First time doing ding deletion - tips?
Discussion
Some careless idiot left my MX-5 with it's first door ding in 10 years of ownership the other day.
Thought I would have a crack at fixing it myself using what looks like a temus finest dent removal kit. I'm making progress, but I feel like I'm missing something and thought I'd check here.
Before
During
After
So the ding appears greatly reduced, but not gone. The smallest stick on pulling stick is now bigger than the ding. What's next?
Problems encountered along the way -
glue detaching - swapped from lower to medium strength glue in the kit
judging if I'd gone far enough - I feel like there's a need to go slightly too far in pulling it out for it to end up without a mark, but I've been cautious on that front for fear of overdoing it. Is this something I should expect to need to do?
Thought I would have a crack at fixing it myself using what looks like a temus finest dent removal kit. I'm making progress, but I feel like I'm missing something and thought I'd check here.
Before
During
After
So the ding appears greatly reduced, but not gone. The smallest stick on pulling stick is now bigger than the ding. What's next?
Problems encountered along the way -
glue detaching - swapped from lower to medium strength glue in the kit
judging if I'd gone far enough - I feel like there's a need to go slightly too far in pulling it out for it to end up without a mark, but I've been cautious on that front for fear of overdoing it. Is this something I should expect to need to do?
shouldbworking said:
I feel like there's a need to go slightly too far in pulling it out for it to end up without a mark, but I've been cautious on that front for fear of overdoing it. Is this something I should expect to need to do?
I've never dent-pulled in my life but logic suggests that you'd have to overpull a bit because the metal will always spring back slightly.Anyway, if you pull it out too far and get a bulge you can always bash it back in
What kit did you get, and do you have the little rubber hammer?
You did well to avoid further distortion with the tool you used there, on a flat panel I'd have gone with a glue tab and the slide hammer, instead of levering off the panel with the tool pictured (assuming, you can't gain access behind the dent).
I regard glue pulling as "rough" and always pull slightly beyond, then hammer back the crown. Hammering the crown before also helps it move, otherwise its a tough spot and you'll just pull the whole panel beyond. Also, some heat helps too. If you have the chisel-shaped things (don't know the proper name for them) you can get more and more precise with the hammering back and eventually blend it into the slight orange peel effect on the paint you probably have, to achieve a 'perfect' finish. But it takes a lot of time until you get good at it.
You did well to avoid further distortion with the tool you used there, on a flat panel I'd have gone with a glue tab and the slide hammer, instead of levering off the panel with the tool pictured (assuming, you can't gain access behind the dent).
I regard glue pulling as "rough" and always pull slightly beyond, then hammer back the crown. Hammering the crown before also helps it move, otherwise its a tough spot and you'll just pull the whole panel beyond. Also, some heat helps too. If you have the chisel-shaped things (don't know the proper name for them) you can get more and more precise with the hammering back and eventually blend it into the slight orange peel effect on the paint you probably have, to achieve a 'perfect' finish. But it takes a lot of time until you get good at it.
Updating - I decided to try heating the panel and trying a bit more.
After an initial deep moment from trying to heat it after sticking the pulling stick on (glue melts shocker) I managed to get it a lot better again to the point that I'd have to have a clean car and be looking quite hard to spot it.
I'm going to leave it there for the minute and save the rest for a tap from the inside when I have the door card off
Kit used was https://amzn.eu/d/00RAJKhz - there are tons just like it on Amazon.
After an initial deep moment from trying to heat it after sticking the pulling stick on (glue melts shocker) I managed to get it a lot better again to the point that I'd have to have a clean car and be looking quite hard to spot it.
I'm going to leave it there for the minute and save the rest for a tap from the inside when I have the door card off
Kit used was https://amzn.eu/d/00RAJKhz - there are tons just like it on Amazon.
shouldbworking said:
Kit used was https://amzn.eu/d/00RAJKhz - there are tons just like it on Amazon.
It doesn't seem to include the gadget in your first post...Simpo Two said:
It doesn't seem to include the gadget in your first post...
Hmm. The link from my orders is https://amzn.eu/d/09HK3AGAForums | Bodywork & Detailing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff