Rear Wing Dent

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Discussion

Redline88

Original Poster:

523 posts

114 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
I appear to have picked up a small (but annoying) dent on the rear wing of the GT4. It had been at the dealer getting some work done and is stored in an empty garage outside of this so I can only assume that whatever happened, occurred at the dealers.

I’ve spoken to a well recommended dent guy however he’s said that they can’t do anything with the is as it’s plastic.

My question - has anybody come across anything similar (if so how on earth did it happen) and were you able to get it fixed?

If it makes a difference, it appears to be almost directly above where the wing supports attach. No damage to the paintwork.


TDT

5,509 posts

127 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
QQ - has the rear wing needed to be off the car at any point? Double check to see if that 'dent' is inline with screw fixing point on the underside of the wing. You suggest that is is so this might be a result of over-enthusiastic tightening. I have seen a few.

Redline88

Original Poster:

523 posts

114 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Good question, I’ve owned the car for coming up on two years and have never noticed it (but not can’t unsee it)! Wing has never been off to my knowledge and the work that the garage was doing was reprogramming so wasn’t removed for that.

You mention that you’ve seen a few - as in dents the same as this? Were they repairable?

Edited by Redline88 on Tuesday 18th June 16:20

TDT

5,509 posts

127 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Redline88 said:
Good question, I’ve owned the car for coming up on two years and have never noticed it (but not can’t unsee it)! Wing has never been off to my knowledge and the work that the garage was doing was reprogramming so wasn’t removed for that.

You mention that you’ve seen a few - as in dents the same as this? Were they repairable?

Edited by Redline88 on Tuesday 18th June 16:20
Yes same divot as this - maybe not as deep though... I don't know about repair options.

5s Alive

2,189 posts

42 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
The usual method for popping dents from plastic panels is heat. I've successfully used boiling water to remove a huge dent from a badly damaged bumper but that was absolutely mangled and being replaced anyway.

Too cool and the dent will not return to shape, too hot and the plastic will become brittle as it cools, or melt with careless use of a hot air gun.

You need someone with plenty of experience on plastic panels to get this right. It's a small dent so should be relatively easy to remove but might need manipulation or perhaps a suction cup if it's not accessible from below.

Redline88

Original Poster:

523 posts

114 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
TDT said:
Redline88 said:
Good question, I’ve owned the car for coming up on two years and have never noticed it (but not can’t unsee it)! Wing has never been off to my knowledge and the work that the garage was doing was reprogramming so wasn’t removed for that.

You mention that you’ve seen a few - as in dents the same as this? Were they repairable?

Edited by Redline88 on Tuesday 18th June 16:20
Yes same divot as this - maybe not as deep though... I don't know about repair options.
That’s interesting. It’s not actually very deep at all, I just managed to catch it at the right angle to show in the picture. Nevertheless, it is annoying.



Panamax

5,149 posts

42 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
I'd be reluctant to fiddle with that.

As regards heat, I'd start by leaving the car parked outside on a hot, sunny day in July/August and see what happens. Bodywork can get up to pretty high temperatures under such conditions and there should be no risk of damage.

Redline88

Original Poster:

523 posts

114 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
That had been my thinking but it’s been outside in Europe recently with quite high temps and it didn’t make a difference. Would it be worth loosening off the bolt underneath to see if that is pulling it down? Is there anywhere I could find torque settings for that?

5s Alive

2,189 posts

42 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
I'd be reluctant too, I'm cringing inwardly at the thought but a specialist ought to be able to advise.

With metal you need heat alone to manipulate successfully, but with plastic, rapid temperature cycling can be very effective with the sudden cooling of surrounding areas literally pulling out the dent. This one looks very small and shallow however so it's possible that none of these approaches will work.

Redline88

Original Poster:

523 posts

114 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
As an update, it does appear to be directly at the spot where the rearmost bolt attaches to the wing so it sounds like TDT has it spot on. The question then is, should I slacken off that bolt a bit before trying to leave it in the sun?

No idea why that would ever have been touched as even with adjusting the wing, I don’t think you would touch those bolts.

Edited by Redline88 on Wednesday 19th June 16:13

TDT

5,509 posts

127 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Does it have PPF? Maybe removed during install?

I guess you might have noticed it before though.

Redline88

Original Poster:

523 posts

114 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
That would have made sense but PPF is only on the front end. Where were the others that you saw with this issue?

5s Alive

2,189 posts

42 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Slackening off the bolt when the panel is hot and then applying some light pressure with your thumb around the perimeter (or from below) might have some effect. However as the plastic has probably been stressed/weakened then the dent is likely to return when the bolt is torqued down again.

I doubt you would damage it further by doing so - unless the bolt has been tightened excessively previously and requires a lot force to undo.

Perhaps Porsche have seen, and been able to correct this particular issue before?

Edited to add - could this kind of damage be caused by forcibly closing the hatch by pressing down on the rear wing?



Edited by 5s Alive on Tuesday 18th June 20:27

Redline88

Original Poster:

523 posts

114 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
I was thinking if it was over tightened then loosening it off slightly (and leaving it like that) would possibly allow for it to relax and then in the heat, it may pop back out again. This could be complete rubbish though!

5s Alive

2,189 posts

42 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
It's worth a try and the wing shouldn't be able to move with only one bolt loosened. I would check it for movement after every drive to be on the safe side.

TDT

5,509 posts

127 months

Wednesday 19th June
quotequote all
Does it have PPF? Maybe removed during install?

I guess you might have noticed it before though.

DJMC

3,521 posts

111 months

Wednesday 19th June
quotequote all
5s Alive said:
It's worth a try and the wing shouldn't be able to move with only one bolt loosened. I would check it for movement after every drive to be on the safe side.
Check the loosened bolt doesn't drop out on you!

As an aside my son's Cooper S (he calls it Christine, don't know why) had a massive dent in the bonnet, the size of a football, where a pedestrian's shoulder had collided with it.
Had a quote for £1,000 to fix, left it a while, then one day it disappeared. It had popped itself out.
Just needed Ray the dent man to finish off the "repair" for £60.

SV_WDC

819 posts

97 months

Wednesday 19th June
quotequote all
As others have said it might be best to try to leave it. Not easy - understand how easy it can be to fixate on blemishes once you've noticed them.

Failing that consider speaking to a specialist or repair place for an opinion. Ideally somewhere that's encountered this before, and take the car to show them.

Would be reluctant for the trial & error approach as this could lead to more damage/problems

TDT

5,509 posts

127 months

Wednesday 19th June
quotequote all
SV_WDC said:
As others have said it might be best to try to leave it. Not easy - understand how easy it can be to fixate on blemishes once you've noticed them.
This!

ChrisW.

6,963 posts

263 months

Wednesday 19th June
quotequote all
Me also ... I think every new car should be delivered with a transfer of the first scuff on it. Would you remove it or leave it ??

Call it character smile