[UnkalledFor]

Click on the picture to see what I am talking about...


It has been there since i bought the car in Sept. 2004.. it has been bothering me since the begining.. is there anyway i can repair this myself, or will i have to take it to a body shop and get charged alot.. im just curious to see if there is any way i can do it myself.. thanks

 

[funkpacket]

crease dents are a bitch to do. If it was on the top of the decklid i would say use a jack and a flat board. that seems like the kind of thing id let a body shop do

 

[RBI*04]

yea, that dent is gonna require bondo and a repaint.

 

[pete?]

^ not true.

if you can get to it, you could possibly use a small size ball peine hammer. the small size may fit the curve perfectly. use small taps from the left going to the right (or the other way) but never directly out (that will make little bumps)

even better, find a small peice of pipe with the correct curve to it. cut it so its only 3 inchs long and lay the pipe flush up against the ding, tap it with a hammer untill the dent is out, it may not be 100% perfect.....but it will be better than it is now.

 

[RBI*04]

^ not true.

if you can get to it, you could possibly use a small size ball peine hammer. the small size may fit the curve perfectly. use small taps from the left going to the right (or the other way) but never directly out (that will make little bumps)

even better, find a small peice of pipe with the correct curve to it. cut it so its only 3 inchs long and lay the pipe flush up against the ding, tap it with a hammer untill the dent is out, it may not be 100% perfect.....but it will be better than it is now.

i mean no offense at all, but if he has to ask, i dont think hell be able to do it. there might be a less of a dent, but there'll be a ton more of tiny little ones thatll pick up light like a disco ball, as opposed to a flat mirror. imo id keep it as is or have it professionally done.

 

[pete?]

if you take a dowle the size of a sharpie (not sure if i would use the large size of the normal size.....im not looking at my trunk lol) and layed it in the curve, then taped the dowle with a hammer i dont think it would be possible to mess it up at all. it would only pop the dent out......granted you will still have the crease, but you wont have a divot.

 

[lshadoff]

Why not use the tools that were made for this purpose: Hammers and Dollies.

Lew

 

[SSK]

Popping a dent out in that part of the trunk is not as easy as you may think. Usually you will end up creasing the surrounding area and actually making it look worse. There is also an issue of getting to it. There is more than likely an inner shell that is covering it up.

 

[UnkalledFor]

Popping a dent out in that part of the trunk is not as easy as you may think. Usually you will end up creasing the surrounding area and actually making it look worse. There is also an issue of getting to it. There is more than likely an inner shell that is covering it up.

yup.. i have looked for a way to get to it without cutting anything.. and found that it will be imposible.. i am thinking they will have to flatten it from the outside.. then use some type of plaster and sand it down smooth.. then paint it.. isnt that what they do in body shops? i dont know how much they would charge me for that little job though.. hopefully not alot..

 

[SSK]

yup.. i have looked for a way to get to it without cutting anything.. and found that it will be imposible.. i am thinking they will have to flatten it from the outside.. then use some type of plaster and sand it down smooth.. then paint it.. isnt that what they do in body shops? i dont know how much they would charge me for that little job though.. hopefully not alot..

The thing is, they will have to paint the whole trunk lid. They won't be able to blend it and make it look right. They will have to paint to a breaking point, which will be the whole trunk lid. They will grind the paint of the dent (and a surrounding area of 1 to 2 inches) down to the metal. You have to go all the way to the metal, because bondo will not stick to a painted area for very long. They will then shape the bondo to the curve of your trunk lid and sand it smooth. Starting with coarse sand paper and finishing with a fine grit. Then I use a filler putty to fill in any pinholes or imperfections in the bondo and sand it smooth using fine grit sand paper. Then I would sand the whole trunk lid down to the base coat, primer the whole trunk lid and sand it lightly with fine grit sand paper. Then its ready to paint. I would just remove the trunk lid to paint it. That way you won't have to tape anything up on the car and you won't get any overspray on anything.
Of course some people may do it differently.

 

[UnkalledFor]

The thing is, they will have to paint the whole trunk lid. They won't be able to blend it and make it look right. They will have to paint to a breaking point, which will be the whole trunk lid. They will grind the paint of the dent (and a surrounding area of 1 to 2 inches) down to the metal. You have to go all the way to the metal, because bondo will not stick to a painted area for very long. They will then shape the bondo to the curve of your trunk lid and sand it smooth. Starting with coarse sand paper and finishing with a fine grit. Then I use a filler putty to fill in any pinholes or imperfections in the bondo and sand it smooth using fine grit sand paper. Then I would sand the whole trunk lid down to the base coat, primer the whole trunk lid and sand it lightly with fine grit sand paper. Then its ready to paint. I would just remove the trunk lid to paint it. That way you won't have to tape anything up on the car and you won't get any overspray on anything.
Of course some people may do it differently.

i wish i knew how to do that stuff.. i am affraid to even try it... i will probably tell the shop to fix it, when i get my paint job in a few months.. at least now i know what they have to do...