tightywhitey185 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Every once in a great while ill read across someone talking about paintless dent repair and it seems that most people are uncertain about what a good dent tech can and cant repair.I work as a full time PDR tech out of columbus ohio and i thought i would share some photos with you.My backround is mostly body work and my real talent is paint but i really wanted to move my career towards PDR for multiple reasons.This is a hood on a 2009 Ford Escape.The customer was very concerned with this dent and under no circumstances did they want conventional body repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightywhitey185 Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 GEEEZ sorry for the pics being huge.BTW that dent took me 2 and a half hours to repair and paid 500 dollars.A large amound quicker and cheaper then regular body shop repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Excellent. I had my Q45 done years ago---never regretted it! I think VERY highly of quality paintless dent removal. In fact, I'd love to learn how to do it myself Good for you, man! Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightywhitey185 Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 Davy.....Do you remember the name of the company who did your car by chance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psdenno Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 I had it done when a golf ball fell from the sky and left its dimpled impression in the hood of my 944 many years ago. Amazing results. I wish the local tech was still in business. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBang Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 You're a lot better than the guy I had do my subaru WRX a couple of years ago. He did ok, but it wasn't nearly that nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightywhitey185 Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 This car took a few days.It actually didnt total.The body sop had to repair some parts like the pillars and glass was replaced.Was tough but doable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightywhitey185 Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 This is what happens when you have large suvs with radiators n their quarters for 3rd row heating.You cant get tool access thru the tail light section so you have to glue pull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 I had the aluminum hood of my WRX done after a branch fell on it. There were three pretty large dings which came out 100% perfect for $150. Very happy with PDR in general. I forgot to add that the first body shop I took it to quoted $700 for a new hood and paint match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Davy.....Do you remember the name of the company who did your car by chance? Yes, it was "Dent Erasers" when I worked in Oakland, CA. "Dent Pro" was the big name, but my dealership didn't use them when we could get more competitive deals from some of the smaller outfits. My Q45 looked like the Chevy you posted above, at least on the sides it did. The guy took the better part of a day and removed about 20 or so dings. Cost me only $175 since I worked at the dealership I do some traditional paint & body (very little BTW), and I am blown away at the skill of a good PDR guy. The whole idea just makes good sense to me and I prefer it over traditional paint & body. Despite the economy, I think PDR will do better than traditional in the next five years. Most people just can't afford a traditional body shop right now. If only the insurance companies would come on board...... Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightywhitey185 Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 This car is wthout a doubt totalled from hail damage.I had nothing to do with this car i just ripped this from google to show you a total.This car is a pile anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 (edited) myth busters golf ball dimples it looks like!!! never new saturns had such cheap fenders. that would be the last place i want to live especially having a nice paint job on a z. Edited January 25, 2010 by piston edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zBoy Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 I always hear of hail the size of golf balls but Dayuuuuummm. Happy we do not get that here in WA. That Saturn got lit up though lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icapture Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Had some work done on my 2003 WRX. Guy spent a good 10-12 hours working on about 7 panels. There were misc. dents from doors ect. but also a pretty large dent on the left passenger door. Total was like 400 bucks, but the car looked soo good afterwards. Guy was cool too. Showed me his tools and kinda gave me a quick tutorial on how to do it. What sucks though is as the guy was leaving, I mean this guy was still within sight, some kids from the neighborhood were seeing how high they could hit a tennis ball with a raquet, and BAM! down comes a tennis ball right onto my hood denting it. god I hate kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeMoneyJ Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 What are the odds of being able to get a roof smoothed? I picked up a Z for a great price, but the problem is the PO had it sitting in their garage and used the Z to stack things on So the roof is pretty wavy, and I'd like to get it fixed. Is it worth my time to try to find a paintless dent repair shop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightywhitey185 Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 Do you have photos of the roof?Sometimes large shallows can be easily repaird and sometimes not.I did a roof on a toyota minivan a few weeks back that looked like a child used it as a trampoline.It didnt really turn out great but it was a huge improvement.The roofs on our Zs are very wide open underneath and accessable with tools.Just out up a photo and i could tell you if it was doable for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus_RacerX Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 I had it done when a golf ball fell from the sky and left its dimpled impression in the hood of my 944 many years ago. Amazing results. I wish the local tech was still in business.Dennis Not responsible from objects coming from the sky... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 (edited) What are the odds of being able to get a roof smoothed? I picked up a Z for a great price, but the problem is the PO had it sitting in their garage and used the Z to stack things on So the roof is pretty wavy, and I'd like to get it fixed. Is it worth my time to try to find a paintless dent repair shop? It all depends on the technician. The ones we used at the dealership didn't want to do anything larger than a "golfball sized dent" because the ability to just shape metal back into place without damaging the paint AND having it look satisfactory to the customer goes way down. If it cannot possibly look "perfect," then they are reluctant to spend the time since a customer may not be willing to pay for anything less. I would reassure them that you'll take whatever you can get from them and be happy with it regardless. I had a body shop reskin the roof on my 240Z to eliminate a sunroof hole. Davy Edited January 27, 2010 by DavyZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palladin Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Take the roof liner off and you should be able to access it. You might be able to push out most of it on a hot day after the roof has been setting out for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 We had a Paintless Dent Repair Tech come and do a presentation at our car club meeting. He chose the presidents Z31 to fix (smart choice...LOL) and then spent 45 minutes taking out myriad small dings dents, and etc while explaining the process and showing how it's done. People were amazed, and unlike many people who are slightly insecure about their talent, there were only a couple of people who thought they could do it. The rest were convinced that there was no way in hell they could replicate that work, and a lot of business was garnered that day. With the speed at which the guy worked the dents out, explained the processes, and pitfalls, what could and couldn't be worked in a reasonable fashion it really made sense for many members to have him 'unding' their otherwise perfectly good painted car (in some cases with nice factory paint still remaining) rather than pay money for a respray which is ALWAYS visible. To have a paintless dent removal guy go over a recent late-model purchase, and then take it to a professional detailer (detailer was $350) I flipped what formerly looked like a beat up car for well more than $3000 what I bought if for and paid to have the work done. The paintless dent removal and detailing took two days only because I used separate people, in different counties. It was the difference betweeen a car that looked haggard, and one that looked like it was new off the showroom floor. Firm Believer in the process and technology. WELL worth the money if you have an original classic in original paint that can be buffed a couple of times yet! This was the 'art of metal working' in the final stages before lead and bondo became widely used. You CAN get metal straight. I have hard enough of a time doing it bare. I don't even want to try with the paint still on there! My wife chose a 'discount' PDR guy (not my normal dude---grrr) to do some work to fix a repair after the Boy used the Dually as a fence post mover. If she would have used my guy the cost would have been double, but I would have never known it happened. Now I will have to get my guy to come do some glue-pulls as mentioned above to clear out the dents. I actually will have PDR done before taking the truck in for a respray. Other than the Boy's little dent, the truck was ready. Now back to square one. Find someone by reputation, and prior customers. There are plenty of good ones out there to waste time on a bad one who is cheap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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