fracture the paintwork across the heavily distorted bodyline.
With the tailgate opening downwards instead of the usual way, my only viable option here was to remove the entire panel from the car and tie down to some trestles to repair. Glue pulling could not be used in this instance because the dent had some missing paint in its centre and by using the glue option I feared the paint would further deteriorate. Added to this, I soon realised that the dent was quite badly stretched so accessing the panel from the back was the only sensible option.
This was a very complex 5 hour repair. This lady had backed into a hidden tree stump causing all kinds of damage in and around the dent. Remarkably, the paintwork remained intact which made it an ideal candidate for paintless dent removal. I was very close to rejecting this repair as I didn’t think the metal with all its compromises would release sufficiently. Whilst I couldn’t get it out 100%, I’m really pleased that I persevered for this particular owner.
This video shows one particular dent that I only managed to improve and one that ultimately beat me! Sometimes you can only do so much, it all depends on whether the dent wants to work with you or not. Halfway through I realised I’d bitten off a little more that I could chew but after having a conversation with the owner we decided to plough on and see how much we could do.
An all too common enquiry I receive. This video shows the damage left following a customer reversing out of their garage without the roller door being all the way up. The aerial became lodged within the door structure and subsequently tearing off the aerial. The damage left, like in most of these cases, was a stretched dent around the small aerial opening within the roof panel.
This video shows the damage caused by roof racks on a vehicle. I do a lot of these and because the roof rail section (or cant rail) is inaccessible from the back, the entire repair needed to be carried out using glue pulling. This kind of repair, whilst looking fairly innocuous, are incredibly time consuming when compared to massaging a dent out from the back. A good understanding of hammer principles and experience of glue pulling is essential with this kind of repair.
This video showcases a number of my other dent repairs as a short compilation. They vary from rear quarter panels dents, roof rail damage, small door dings and bonnets…plus many others. All repairs are carried using only paintless dent removal. This method of repair keeps your car paintwork 100% original, maintains its manufactures factory finish and further strengthens its resale value.
In over 20 years this, so far, has been my most difficult dent. It’s not the biggest by any means but its complexity was very demanding. For the first hour or so I was working on this roof rail nothing happened. A rail is an incredibly strong part of the vehicle to manipulate and towards the back end especially it became even more rigid and unforgiving. Perseverance over 5 hours got this dent out and one of my most satisfying. I’m not sure I’d do another!
This is a very common and routine repair within paintless dent removal. The application of heat is used in many cases such as this where the bodyline has been impacted. By keeping the panel warm it allows the dent to be move more easily when being massaged from the back and reduces the risk of fracturing the paintwork. It is very important not to apply to much heat though as this could severely compromise the paints finish.